| THE TEAMS | The WACKY WINNERS were the Newbury team with 2700 points! 2. Reading team - 2600 points
3. Slough team - 2400 points
4. Bracknell team - 1900 points
5. Basingstoke team - 1400 points
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***SEE THE PHOTOS BY CLICKING ON THE LINK (TOP RIGHT OF THIS PAGE)***
What crazy capers did BBC Radio Berkshire get up to for Red Nose Day? Well in a word, it was WACKTASTIC! Our Wacky Races Treasure Hunt was three hours of entertaining madness as five teams set off in different areas of Berkshire on a journey filled with crazy modes of transport, all ending up at the Madejski Stadium in Reading at midday. They had to find hidden noses by answering cryptic clues, set by Jeremy Beadle and read out by Crime Watch's Nick Ross. In total the teams raised around £350 for Comic Relief. Well done!
 | | BBC Berkshire's Sarah Burbedge as Anne Boleyn |
The Reading team, with BBC Radio Berkshire's Jim Cathcart and Reading Evening Post's Anthony Moore, set off in style in John Madesjki's Rolls Royce. They went to the town centre for a flying visit to some Comic Relief events, Jim had to endure a leg waxing, and then they rushed off to Uri Geller's house to find a hidden Comic Relief nose. The nose lay by the Sonning spoon-bender's red pyramid in his backgarden. Uri bent a spoon in front of their (red) noses and signed it. He's donated the spoon to Comic Relief - one of these signed spoons fetched a staggering £8,000 on Ebay! Then it was off to Fobney's Lock for a trip back to town with a Kennet Cruises boat. But there was no time to admire the view, they had to answer some trivia questions on Reading FC set by quizmaster Eamonn Holmes. They arrived first at the stadium but points-wise they were narrowly beaten by the crafty Newbury team. This was despite team Newbury starting off late with BBC Radio Berkshire's Roger Stamp walking round with a red bucket on his head. Luckily team mate, Newbury Weekly News's Sarah Radford, led him to their first mode of transport: a Kennet and Avon Canal Trust boat. Sailing into the town centre they collected some more cash before racing off by luxury horsebox to the Living Rainforest in Hampstead Norreys. Their challenge was to find hidden red noses in tanks of creepy-crawlies and snakes - urgh! Roger felt quite faint but Sarah came to the rescue and bravely found all the noses. They were taken by mobile library to the West Berkshire brewery in Yattendon, where another red nose was hidden on the nose of the brewer (which surely would be red enough already?). They arrived at the Mad Stad in style by white stretch limousine from Berkshire Limos.
 | | Sarah arrives by Honda Goldstar motorbike! |
They were however pipped to the post by the Bracknell team, who overtook the Newbury team on the road and raced into Reading in a £190,000 Aston Martin to arrive second. The team, action desk presenter Victoria Hazael and Bracknell and Ascot Times reporter Alana Razzell, started off in BMW minis and had their hair dyed at Mark Antony Hair Salon before heading to Coral Reef water park to find their hidden nose on the pirate ship. Arriving wackily late, they underwent a kitbag challenge at the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Museum at Arborfield Garrison and then racing off in their sports car. The Basingstoke team meanwhile were also travelling by limousine, visting Comic Relief events before zooming off to RAF Odiham to try and win the race by taking flight. Kitted up and ready to go, Radio Berkshire's Joanne Simpson and Basingstoke Observer reporter Damian Brett flew off in RAF gliders provided by the air cadets and landed half an hour later at RAF Benson. Their hidden red nose was huge as it was stuck on the end of a life-sized Spitfire model outside the base's main gates. Despite being in the fastest mode of transport they were still too late to complete their challenge: getting a parrot at Well Place Zoo at Ipsden to talk live on air. They also arrived last at the Mad Stad - no excuse!
 | | Spit Fire with a rather red nose at RAF Benson |
The Slough team have the best memento of their wacky race. Radio Berkshire's Sarah Burbedge and Slough Observer hack Martyn Brown dressed up as Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII at Castle Studios in Windsor and came away with a gorgeous sepia-tinted framed photo. After starting off by dustcart, decorated with bright red streamers, they then stopped off at Cippenham Junior School and were collected by massive Honda Goldstar motorbikes. Their cryptic clue took them to Legoland in Windsor where they found their Comic Relief nose: made out of Lego! The winners and their points are on the left. Though this wasn't possible without the help of BBC Radio Berkshire listeners, who helped out with the cryptic clues and the Noises Mean Noses challenge: Edwina Currie, Eamonn Holmes and Jimmy Page set listeners the challenge of coming up, respectively, with the noise of an egg, an alarm clock and a musical instrument. Listeners rang up with these noises, as well as others, in order give their chosen team an extra 100 points. It was thanks to this that the Newbury team won, who had the most noise calls to support them. Gallant efforts were made however by the Bracknell and Ascot Times who tried to increase Bracknell's points with the noise of a news hound, and likewise the Slough Observer rang up with burping and farting sounds. Nice! Presenter Nicki Whiteman offered 300 points to the one who rang up with a chicken actually laying an egg. Now, it was pretty exciting viewing the first Caesarian section on BBC1 but having the first chicken laying an egg live on BBC Radio Berkshire came a pretty close second! | 
