(calm music)
- Hello there!
Welcome to London.
Now, you might be wondering
why I've brought you all down here to the capital
and, more importantly, why I'm dressed like this.
But you're probably all familiar and well-acquainted
with the popular board game called Monopoly.
But have you ever played it in real life?
(electronic music)
- [Mark] Just saw my life flash before my eyes
just back there, it was great!
- [Heather] I think we should've gone left back there.
- Now, this is no normal game of Monopoly.
I've devised a course taking in
all 27 locations of the Monopoly board
and I've got two athletes along to try and win
some of my cash, which is in here.
- Oh!
- Fraser, what do you look like?
- I'm embracing the moment.
- And what are you doing on a bike,
I mean Fraser, I thought you told me it was running?
- I've devised a little bit of a cunning plan here, Heather.
You see, Mark, he's gonna be on his bike,
it's not his aero bike, remember,
and he's gotta go all the one-way systems,
stop at traffic lights,
do all the things that you'd have to do on a normal vehicle,
whereas you, you can take all the cut-throughs,
you can do sneaky little one-ways, all that stuff,
so I think ... - And don't forget, as well,
I'm a bit of a country boy,
I have no idea what I'm doing in this place.
- That is a very good point. - But I mean still, surely,
if I beat Mark today, you are never living this down,
that's for certain.
- Well, I have got two maps for you both here.
Take one each.
Take it. - Ooh, thank you very much.
- Thank you.
- Learn your route, and I think you need to get ready to go.
Ready ... - What?
- steady ... - Oh my God.
- Go! - Okay, right, see ya!
- I have no idea what I'm doing here.
So where are we?
(upbeat music)
- [Mark] Well, after a little bit of time
checking out the map and being quite confused,
I asked the camera man what I should do
and now I think I've got it all figured out.
We are both racing across town
to the jail at the Tower of London.
Without stopping we quickly race on
to Fenchurch Street Station, Whitechapel,
Liverpool Street Station, and so on.
Now, Fraser has kindly mapped out
two very similar routes for Heather and myself.
Mine is approximately 20 kilometers,
whilst Heather is a fraction shorter at 18 kilometers,
simply due to the fact that she can take
a few shortcuts on foot.
Later into the route we will pick up
some of the real iconic spots of London
as we tear our way through Oxford Street,
Regent Street, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square,
before sprinting our way towards the finish on Fleet Street.
(upbeat music)
- It's a little bit busier than maybe we were expecting.
I thought I might get a bit of a headstart on Mark
'cause I don't have as many traffic lights
but it turns out that pedestrians also have traffic lights
and pedestrian crossings with massive queues to get across.
So, I've done my best at crossing the roads whenever I can
but I kind of have to give way to the buses and the taxis.
They're not that forgiving in London.
- [Mark] A long way from countryside and fields round here.
- [Heather] Hopefully ahead of Mark but, to be honest,
I actually don't have any idea.
- Bane of my life, these red lights.
I must have wasted about 10 minutes already,
stopping at these things.
Heather's probably plowing on ahead, skipping across 'em,
cutting the roads, it's infuriating.
- [Heather] I've already made good progress
and checked off a substantial chunk of the locations.
Navigation has been key for me so far,
as I've been able to cut the corners,
go down one-way streets and, of course,
those pedestrianized areas where Mark just can't ride.
Thankfully though, I do have my phone to help me,
so I'm not having to stop and look at any maps.
Now, I've been keeping an eye out for Mark
as I know that I have that headstart
but I've still not seen him pass me yet.
I'm just hoping he's not got ahead
on a section where we split.
I mean, as well as taking the shorter route,
I'm hoping that I can cross most of the roads
that get in my way whilst Mark's obviously
gonna have to wait at the traffic lights
and for any other traffic that gets in his way.
(siren wailing)
(upbeat music)
- That is how you navigate the city.
So, although I like weaving through the traffic
it is a little bit tricky at times
like, this lorry's turning left, you've gotta, you know,
city guys are used to all this,
but you've gotta keep an eye
on these little indicator things
to make sure I don't get squashed and er ... um, killed.
(upbeat music)
- Now about to move onto some of the key spots,
some of the real landmarks of London,
onto Marble Arch and Oxford Street,
though I suspect Heather might be
a little bit distracted as we get onto Oxford Street
because it is the shopper's paradise.
- Well, just got a glimpse of Mark
so he's actually closer than I realized.
I need to make the most of this, it's a bit downhill.
London's pretty flat but this is my chance to stretch out.
I'm gonna have to ignore the shops for a moment, I think,
and just focus on tryna eat up that ground.
I'm gonna go to Piccadilly
and I think the traffic there will be horrendous for him
so, I reckon I've got a bit of a chance here.
(upbeat music)
- [Mark] Yeah, Heather was right.
The traffic around Piccadilly was really bad.
Not only am I getting stuck at lights,
I'm getting caught behind cars, I have buses
tryna pull over in front of me,
and I'm really starting to worry
about the amount of time that I might be losing.
That said, I'm getting quite good
at this weaving through the traffic malarkey,
and when the road does open out I am flying.
Not to forget, I can free-wheel and save energy,
something Heather can't do.
- I must admit, I'm starting to get a little bit tired.
Half-marathon is a long way,
and should have really rested up a little bit more.
Kind of just thought ah, few sights of London.
Makes you realize how large London is which ...
kind of obvious but you just think Monopoly,
an iconic board game is gonna be like
all those central iconic places
and it's a little bit more spread-out than that
so I'm quite looking forward to reaching the end.
(upbeat music)
- Go on, there he is, come on!
Ah, there he is, you beat me. - Ah, here she is.
- Ah, congratulations. - Well done kiddo.
How did you find it?
- (sighs) I'm a bit tired ... - Yeah.
- ... and I'm even more tired now I've realized
that I haven't won the money, to be honest, but ...
- It was pretty hectic out there, gotta say.
- Yeah, I mean ... - Here he is!
- Hey guys!
- How's it going? - Hello.
- I've had an amazing day in London, what about you?
- You look incredibly fresh, surprisingly, Fraser.
- Well that's 'cause I maybe wasn't running
or cycling, but ...
- Fraser, where's the money?
- First things first, yeah yeah, okay.
- Oh, rub it in, why not?
- I feel like there was a ... - Look at that!
- No, no, no, no, no, I'm not finished yet.
- I feel like there was a little bit more.
- Do I get some? Do I get some?
A little ... - No.
- ... like a consolation prize?
- If this was real money, obviously I should be spending it
on some property but ... - Don't tell Mark.
- Oh, thank you.
- ... I think I might just get a haircut,
sort out this beard that everyone's been complaining about.
- Are you not gonna treat the team?
- Yeah some dinner, maybe?
- I mean, we've worked hard enough all day.
- Maybe, you can take that one.
- Thanks for that.
- Well, anyway, we've had fun,
even if we are pretty knackered
and just have fake money at the end of the day
but if you've enjoyed it as much as us
then give us some thumb-up like,
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- Yeah, and if you'd like to see
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