The 2nd Isle of Wight Fiat 500 Fun Run....May 10th 2009.
The date had been set, the invitations sent and planning for the 2009 Fiat 500 Fun Run was well and truly underway. With interest growing not just locally but from around the Country this, our second Fun Run was promising to eclipse last years event and possibly produce the largest gathering of new Fiat 500’s ever seen in the UK.
With over 70 cars confirming attendance (including twelve cars from the mainland) and some 150 enthusiastic 500 fans, the event needed planning down to the last detail. Highways and the Police were notified and as there was to be an Island-wide Treasure Hunt, twin routes and two separate clue sets had to be created to ensure the traffic was kept moving. The routes were carefully considered to take in some of the Islands natural beauty spots (particularly for the benefit of our mainland visitors) and to avoid areas of possible congestion. Crossover points were included so that on occasions the Fun Run participants could wave to their counterparts as they passed in the opposite direction.
Each car was given a team name and a comprehensive set of clues consisting of 160 questions, the answers to which would be found on route. To add a little fun the teams were given a piece of string and this needed to be used to answer a number of questions along the way – including taking the measurement of a giants boots !
The Treasure Hunt finished at Havenstreet Steam Railway where all the cars were parked up together and the Fun Run teams settled down for a well-deserved lunch. As a special surprise a ride on the steam train had been organised for the afternoon.
As the day drew to a close other cars were still joining the event, some had not been able to make it earlier in the day due to last minute commitments but the late arrival of two original Fiat 500’s and a limited edition ‘Ferrari’ 500 added some final interest to the day.
By 5.00pm the sun was starting to go down on what for many was a truly memorable day. New friends were made, new corners of the Island explored and for one day at least thanks to the efforts of an enthusiastic team from Harwoods, an amazing group of 500 owners, some glorious weather and of course the fabulous Fiat 500, we put the ‘fun’ back into motoring.
The event was a huge success, here are just a few of the comments posted on the Fiat Forum;
RobTuck
"It totally lived up to its name. We had so much fun, and everyone was definitely getting into the spirit of it. We passed so many other `runners` whilst driving back and forth, and every wave made my grin bigger! I particularly remember one village we drove through, where about 5 or 6 of us were in convoy, and the people stopped to watch us drive by!"
Black Pearl
"Wot a wonderful day, our thanks to Tim and Andy and the nice lady coffee maker and any others that were behind the scenes. Excellent day and looking forward to next year. Fantastic turnout particularly those from the mainland"
Yellow Luigi
"We would like to add our thanks to all the team at Harwoods and everyone from the Island and the Mainland. It was great fun going on the fun run, (but I think I now know every footpath on the Island) and it was lovely to meet you all, old and new friends"
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Lloyd71
"Thanks to everyone at Harwoods who put the time and effort into making it such a brilliant day, I had amazingly good fun despite not doing the questions and the photo ops were second to none!"
Melanabb
"A HUGE thanks to Tim and the rest at Harwoods for a brilliant day out!!!"
"We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and it mattered not one bit we got massively lost on IOW during the treasure hunt, so I`m pleased to announce that we predictably came well deserved last! Well done us!!"
"It was nice to see some known faces and to meet some new ones and all in all we had great day out. Can`t wait for the next one!!"
Voluptua
"A Brilliant day out. Thanks."
FragglePete
"A big thanks here from Tina and myself for a fantastic day out".
"Sitting at my work desk a little bleary eye`d and tired; after picking up the kids from their Grandparents, we eventually got home at around 11pm".
"Thorougly enjoyed ourselves. Really good to meet and make some new friends".
Mark Elvin
"A big thanks here too from me to the team from Harwoods, you shouldn`t under estimate what you pulled off today, I think everybody had a brilliant time, never heard a single complaint from anybody".
"Biggest & most friendly treasure hunt I`ve been on, makes such a refreshing change to find a dealer that is so enthusiastic & friendly".
BigMerc
"To All Fiat 500 drivers who were on the Isle of Wight run!
We saw you all on Military Road near Atherfield this afternoon. You gave our 4 year old son the time of his life as he loves `Luigis`. He shouted and waved at any one of you he saw". 
Rob W
“Huge well done to Tim, Andrew and the team at Harwoods - it was a great weekend and the best attended single model event I have been to in years, you should all feel very proud what you achieved”.
”Great to see the enthusiasm of all the 500 owners and for making us all feel welcome, IOW is cool and I will be back soon”.
BookLady
"Just really wanted to say a massive THANK YOU to Tim and the team at Harwoods, we have literally just walked through the door and have had a fantastic weekend and today was just brilliant, you even got the weather we all ordered"
"Great to catch up with our 500 friends and meet loads of new ones".
And a few further shots from the day.....Our thanks to everyone who contributed photo`s from the event.
The day presented a perfect opportunity for some scenic photography.
Team Black Pearl in their specially made tee-shirts..
The whole family were invited !!
There were prizes for the winners including Fiat 500 Racing Sets and Remote Control Cars
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