Where can we begin? What a weekend...

The dust hasn't even settled yet, but we feel we need to make some sort of quick update following this weekend's mammoth event.

Firstly, many thanks to all those who took part. From the feedback we're getting it was an event you'll never forget (and hopefully not  just for queuing on the M40!) Thank you for abiding by our rules - that is very much appreciated and made the weekend, particularly Saturday so much easier to manage.  You entered into the spirit of the event as we intended. We even got a phone call from one of the police forces who's region we passed through on Saturday complimenting us on our driving standards. Thank you also for staggering your arrival at Banbury on Sunday. We had visions of 1000+ cars all turning up at bang on 10am, but you took our advice to arrive between 8and 10 and in doing so caused no problems to other road users in Banbury and none of you were delayed in getting parked up. 

To the public who turned out on almost every flyover from Lanark to Banbury, the crowd awaiting us at Charnock Richards and those who supported us from Banbury to Warwick with banners, flags (and even an inflatable Subaru!) , on behalf of EVERYONE who took part

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT. YOU ARE AWESOME

The various Subaru forums are buzzing with talk of the support we got from the public. It was way beyond what we expected and made the event extra special, although even more emotional than it already was. Again, our humble thanks.

To Strathclyde Police, Thames Valley Police and Warwickshire Police - many, many thanks for your support. You have all been great and we could not have done it without you. To Dumfries & Galloway Police we say boo, hiss for being the ONLY force on the route to put out a scamera van.

Blame is being apportioned on the Police for the traffic issues at Junction 15 of the M40 and for some participants getting lost due to lack of signage. The Police are absolutely not to blame for this. This falls under the remit of the Highways Agency who declined, despite many requests for help, to assist with this. They would not allow us to put up proper signage, would not put up signage themselves and assured us the Roundabout at Junction 15 coped with more traffic than we were going to have every rush hour every day. Please don't blame the Police as they have been fantastic with their support.

Apologies to those who got lost. As soon as we realised what was going on we sent Marshals out to the relevant junctions. They stood there in the rain for several hours to see as many as possible got to Warwick without any problems whilst others were out roaming and looking for stragglers to guide them in. Thanks to those who helped out - including the spectators who stepped in to help.

We also apologise for the Raffle not being drawn at Warwick. It was obvious people were keen to get home and the weather was worsening fast. We'll announce the winners shortly and advise how to claim your prize and also the auction of the remaining items.

For those who haven't yet seen the photo of the World Record-breaking mosaic which appeared in some of today's papers:

We also found this rather amusing (apologies to Carlsberg for the blatant breach of copyright)

Finally, as mentioned previously, we want your photos and feedback! The McRae Gathering was a strictly unique and one-off event. It will NOT, despite requests, EVER happen again. The long-term plan is to turn this website into a permanent record of our tribute to a great man with the best of your photos and comments along with the fantastic feedback we've received from the general public who witnessed us - either on bridges or people who just happened to see us on our travels and felt the need to comment. We'll provide details on how to send photos in shortly, but we would like your comments and stories from the event - whether you did the whole thing or just Sunday. Positive comments would be preferred as we all know about the J15 and signage problems and there is nothing we can do about that now. you can submit your feedback via the "Contact Us" link to the left.

There will be more from us soon once we have time to draw breath, but it was important we got an update out as soon as possible after the event

McRae Gathering Team