600 students, 13 Pubs and only one night; it could only be the Dental Beer Race. This year the streets of Whitechapel were once again stunned by the creativity of the fancy dress costumes produced by the students from Barts and the London. The fabulous array of costumes delved from hand made Transformer outfits to ‘Barbie’s in a box’. An amazing effort was made by all the students.

The DentSoc team provided each student with a list of pubs in the race. The race began at the student union Griffin Bar, and continued along Mile End Road until the students reached Wetherspoons, where a ‘U-turn’ was made in order to head back towards the Griffin Bar. Members from the society and volunteers were located at the bars to stamp and verify attendance. The bars and pubs involved were very welcoming and their humble nature was much appreciated. At each ‘stop’ the avid racers quenched their thirst; some for pleasure, others for the mighty crown of the winners of the Dental Beer Race. In the end it was a dead heat between the ‘Hooters’ and the ‘Tampons’.

An amazing 10m Viking Vessel was made by a group of students which ‘sailed’ gently along the usual ‘25’ bus route, providing an alternative transport route which may be considered by Boris Johnson in the near future! In this epic race the Cave women finally met the Flinestones, the Indian Policemen met the Convicts, and the Grooms finally met their Brides.

The spectacular costumes came in all shapes and sizes such as the monster Berries to the human shaped ‘Henry’ the vacuum cleaner, this is just to name a small number of fancy dress outfits. By the evening, the streets of Whitechapel had been transformed into a fanatical carnival atmosphere which continued into the early hours of the next morning. All the proceeds of the event which massed to a final of £2,200 was donated to RAG (Raise and Give to Charity).

This event was an ideal opportunity for the entire dental and medical school to relax, socialise and enjoy an event that represents the true ethos of Barts and the London: ‘Work hard, play hard’.

Vimal Patel