Thrills, spills in fast dash across India

METRO LEG: Rickshaw runners Nick Jacques (left) and Brandon Love-Allen during a metropolitan leg of their 3500km trek across India with fellow Wairarapa College old boy Matthew Fleet.

For three Wairarapa College old boys a 3500km rickshaw race across India frustrated, amazed and almost killed them. But they would do it all again, they say.

The Rickshaw Run is both the dumbest and the best thing anyone could ever do, the trio concluded after driving a three-wheeled, seven-horsepower tuk-tuk along poorly maintained Indian roads over 16 days.

Sharing the road with "merciless" bus and truck drivers flying past at breakneck speeds, they barely escaped death, or at least a severe maiming.

"We'd had plenty of near collisions, even clipped a couple of cars and bikes.

"But there was one time when we found ourselves sandwiched between a truck on our left and an oncoming truck on our right, that actually clipped our wing mirror as it went past," said Hamilton-based Matthew Fleet, who did the race last month with Masterton man Nick Jacques and Brandon Love-Allen from Perth.

"I'd estimate we were about four inches away from being obliterated."

Despite their fair share of close calls and one spark plug-related breakdown that they insist was the dirty work of another team, the boys and their "trusty steed" came 36th out of 83 teams - no easy feat since there has never been a Rickshaw Run where every team has finished.

The race, which took them from northeastern Shillong to Kochi, on India's southwest coast, has "no rules, no route and no support" but the friends found help from people they met along the way.

"I fail to believe that anybody on this planet is nicer than Indians.

"Any time we pulled over we'd be surrounded by locals in a matter of seconds, all trying to see if we're broken down and need any help," Mr Fleet said.

As Kiwi blokes, nothing could prevent them from naming their tuk-tuk "Buzz" and painting the machine in the colours of the iconic Buzzy Bee toy, or tuning in while on the road to an All Blacks match.

While Mr Fleet manoeuvred the wheel during a lightning storm, Mr Jacques and Mr Love-Allen had their ears glued to a live radio stream of an All Blacks versus Wallabies match, pausing only when the rickshaw almost tipped over into a giant puddle.