The mother-and-daughter duo behind Spaghetti Tree, Maria & Dana, swapped dinner dances for an adventure of a lifetime by taking on ‘The Rat Run’ a banger rally all the way from the UK to Benidorm over a 10 day mental race that saw them stopped by the police, lose bits off their car, get punctures, cuts and grazes all while having a run in with concrete and conkers!!!
They have raised almost £10,000 for Alzheimer’s Society so far through their just giving page.
The duo said: “For more than 20 years, we’ve been incredibly proud to support charities close to our hearts. Through our fundraising events together with our amazing customers, friends, family and local community, we’ve raised over £500,000 for different charities. But this year, we did something a little different.”
Read their full story in the most hilarious diary they kept on their travels here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/spaghettitree?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL
DAY 1… AND WE’RE OFF!
First off, we head to the car meet in Dover, meeting the rest of the Rat Run crew and finally cross that START LINE!
First Stop… Dover, UK to Rouen, France
What an absolutely incredible atmosphere! There’s such a warm feeling of community here. Everyone has been so welcoming, so friendly and completely up for the adventure ahead!
And the effort that has gone into these cars… WOW!
We genuinely cannot believe how much time, creativity and dedication everyone has put into making this charity fundraiser something really special.
Different cars. Different teams. Different stories.
But we’re all here for the same reason — to raise as much money as possible for incredible causes. For us it’s the Alzheimer’s Society.
We’re only on Day One and already it feels like this is going to be an adventure we’ll never forget!
DAY 2… IT’S NOT ALL SUNSHINE & RAINBOWS
The morning started with an absolute BANG… quite literally for Loredana! Within minutes of starting the day, Loredana managed to trip over a conker and FLY about 2ft through the air!
A few cuts and grazes later… She’s Ok.
Her dignity, however, may take a little longer to recover.
Then it was time to hit the road…. next stop: Le Mans.
And just when we thought the day couldn’t get any more eventful… the heavens opened!
Right in the middle of their drive to Le Mans, Maria & Loredana found themselves battling through a huge storm!
Needless to say… both survived!
And somehow, despite being battered, bruised and nearly washed away, Loredana still seemed absolutely THRILLED with life… serenading her mum with her very own rendition of a French anthem!
Poor Maria… first the broken horn, now this to contend with:
- Cuts
- Grazes
- Storms
- French Serenade (nobody asked for!)
DAY 3… BORDEAUX TO ZARAGOZA
Well… what can we say about today?! Madness. Sambuca. Wheel spins. Donuts. Just another completely normal day on the Rat Run! But most importantly… Penelope Pitstop made it to Spain!
Against all odds, after everything we’ve thrown at her over the last few days, our little rally car has officially crossed the border from France into Spain!
And obviously there was only one way to celebrate…SAMBUCA!!!
Today has been full of belly laughs, absolute chaos and memories that Maria & Loredana will be talking about for YEARS to come. From Bordeaux to Zaragoza, Penelope Pittstop just keeps on going…luckily.
DAY 4… THE CRACKS ARE STARTING TO SHOW!
We always knew driving an old banger across Europe wasn’t going to be plain sailing… and Penelope Pittstop has decided to remind us of that at the VERY last minute! First up… mechanical/technical difficulties!
The roof decided it WOULD NOT CLOSE for no reason!
Because obviously, why would anything be straightforward this close to the finish line?!
Then… just when we thought the evening couldn’t get any more eventful…we got pulled over by the Police!
For absolutely NO reason! So how did Maria deal with the interrogation?
Did she panic? No.
Did she argue? No.
She simply told the Police to donate to our charity!
Did they donate? NOPE.
BUT… they told us to move along, no fines were had, and Penelope lived to fight another day!
And it turns out… it’s not just our car showing the cracks! A few of our fellow Rat Run cars have definitely seen better days.
We started this crazy adventure with over 250 cars and only 10% haven’t made it this far!
So the fact that Penelope Pittstop is STILL going deserves a little round of applause!
DAY 5… WE DID IT!!! PENELOPE MADE IT TO BENIDORM!!!
We actually made it! After everything Penelope has been through… the breakdowns, the broken horn, the storms, the roof refusing to close, the police encounter and all the absolute chaos along the way… she crossed the rat run finish line!!!n And wow… what a welcome!
The atmosphere was INSANE, the energy was CRAZY and the convoy into Benidorm was absolutely TOP CLASS!
Hundreds of crazy cars, horns going, people cheering, everyone celebrating together…
And Maria?! Maria felt like the queen of Benidorm!
We laughed our way through most of this journey…but crossing that finish line actually felt quite emotional. All the people we’ve met, the friendships we’ve made, the stories we’ve heard and the memories we’ve created…this is something we will hold onto forever.
The Rat Run Family 2026 — We actually made it!!! Well… not everyone made it that took part out of the hundreds of drivers. But what an incredible effort from everyone who took part!
However… there is one slight problem. For most people, Benidorm is the finish line. For Maria & Loredana… Benidorm is only the halfway point!!! Because now we have to turn Penelope around and get her… all the way back to the UK… alone!
No Rat Run convoy. No support crew. No mechanics coming to the rescue.
Just Maria, Loredana and our ‘trusty’ Penelope Pittstop.
DAY 6… AND WE’RE ON OUR OWN!
Benidorm, Valencia, Barcelona. Well… the Rat Run family have officially left us and now it’s just Maria, Loredana & Penelope Pitstop attempting to make our way home!
‘ALL BY MYSELLLLFFFFF…’
Because quite literally… WE ARE! We already miss the Rat Run family, the madness, the crazy convoys, the horns, the laughs and having absolutely NO IDEA what was going on half the time.
But here we are… WE MOVE!
A few technical difficulties along the way — because obviously this journey couldn’t possibly go smoothly — but the energy is high and we are fully embracing the Spanish vibe! And somewhere between Benidorm and Valencia, Loredana’s ADHD has well and truly entered the chat.
Maria has absolutely no idea what she’s in for on this journey home…
Will Penelope Pitstop make it?
Will Maria survive Loredana?
Will Loredana stay focused for longer than 30 seconds?
All will be answered soon!
DAY 7… BARCELONA TO NARBONNE, FRANCE
And once again… WE ALMOST DIDN’T MAKE IT. Turns out trying to find diesel in Barcelona city centre is apparently like trying to find gold dust.
The fuel gauge was getting lower…
And lower…
And LOWER…
Loredana started to PANIC. Maria remained… well, Maria! And at one point we were quite literally TOUCHING CLOTH!
BUT Penelope Pitstop pulled through AGAIN and we finally found diesel before we ended up pushing her through Barcelona ourselves.
DAY 8… AND IT HAS NOT STARTED WELL!
Just when Maria & Loredana thought Penelope Pitstop had put them through enough… PUNCTURE. No problem, right? We’ll just get the jack out…
And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is when things started to get a little… HEATED.
A few bickers, a couple of blame games and probably some words we can’t repeat on social media later… they FINALLY managed to get it sorted!
Safe to say we were stuck in Narbonne for a few more hours than originally planned… which unfortunately meant we had to skip our planned trip to Champagne.
BUT the important thing is…Penelope’s legs are back to full working order!
The girls are back on the road, still speaking to each other… just about.
DAY 9… AND WE’RE LIVE ON RADIO JACKIE!
Penelope Pitstop is somehow STILL STANDING after everything we’ve put her through… so there really was only ONE song fitting enough for the occasion… I’M STILL STANDING! Thank you, Sir Elton John!
What we’ve had to endure on our travels so far:
- Punctures
- Warning lights failing
- Bits of the roof falling off
- No air-con
- A minor disagreement with some concrete
Thousands of miles later… PENELOPE IS STILL GOING! A huge thank you to Radio Jackie and BBC Radio Surrey for having Maria & Loredana live on their shows and helping us spread the word about our crazy adventure and, most importantly, the reason behind it all — raising money for the amazing Alzheimer’s Society.
DAY 10… WHAT A JOURNEY!
It’s been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, breakdowns, wrong turns, belly laughs, tears, questionable decisions and memories that we will genuinely NEVER forget. From the UK to Benidorm and all the way back again… Penelope Pitstop DID IT!
A HUGE shoutout to our Rat Run Rally 2026 family — what an absolute blast we had!
The convoys, the chaos, the friendships and the memories will stay with us forever.
We would HIGHLY recommend this charity fundraising experience to anyone considering doing it. What an adventure! But… IT’S NOT OVER YET!
Our Just Giving page will remain open for anyone who would still like to donate to the Alzheimer’s Society. We smashed our original £5,000 target, so naturally we did what any sensible people would do…
We’ll be holding a very special charity event at Spaghetti Tree, where our beloved Penelope Pitstop — covered in celebrity signatures — will be auctioned off to raise even more money!
Finally, the biggest THANK YOU to every single person who donated, shared our posts, sent messages, followed the madness and supported us along the way.
