The Monopoly Run evolved from an initial idea of Greg's and over the years has been expanded upon by Matt, with comments and contributions from some of the thousands of Scouts and Explorers who have taken part in the event since 2007.

Initially, it was designed as an activity for our district Explorers as a great way for them to do something different in London. We started small and used whiteboards and simple excel spreadsheets to keep track of the day, with each of the teams checking in their locations by phone. This wasn't to last very long and with the expansion of the event to include Scouts, it was quickly identified that an electronic system was needed in order to control the day and manage the multiple simultaneous games that we had started to run.

Within a few years, the interest generated by the game rapidly increased and groups from up and down the UK began registering to join us on the Run. Each subsequent year saw the numbers increasing and this provided us with a big challenge: we had to look at ways in which we could scale the event and still provide everyone with a responsive experience.

The central control of the game, from booking in teams to verifying their locations throughout the day, evolved from manning a few mobile phones to the creation of a fully working temporary call centre in our Scout Hut. When it became apparent that even with thirty 30 people answering phones, we just couldn't answer the calls quickly enough, we again turned to technology to help us. We created a brand-new mobile app, specifically designed and built for the event over several months. The new mobile app and the backend management system not only took the pressure off the original phone-based system but enabled us to introduce new ideas, such as allowing teams to make all of the locations in one day (if they have the stamina), something that just wasn't really possible before.

For us, the day is about having fun and creating a reason to visit some of London's well-known (and not so well-known) locations. For some of the participants, it's the first time that they will have been able to visit London and they do so as part of a large Scout/Guide-based event with their friends - what a great way to experience the city - as part of a live outdoor event.