Jailbreak teams head for mystery Balkan destination

Some 88 teams from eight different Irish universities are currently in the process of trying to get to a mystery location in the Balkans as part of the Jailbreak challenge.

The teams set off from Collins Barracks at 9am on Saturday with the goal of reaching the mystery destination with 36 hours without paying their way to get there.

The rules of the popular Jailbreak challenge were changed last year after criticism that it was too simple just to award the challenge to those who got furthest away from Ireland.

The challenge was won by two students who got to Sydney after their flights were sponsored.

Instead, each of the teams can take a flight of no longer than two hours duration and then they cannot take a follow-on flight from the same country.

One team which got to Zurich Airport were penalised with a seven hour penalty because the flight was two hours and 15 minutes.

Already this year's Jailbreak challenge has raised more than €50,000 for the two charities involved Amnesty International and St Vincent de Paul. The goal is to raise €100,000.

It is now Ireland’s largest student-run charity challenge and attracts huge attention on social media.

Each team has to raise at least €2,200. Many manage to get to their destinations through corporate sponsors, others by persuading travel companies to give them a free seat.

You can follow the teams' progress at jailbreakhq.org