Adventure Race: Part II

Urban Adventure Race: Part 2

“Do you know what Finnish company is the leading cell phone manufacturer?” After taking a picture of A.J. (to prove our existence at the checkpoint) and getting samples of licorice (that unfortunately tasted like licorice), we texted “Nokia” to the special number. The answer was correct and we received a follow up clue, directing us to a place that was famous for “canned” beer (there is a bar in Charlotte called Cans). We knew where that was, and we didn’t want to immediately go there, so we headed off to a restaurant who’s name meant “Life” in Greek.

Jerrod was having a hard time with the clue, but we knew the location. A new development just outside the perimeter of uptown was being built and it was called The Metropolitan at Midtown. So, we ran toward it. Then we jogged toward it. Then we walked. It was crazy far away. A.J. was in much better shape so he could have run the whole way, but he couldn’t carry me at the same time. Just before we got to midtown (and after passing other racers coming from that direction), Jerrod figured out that Zoe was one of the words meaning life. Fortunately, there was a Zoe’s kitchen, just another couple miles off in the distance (or so it seemed). Once we got to Zoe’s, our challenge was to pitch a meal item to the server. Being a server, this was pretty easy. Ironically, “being a server with limited menu knowledge where I work” actually became a skill usable in the race.

The follow-up clue to this challenge was to go back to The Crowne Plaza hotel and find a room that corresponded with a long mathematical equation that was given us. The answer: Room 1126. The Challenge: Paper Turkeys to be given to kids at the children’s hospital. I forgot to fold the paper in half when cutting out the hands, so I had to cut a second set of 4 to make the full set. The people next to us were cutting each hand separately. That must have taken forever. See glorious turkey picture.

Upon exiting the Crowne Plaza, we looked across the street to see where we had started the race. It was now evident we had planned poorly, being back so close to the finish line with so many clues and challenges left. We ran towards the center city to find the light rail to take us to Southend. We hoped that on the way Jerrod would solve the text about a gym, a clown, and our southernmost point.

The light rail was something of an enigma for us at first. We walked up onto the platform and stood there to wait. Then it occurred to A.J. that we were probably supposed to pay. I hadn’t seen any method for giving anyone money, and being out of breath and less patient than normal, I was content to ride the train for free unless it was obvious how to pay. A.J. further insisted that we try harder to give the city money, so we rode an elevator down one story. We arrived at the underpass for a road. No office. No kiosk. No “put money here, take ticket there.” I sprinted back up the stairs worried about missing the train (nothing like a race to make me lose common sense). After much searching, we found a ticket dispenser and we paid and got tickets. Jerrod told me they have troubles with people not paying to ride. Seems silly to me to rely on honesty for public transit funding. Are turnstiles really that expensive?

Jerrod eventually came through with the clue. Before we actually got to the gym though, we got off the light rail in a rather “industrial” area. Jerrod told me on Google Maps it looked like not such a good place. Had it been dark, it definitely would have been uncomfortable. Once we got near where we thought this place was, we saw a kid’s gym and at least two other locations that could have been answers to the clue. We couldn’t find the Ultimate Crossfit (the answer). A group of racers began to amass, all of us sort of lost, but sure we were in the right area. One person would run around a corner and we would all run to the corner to find out where they were going (which was wrong). Then someone else would run across the street so we would all sprint to their location to find another closed business. It was quite comedic. Finally, we saw someone leaving a door at the end of the park, and we all ran there, and we were right

“Pukie” the clown is apparently the mascot of this place called Ultimate Cross-fit. Sure enough, when we got there, we did some crazy exercises that would indeed make me vomit had I been out of shape and doing a one hour workout (which may or may not have been harder than running around the city for 3 hours). Interestingly enough though, the exercises were similar to what I have been doing in my Muay Thai/ Jiu-Jitsu training.

Once set free from this gym, we sprinted back towards the light rail in search of a Lounge that had shared the name of the fictional science project from the show Lost (in hindsight…that’s kind of funny…Lost).

Urban Adventure Race- Part 1

Charlotte Go Urban Adventure Race- The story

Step 1: Recruitment
I got an email from a sort of boss of mine at Venture that there was an upcoming “Urban” Adventure race. The problem was that the email was two weeks before the race, and only a few days before the price increase deadline. So, I quickly called a bunch of people I knew and sent out facebook messages. It seemed like nobody actually answered their phones when I called…as if they knew I was calling with a moderately crazy idea. Finally, a guy named AJ who used to work at Venture sort of acquiesced and agreed to be my partner. Teams had to be two people. Once I got another person to run along side me, I had to find a support crew. The race suggested either carrying a laptop (i.e. an electronic weight), bringing an I-Phone or some other internet accessible phone (umm…sometimes I eat out of the dumpster, so I wouldn’t ever spend that kind of money), or get a friend to look up stuff on the computer for you. Enter Jerrod. He would later become the most important part of the plan. Step 2: The race Race day finally arrived. As I was trying to recruit people and when AJ asked me about what we would be doing, I really had very little idea what was going to happen. Conversations went something like this: “Hey, you want to do an urban adventure race with me?” “Urban? What does that entail?” “Well, I am not totally sure. I have looked at the website. There is text messaging involved. I imagine they will give us points and you gotta run to them. They say there are challenges. Then probably more running. All I really know is it probably takes lots of running.” Well, now that I read it, maybe people were afraid of the amount of running. While I generally don’t advocate for having fear, in hindsight I can recognize that there was an inordinate amount of running.
Anyway, I called Jerrod the morning of the race around 11:30. The race started at noon and I needed Jerrod to use Google to help decipher the clues and help me get from point to point. Jerrod was at Home Depot when I called, taking advantage of appliance tax incentives. He promised he would be in front of his computer though by noon. At 11:50 I called him again, a little worried. He told me he was on his way home, and would get there right after he stopped at Lowes to check some more prices. I pleaded that he hurry because I NEEDED him at the computer at noon. We were going to be helpless, unless we were able to solve clues on our own, which I didn’t see happening. Then Jerrod told me he was just kidding and he was pulling in the driveway. Jenn, his girlfriend, also said hi.
Clue 1:
Once the race started, we knew what we had gotten ourselves into. We were given 4 texted clues. After getting to each of the 4 locations, we would do a task and get 4 new clues for new locations with 4 new tasks. After 8 locations and 8 tasks, we would have to race back to Marshall Park.
Our first clue had something to do with “ScanFest” and a foreign flag with blue and white on it. Jerrod found out that S.C.A.N. (Society for Creative Anachronism) was having a convention at the Wachovia Atrium. So, we sprinted there to get our first challenge….