Both of us were excited, and I felt those anticipation butterflies in my stomach that used to come right before a big basketball game. A couple of guys were out front with umbrellas, greeting the arrivals.
"You here for the race?" one asked, "Go in and sign up at the front desk." We smiled and thanked them. "Good Luck!" the other one called as we walked inside.
At the front desk we were given bags for our coats, then our ID's were checked against a roster of participants. "Ah you're the "Real Gold" team." The gal at the front desk said, giving us back our drivers licenses. We chatted a bit while putting our coats into some bags that had been provided. "Leave your things here" They told us. "Someone will be watching them, and you can get them back at the end of the race. "
We were directed to a large room with tables facing the front. Each table had two chairs tucked under it, and a pen sitting on top. Other teams of two were already settled in, chatting or playing nervously with the pens. We sat down and wondered what was coming next. The whole race was a secret. We even had to sign a legal looking form that said we would not talk about the race until 4pm that evening. All we knew was that it was being styled after the television show "The Amazing Race" and that there would be physical activity involved. We watched the clock move closer to noon and waited for our instructions.
A man and a woman were sitting at the front of the room, both in uniform. The Salvation Army has maintained a uniform policy, and it's workers are often given military titles. As the hands on the clock lined up at 12, they stood up and began to give us instructions.
"You must follow your clues exactly." They said "You may not ask for guidance from any of the volunteers. If you do not follow the instructions as they are written you will have to repeat the challenge."
As they spoke, they handed out large white manilla envelopes with "The Most Amazing Race" enscribed over a Salvation Army logo and a round map. "You must wait to open your first clue as a group." they directed. "There are 49 teams. Six teams will be competing in this heat, more will compete every hour. You are not competing so much against each other as against the clock. The top 15 times will qualify for the main event. "Now, the moment you've been waiting for... ready... set... Go!"
Six envelopes ripped open simultaniously. Inside a small piece of paper gave instructions
"Inside this envelope there is a map, and a list of six locations. You must find each of these locations on the map and write down the coordinates for each. You must have each location correct before you can continue."
We looked at the locations, street addresses, landmarks, parks... this wasn't going to be easy. We had only found three of the six locations when the team next to us got up to turn in their list. "Oh no" I breathed, "We're in trouble."
"Three wrong!" The official told them, they hurried dejectedly back to their seats to try again. Jonathan and I bent closer to the map.
"J-4" I said. He copied it down on the coordinates sheet. "Evergreen Park? Where's that?" We asked each other. "Check the key on the back" Jonathan said.
"Two wrong!" Another team hurried back to their seats.
I found Evergreen Drive in the street list, we flipped the map back over and Jonathan pointed in the far right corner. "There it is!"
We hurried up to the front and gave the official our answers. He compared them with his sheet while we wondered how many we would have to fix. Without a word he handed it back and held forth and envelope! We were right--and we were the first one's done!
I did a little happy dance. Hands shaking we tore open the envelope.
"Go into the kitchen.
Your team must choose a plate and finish everything on it.
When you have finished and your mouths are empty you may get your next clue."
We dashed into the kitchen. Paper plates were arranged on the table. Each one had a large can of sardines and two paper cups filled with a dark, suspicious-looking liquid.
"At least it's just Sardines." Jonathan said, displaying relief that it wasn't anything grosser. We decided to wait on the drinks until we finished the fish. "This is disgusting" I said, "Do we have to drink the oil in the sardine can too?" There was no answer from the smiling volunteers. "It will help it go down easier." Jonathan replied, taking a large bite of sardine. We were choking down the last of the sardines when I decided to go for one of the cups. "Looks kind of like motor oil" I commented, smelling it. "Oh! it's only prune juice! Drink it, it will help with the dry oilyness of the sardines."
We finished our plate, somewhat amazed that none of the other teams had made it to the kitchen yet. After our mouths were checked we were handed our third clue.
"Follow the Salvation Army logo's on the floor to your next challenge."
We found a sticker stuck to the floor, and then another--a whole path of them, and we raced off following them.
We ended up in a large gym. A man handed us an envelope as we entered.
"Go across the gym and get a basketball. Make a basket to get your next clue."
I decided to do this one, since I happen to love basketball. Funny thing though, My hands were still oily from the sardines so as I ran up to make what should have been an easy layup, I tried grabbing the ball from my dribble and completely lost it. The ball hit my foot and rolled across the floor. "Arghh!" I groaned. I finally made a shot and returned the basketball.
Jonathan was up next. His task was to run two large bags of salt (at least 40lbs each) from one end of the gym to the other--one at a time. Then I had to search the bleachers for a hidden envelope that contained the next clue.
"Find the garage on the North West corner of the gym." It said, "There you will find your next challenge."
"What way is South?" I asked. "I'm not sure." Said Jonathan as we spun around trying to get our bearings. "Let's try the doors one at a time."
Luckily it was the first door we ran to. Inside were more volunteers and a medium dumpbox (the kind that gets delivered to your house on a big truck, and you can throw away remodeling scraps or yard debris, that sort of thing)--filled with foam packing peanuts!
Our next clue explained it.
"One member of your team must enter the dumpbox" it said "there you must find a hidden rubber ball. Get out and give that ball to the official. To complete this challenge both teammates must stand on the Salvation Army shield (sticker) on the floor."
Jonathan was already putting on the supplied dust mask. "Go for it hon!" I yelled, as he dove into the packing peanuts. He disappeared completely from view for quite a few seconds. We could see the peanuts flowing over where he was searching for the ball, and a moment later he was up--victorious!
He jumped out and we both moved to the shield on the floor.
"Eleven Minutes and Thirty Four Seconds." The timekeeper announced. "What?!" We both asked. "We're done?" We looked at each other excitedly, we hadn't seen another team since the start of the compitition, we were first in our heat. Of course that didn't mean that we had qualified, just that we had a better time than the people we were racing with. There were 43 other teams to think about too.
It was five full minutes before another team finished up. We got some water while we waited and then stayed to watch the other 5 teams take their turn to dive in the dumster. All in all a very amusing show.
We were not to find out that we had made the final 15 until the following Monday. But we both left excited and happy about the events of the afternoon.
Now we're waiting for the Big Race at the end of May. While this was just a qualifying event, and under 15 minutes, the real race is supposed to take most of the day, and will be happening all over the Twin Cities. The competing teams will only be allowed to use public transportation as they try to figure out each clue and outrace the others.
It will be a fun event. But most importantly, it's a fundraising event that's supporting a great cause. we are really excited to be a part of it.
~Christina
No comments:
Post a Comment