Race Review: Get A Clue Scavenger Hunt
Sat. June 14th, 2014
Sat. June 14th, 2014
Welcome to Canby, Oregon for the "Get A Clue Scavenger Race"! I wasn't sure exactly what to anticipate and had some guesses, but I wasn't ready for this....
I am completely hooked. Do we have to wait a whole year for another one of these? It was so much fun and less intimidating being in a smaller town while tracking down clues, asking local non racers for assistance and popping in and out of the local businesses for clues and tasks to compete for points.
We met at the fairgrounds and approximately 27 teams of 2 to 5 people gathered until it was time for the team captains to form a circle. In the circle we held up our hands in the air holding our envelopes with the list of clues and destinations we each needed to locate. We all counted down until the appropriate time we could tear them open and dash off to the first location with our teams.
Maybe we dashed off a little too quickly.
The list of destinations was not in a particular order, or maybe they were. The were certainly NOT listed in order of who was closest and which were near each other. This takes some strategy and planning to determine which locations would be best to hit first.
I'm not exactly map savvy and I was really grateful to Kelly with Run Oregon to give me the tip about where streets had NW in front of them and where to locate the streets with only N. or S. and where the SE streets could be located.
I certainly didn't plan as well as I should have, and after a really long trek to one of the clue destinations, I begged a passing team for a piggyback ride. They laughed and said they were going to ask me the same thing (even though they were running faster and passed me). As he flew by, he commented that they had ran a total of 8 miles!! Talk about a long run day! I didn't turn my gps watch on (and meant to) but I'm pretty sure with my lack of planning and backtracking, that I was one of those teams that covered 6+ miles. I do know that after sitting for awhile, I was bow legged and sore for the rest of the day.
Some destinations would give you another clue as your reward for locating them. This clue would lead you to yet another destination not on the original list.
Other destinations had fun challenges to do on site, such as maneuvering through a "hot lava" maze or building a certain project out of legos.
Maybe we dashed off a little too quickly.
The list of destinations was not in a particular order, or maybe they were. The were certainly NOT listed in order of who was closest and which were near each other. This takes some strategy and planning to determine which locations would be best to hit first.
I'm not exactly map savvy and I was really grateful to Kelly with Run Oregon to give me the tip about where streets had NW in front of them and where to locate the streets with only N. or S. and where the SE streets could be located.
I certainly didn't plan as well as I should have, and after a really long trek to one of the clue destinations, I begged a passing team for a piggyback ride. They laughed and said they were going to ask me the same thing (even though they were running faster and passed me). As he flew by, he commented that they had ran a total of 8 miles!! Talk about a long run day! I didn't turn my gps watch on (and meant to) but I'm pretty sure with my lack of planning and backtracking, that I was one of those teams that covered 6+ miles. I do know that after sitting for awhile, I was bow legged and sore for the rest of the day.
Some destinations would give you another clue as your reward for locating them. This clue would lead you to yet another destination not on the original list.
Other destinations had fun challenges to do on site, such as maneuvering through a "hot lava" maze or building a certain project out of legos.
My awesome team mate balancing through the "hot lava" maze.
After completing each task, teams were awarded cards with numbers on them. These were our "points" which we turned in before the designated ending time. Teams were also trying to keep an eye out for special "bonus items" hidden throughout town. Each team could collect up to two items and redeem those for extra points. Those items can be found here.
All teams needed to check back in at our start point by 11:30am. Teams that checked in late, were docked one point for each minute or were disqualified if more than 10 minutes late.
Points were tallied up and the top three teams with the most points were awarded the "golden shoe" medals and all teams were given raffle tickets in the number of how many points they had earned. We could then place our raffle tickets in drawings for various prizes donated by local businesses, many of which were the good sports who hosted clues and challenges for this race.
An event like this is made successful by all the generous support of the local businesses, and I got to know Canby a lot better. My team mate and I did a lot more walking around town and some window shopping after the race with the various businesses who were open that morning. I don't think we actually left Canby until 3pm. I think this is a race that the local businesses will want to support and be a part of!
All teams needed to check back in at our start point by 11:30am. Teams that checked in late, were docked one point for each minute or were disqualified if more than 10 minutes late.
Points were tallied up and the top three teams with the most points were awarded the "golden shoe" medals and all teams were given raffle tickets in the number of how many points they had earned. We could then place our raffle tickets in drawings for various prizes donated by local businesses, many of which were the good sports who hosted clues and challenges for this race.
An event like this is made successful by all the generous support of the local businesses, and I got to know Canby a lot better. My team mate and I did a lot more walking around town and some window shopping after the race with the various businesses who were open that morning. I don't think we actually left Canby until 3pm. I think this is a race that the local businesses will want to support and be a part of!
Jennifer and I getting to know some of the businesses in Canb while completing challenges.
I know now what I'd do differently next time, and I'm pumped to give this another go! I might not place in the top three, but I want to finish this with all the challenges complete next time! In the two hours I had to do this, we didn't quite get through our list.
Next time, Canby. Next time.
Check out their website here and facebook page here.
Next time, Canby. Next time.
Check out their website here and facebook page here.
