The Amazing Ny Race

Last Sunday I took part in the amazing New York Race. It is, as the official website calls it, "Part scavenger hunt, part obstacle course, ALL New York." The races are organized by Pogo events and there are a multitude to choose from. All of which take you on an interesting hunt around NYC, trying to solve clues and complete tasks within the designated (approx 4 hour) time frame. I'm sure you're familiar with the CBS show, (which the website is quick to point out they are not at all affiliated with), so you can pretty much grasp the concept of the races.
The one I took part in last Sunday was the underground race. It took place entirely in the subway system, which even for a native NYer can be tricky to navigate at times. Anyway each team was given a packet at the start of the race, which included pictures of different places of interest withing the subway system. Murals, artwork and such. Some of which were fairly easy to locate (like the Alice in Wonderland mural at 50th st), and various tasks, such as "take a picture with a person wearing red shoes" and "take a picture with 5 men in suits in Grand Central". Each team had to take a picture to document their accomplishment of each thing on the list, and each team member had to be in the picture. There was also a road block,a mental road block, which was a list of letters,each of which was a letter from a famous corporate logo. And a detour which was a choice between either collecting 10 matchbooks from restaurants (near impossible in smoke free NY) or collecting 10 business cards from ice cream parlors. Everything on the list had points attributed to them, with a bonus 15 points if you arrived back at the meeting point by 5:45. My team of 3 (myself, Steven and Beth) choose the name "The F N 1ers"...the effin oners...nice NY tude eh? It was quite a whirlwind running around subterranean NY. For the most part the people we encountered were really into it. Everyone was pretty compliant with our at times weird demands. I mean is there really a non-weird way to ask someone if you and 2 friends can take a picture with them while they're talking on the phone? Or to buy a newspaper just to ask someone to "please pretend to do the crossword puzzle, while we take a picture?"
The few notable, non compliant individuals were: the surly token booth agent who refused to let us take a picture, the old man in grand central who ran from me clutching is wallet, when I approched him. (FYI in my humble experience muggers do not approach their victims with a kindly "excuse me sir" while wearing name tags), and the man at the newsstand who refused to be photographed holding a SI swimsuit issue (the challenge was to take a picture with someone holding a girlie mag) because he would much prefer to be holding "golf digest"...yea I know....what would people on facebook think if that picture ever surfaced...oh the shame...
Anyway, our team came in somewhere in the middle of the pack with a respectable 238 points. The winning team had 280 something points, but that victory was rife with controversy. Originally the winners were announced to be "The trainspotters" (a team comprised of our friends), until the winning team demanded a recount and were declared the actual winners. Ah, well all is fair in love and scavenger hunts I suppose.
All in all it was a really good time. It's a fun way to see the city and interact with people, all while depending upon your wiles and organizational skills to get yourself through the day. Great cardio workout too!
Check out more about these races at pogoevents.com and maybe sign up for one yourself. I'd do it again sometime. Hmmm..maybe I'll even get to compete against you....