My friend Nykie and I participated in the Scavenger Dash this weekend, and, oh my gosh was it fun!…read more We were lucky enough to win a free team registration from Yelp for this event, which is basically kind of like a local Amazing Race. Teams receive a list of 12 clues that take them on a whirlwind tour of the city to complete various tasks, including taking a photo at local landmarks, obtaining specific items, or completing physical challenges.
As soon as the race started, everyone ran to gather the clue sheet that was soon going to determine our fate for the day. The clues were almost all local trivia and locales that were easy to Google if you didn't already know. (I didn't need to search when it asked us to go to the place where you can find the Autobahn and Bahama Mama!) Some of the other clues included GPS coordinates, decoding some Morse Code, and references to Columbus historical sites.
Obviously as we completed our tasks, we spotted the other participants. While most of them were running, Nykie and I decided to take it slow and just keep up a brisk walking pace. (We both tend to fall under the 'only run when chased' category of fitness.) We traveled around 5 miles on foot, covering much of the Arena District, Downtown, and German Village before jumping on a bus for a long haul up to the northernmost point of our journey, Goodale Park. (One of the rules of the dash is that you can only use public transit - no cabs, rides from friends, etc.)
We both agreed that our favorite challenge was one where each teammate had to unfold a frozen t-shirt and put it on. While the day was cloudy and not nearly as hot as it had been, all of our hustling made sure that we were nice and warm throughout the trip, so this was a WONDERFUL relief!
Because of our aforementioned lack of fitness, walking the Scavenger Dash was still a challenge for me and Nykie. We powered on despite our blisters and were entertained enough by the experience that we didn't even complain! (Well, not very much.) When we finally finished the race, we really felt like we had completed a great accomplishment! Granted, we were the second to last team to finish, but for us, it really was about the journey, not the ranking.
I can't wait to do this again next year!