Published May 4, 2003|Updated Sept. 1, 2005
Join a Times reporter and editor through their journey on a scavenger hunt / road race that made its debut in Tampa.
What happens when you cross a scavenger hunt with a road race?
You get the Urban Challenge: two-person teams deciphering clues and racing to 12 checkpoints using their feet, public transit and their brains. Kevin McCarthy, of Arizona, invented the race in 2001 for his daughter's 12th birthday party.
It is now held in more than a dozen U.S. cities. Finalists from each city will compete for the championship in November.
The entry fee is $150 per team. Some of the proceeds go to the National Prostate Cancer Coalition.
The race made its debut in Tampa on Saturday. Times reporter Tamara Lush and Brandon edition editor Shelaine Peters participated.
Armed with bottled water, a map book and 12 clues, Lush and Peters traversed the city. The rules: They must take photos of themselves at each checkpoint; they can phone anyone for help deciphering the clues. Oh. And they can only travel by foot and public transportation. No bikes, cars or taxis.
7:39 a.m.: Registration at the start/finish line _ Champions sports bar at the Marriott Waterside on Florida Avenue. Competitors flex their sinewy calf muscles as they fill out forms. We wonder how much running we will actually have to do. Both of us prefer to nap, shop and eat.
8:07: We have the jitters about the upcoming Trivia Quiz, which decides who leaves first. Those who score high on the 30-question test get a head start.
8:18: Shelaine scopes out the competition. One woman says she has been studying trivia since November. A bald guy has already done one race. A couple with a baby stroller sits nearby, beside a man and his 12-year-old daughter. There are 33 teams in all. "We're not really runners," Shelaine tells the bald guy. He nods, gravely.
8:37-8:41: Trivia challenge: A question appears on a huge TV screen every 30 seconds. Why does anyone need to know that it takes 12 minutes to sing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall?
8:50: We got 17 of 30 questions, which puts us in Group Three. Out of six groups. Group One gets a six-minute head start.
9:06: "Do not trample me," the race official says. We are behind the couple with the baby carriage. We get the list of 12 clues and walk authoritatively to the end of the hotel driveway. "Act like you're winning," the race literature says.
9:11: First clue: "Cotanchobee: Within half a mile of race headquarters is a game made up of the following words X, Y and Z:
X = Lyme disease carrier.
Y = A change in direction while sailing.
Z = A phalangee of the foot.
Get your picture with the gaming device in the park that also features the state's only memorial to the Seminole Wars."
We remember Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park from Friday's scouting expedition. So we race-walk to it and find . . . a playground with a plastic Tic-Tac-Toe game. Psyched, we take our picture.
9:13: "This is gonna be a piece of cake," Shelaine says, as we trot along. A few teams breeze past us. "Hmm, they seem to be in shape," she observes. We get on our cell phones and start reading the clues to friends and the kind folks at Directory Assistance.
9:14-10:10: The next three clues take us to an Ybor City tattoo parlor, a cigar factory and a bocce ball court. We harangue passers-by to take our photos.
Near Centro Ybor, we spot the Skip Man, a local DJ. A photo with him lets us skip a checkpoint.
The next clues lead us back toward downtown, so we set off along Nuccio Parkway. Running is out of the question.
The clues seem too easy. Are we missing something? We dial our friends, talk it over, decide we're okay. Cluewise, at least.
10:12: Where is the Ybor streetcar?
10:13: Where is a HARTline bus? "This is not a good endorsement for HARTline, I gotta say," Tamara gasps.
10:20: A bus rumbles up. We flag it down. Air conditioning! The bus hauls us to the County Center on Kennedy Boulevard.
10:28-11:55: A quick succession of checkpoints, then we're at No. 10, Mr. Klean, a barbecue/car detailing joint on S Boulevard and Platt Streets.
We skip Checkpoint 11, "a park that shares its name with the actress who played the original smart one in TV's Charlie's Angels." Kate Jackson Park is just too far. Knees and feet are starting to scream.
We snap a final picture at the last checkpoint, Four Green Fields tavern. Gasping, we limp toward the Marriott.
11:02: A shortcut around the Convention Center brings the finish line in view. A male-female team closes in from the northeast. "Run, Tam," says Shelaine, reconciling herself to the need to actually run all the way to the finish line.
11:03: The male team member, about 25-30 yards ahead of his partner, spots us and turns on the speed. Tamara's competitive streak consumes her. She turns on the burners. Shelaine groans.
11:04: As Shelaine wills her cramping 42-year-old body to keep moving, Tam, 32, and Competitor X show no signs of slowing.
11:05: The finish line's in sight _ briefly. Then an enormous SUV pulls up, followed by a man with wheeled luggage. They didn't tell us there'd be an obstacle course!
11:06: As we clear the gauntlet, we see Competitor X has crossed the finish line and received a card with No. 2 on it. We are given card No. 3. Wait. "Where's his partner?" Shelaine asks. "Don't the rules say they have to finish together?" Good point, a race official says, disappearing for a consult with other officials.
11:08: He reappears, smiling, and hands us No. 2. Our photos are verified. We're going to the championship in New Orleans.
"Maybe we'll get in shape," Shelaine says.
_ Times researchers John Martin and Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
Urban challenge
33 teams entered the Urban Challenge Saturday. The course was about 8 miles long.
1. Cotanchobee Fort Brook Park
2. Tampa Port Authority Terminal 2
3. Tattoo parlor, Ybor City's Shiva's Pain
4. Gonzalez y Martinez Cigar
5. Fortune Bosco Bocce ball court
6. Chillura Park statue, man with outstretched arms
7. Lucky Dill Deli
8. Plant Museum statue of two dogs
9. Boathouse on UT campus along Hillsborough River
10. Mr. Klean, barbecue and car detailing shop
11. Kate Jackson Park
12. Four Green Fields tavern
SECOND PLACE: Times staff members Tamara Lush, left, and Shelaine Peters will go to the championships in New Orleans.
FIRST PLACE (left): Twins Rolf and David Gjertsen, 26, of Westchase, stopped off at the Fortune Bosco Bocce Court on the way to victory.
THIRD PLACE (above): Troy Tysenn, 30, and girlfriend Barbara Boulanger, 28, both of Fort Lauderdale, snap a winning shot at the Plant Museum dog statue.
