Urban Challenge, New Orleans 2004
October 23
Due to the overwhelming demand from my fans, including my nemesis, I am writing my thoughts on my latest race, which was not a marathon or beyond. My latest race was the Urban Challenge in New Orleans.
The Urban Challenge is a glorified scavenger hunt in which participating teams of two people attempt to solve 12 clues to landmarks in the city. Once each landmark is identified, then the team has to get to that location and take their picture in front of the landmark. Teams may get to the landmark by running or public transportation.
Last year, my teammate (Bradun Dunbar) and I competed in Washington, DC. We finished 18th, which was good enough to qualify for the national championship in New Orleans. At the championship, in which almost 200 teams competed, we were the 12th team across the finish line. The top seven teams from the semi-finals in the morning race again in the late afternoon for the finals. If a team misses just one landmark photo, the team is disqualified. Before we finished 12th, five other teams had been disqualified. Therefore, we would be seventh and into the finals if all of our photos were correct. Kevin McCarthy, the race director and founder, personally checked our photos, and we missed one, which we still contend fit the clue description.
This year the finals are in Miami, and since Bradun is from New Orleans, we decided to enter it to try and win and earn and all expenses trip to the finals. Martha, Nathan, and I had a midmorning flight out of Richmond. We switched planes in Atlanta, arriving in New Orleans around 3:30pm. Elise (Bradun's wife) and their children (Megan and Alex) picked us up at the airport. So far things are going well.
The race is scheduled to start at 9 o'clock in the morning, but before the race, teams take a 30 question trivia test to determine who starts first--the smartest teams start at 9:00, while the least intelligent teams start at 9:30. In our past two attempts, we had started at 9:15. This time, we answered 20 correct questions and managed (somehow) to get out with the first group.
So, there we are in front of a bar in New Orleans standing on the sidewalk listening to Kevin give the last minute instructions. I quickly phone back to our command center where Elise, Martha, and Elise's mom are waiting to solve the clues and tell them that we are in the first group. Right at 9:00, Kevin hands out the clue sheets to the seven or eight teams in the first group. Bradun and I grab our sheet and sprint one block south where our ground support (Elise's dad, uncle, and friend) are waiting to copy the clue sheet. Before we slap the clue sheet onto the copier, I call Martha and read the first clue to her. We make two copies of the clue sheet--one for Bradun and one for me--and our ground support drives off to Kinko's in order to fax the sheet back to the command center.
While we are waiting for our brain trust (Martha, Elise, and a host of people via email) to solve the first clue, Bradun and I start running to the west down Magazine Street. 13 minutes later, we get the call that the first landmark is almost a mile back towards the start. Bradun and I have run too far, and now we will be almost 15 minutes behind the leaders. We quickly run back to the checkpoint get the picture and head back down Magazine Street.
Fortunately, we already know the answer to the second clue, which is also on Magazine. After taking that picture we quickly run to Audomen Park where the third clue is. While we know the third clue is of a statue in the park, we don't really know exactly where it is. After scouting around for about 10 minutes, our ground support finds the statue and we sprint up to the north end of the park. At the statue we not only get our picture with in front of the third landmark, we also find the skip person. So, we also take our picture with the skip person, which will allow us to skip one of the clues during the race.
Now the fourth clue is down in the French Quarter, so we hop on the street car for the four mile ride. While on the street car with a few other teams, we start to trade clues. Clue trading on this occasion doesn't yield anything good for us. Also while riding the street car, our brain trust solves the fourth clue. We exit the street car, run two blocks, and take our picture in front of Alibi restaurant. Then we are off to checkpoint five, which we think is Checkpoint Charlies. We run all the way to the edge of the French Quarter and take the picture. Then we are off to checkpoints six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven. All of them are around the French Quarter. Bradun grew up nearby the French Quarter and knows this place like the back of his hand. We are really pushing hard now as we know all of the clues, it is just a matter of getting to them as quick as possible. There is one other team that is close to us during this time. Finally, we snap the picture for the 11th checkpoint and run over to Magazine Street in order to catch a bus back up toward the finish line.
While waiting for the bus, we definitely determine from our brain trust that our answer to checkpoint five is incorrect. Therefore, we decide to delete that picture and will use our skip on that clue because the landmarks have to be taken in order. When we get on the bus, there are four other teams on the bus with us. Some of us only have one clue left, others have two. Our one remaining clue is on Magazine Street, and then we will have three blocks to sprint to the finish. As the bus comes to the stop, Bradun is first in line to get off, and I am fourth. He exits the bus, crosses in front of the bus, and goes diagonally across the intersection in front of cars and other vehicles. I am quickly right on his tail. We make our way the one block to Peppers restaurant, snap our picture, and then we return to the sprint to the finish. After about 30 minutes of standing waiting on the bus and sitting on the bus, we call on our speed to bring us to the finish. As we sprint away from the last checkpoint, it is obvious that no one is in front of us, but is there someone coming up from behind? Neither Bradun nor I look behind as we push it all the way across the finish line.
We are the first team across, but now the anxiety really starts as we wait for our photos to be checked. Meanwhile, the second team comes across the line just over a minute after us. Kevin takes our picture phone and starts looking through the pictures. Checkpoint one, okay. Checkpoint two, okay. Checkpoint three, okay. Yes, there is the skip person. Checkpoint four, okay. Checkpoint five is skipped. Checkpoint six, okay. Checkpoint seven, okay. Checkpoint eight, okay. Checkpoint nine, okay. Checkpoint ten--does that sign behind you say Lounge Lizard--yes, okay. Checkpoint eleven, okay. Checkpoint twelve, you guys are good. YES!!! We have won the Urban Challenge race in New Orleans. Now, we need to start planning for Miami on November 20!