“Urban Dare is the race where
smarts can beat speed. It’s part trivia, part photo hunt, part mental and
physical challenges, and all fun. Think
of it as a 1-day Amazing Race.” That
paragraph from the Urban Dare Web site sums it up but I will add that Urban
Dare also is a great team event and
it’s coming to a city near you!
My sister, Abbie, her daughter, Ciara, my friend, Kesha and I rose to the challenge this past
weekend. We registered online for the DC race, so on Saturday morning we arrived
at McFadden’s bar in downtown DC, signed our paperwork and changed into our new
Urban Dare T-shirts.
By noon, 93 teams were pawing
at the sidewalk ready to start. A few
teams made the extra effort to wear costumes, which added to the fun. At the
appointed hour, the organizers herded everyone to a nearby park, reviewed the
rules and passed out a sheet of 11 clues and 1 photo challenge.
We immediately used our
phone-a-friend option and called our pal Eithne who was at home with her
laptop. Between Eithne’s computer and a couple of smart phones we solved all
our clues in short order. Then, Kesha secured her place as MVP by pulling out a
DC map. We spent a few extra minutes
charting a course to take us to each clue’s destination with the least amount
of wasted effort and we were off!
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| Bring back any Muppet-y memories? |
One clue took us to a statue
that “was filmed and subsequently used in the opening title sequence of Sesame
Street during the show’s 20th season” (the huge sculpture of Albert
Einstein on Constitution Ave.) where we secured a quick team photo.
Another clue took us to a park that “was originally the site of several natural springs. The government purchased the property and by 1832 had installed pipes to carry water to the White House.” This site turned out to be Franklin Square where we had to jump rope 5 times before continuing our journey.
All in all, we solved 11 clues, conned one very nice couple into re-enacting the famous WWII photo of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square, completed several dares and covered more than 6 miles on foot (public transportation is allowed but no taxis or bikes).
Another clue took us to a park that “was originally the site of several natural springs. The government purchased the property and by 1832 had installed pipes to carry water to the White House.” This site turned out to be Franklin Square where we had to jump rope 5 times before continuing our journey.
All in all, we solved 11 clues, conned one very nice couple into re-enacting the famous WWII photo of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square, completed several dares and covered more than 6 miles on foot (public transportation is allowed but no taxis or bikes).
We finished 3:17:59, which put
us in 35th place. We were pleased to be in the top third-ish (especially
because we had a few potty breaks and stopped at the Air and Space Museum for
some freeze-dried ice cream) but were amazed to learn that the winning team
completed the challenge in 1:18:45.
Urban Dare has 4 more cities
scheduled for 2012 and 23 already on the list for 2013. To see when Urban Dare is coming to a city near you, check out their Web site.
