^ i stayed with a friend in phoenix (who i did the race with)

for dallas, i made it a day trip and for chicago i'll be staying with a friend as well

austin is the same situation, i'll either make it a day trip or stay with someone i know

it would be super expensive to pay for airfare, hotel and entry fee though

good luck alan!!

8/2/2008 11:33:56 AM

well we finished top 25 but took a time penalty hit - 75% or so of the teams ahead of us all took the same hit or larger

we think the teams after us will take a hit too - it was much harder than atlanta but was just as fun

8/2/2008 3:43:36 PM

why did you take a time hit? i haven't had to take one yet but came close a few times. i'm surprised a lot of teams took the same one- what was it?

congrats btw!

8/2/2008 5:26:23 PM

so we're done - phew

we took a time hit on 1 clue that was along the lines of "where was XM satellite radio established" - at the awards ceremony it was announced that nobody got it correct - i was incorrect in the 75% of the teams before us - the guy who had the times didn't have the latest updates from "camera check"

also there were 2 clues that were across over in VA and each of them would have taken more than 30min. to go to and get back so we knew we'd have 30min. there

when we got to the finish we thought we would only have that 30min hit and were shocked to have the 60min. hit - i'm not sure of our exact final time yet but i think it was about 3:30ish (pretty close to our atlanta time when we got about 60th where we had no time penalties) and we had a 60min penatly

we ended up in the top 25 and qualified for the finals!!!!! 2 other people we ran it with got 1 place behind us and were top 25 as well (we jaywalked and almost got hit crossing the final street and they played it safe)

can't wait for vegas

8/2/2008 7:09:10 PM

gah the vegas race would be so fun!!

in dallas they announced that a very small number of people had even registered for it!

i wonder if me and my partner for chicago have it in us to finish top 25, i may need to talk strategy with you!

8/3/2008 12:31:53 AM

we didn't actually follow the strategy we planned out - my brother's friends that were running it (who told him originally about the race and then he told us) were there and we did the entire thing with them - they got 23rd because we jaywalked and almost got hit crossing the final street and they played it safe

going to the furthest clue first (there were 2 clues that had a time limit on them and had to be done by 2:30pm)

not solving them all but having my brother on the phone solving some while we were underground on the metro (due to the 2 clues having to be done first we wanted to know if others were nearby since they were a short run from the start/finish)

at the end we had 2 clues left - 1 of them was across the river into VA and we knew it was the obvious skip clue - everyone we ran into we asked about the other and nobody had found it - a few reported it was in a museum that cost $20 and it was just moved the week prior (in the end only ~15 teams found it) and in a moment of panic we had my brother call the emergency line and ask if the location was verified that day and he said he couldn't give any hints but the 5 teams that had finished ALL had skipped that clue

as soon as we had that news we ran as fast as possible to the metro to end - once we got there we knew we had a 30min. time penalty but then found out we got 1 of them wrong but weren't that worried since there were at least 15 other teams there taking the same picture we did (that clue wasn't found by a single team in the entire race got right we found out later)

so our strategy went out the window - but where we abandoned the strategy we were definitely helped by the other team we ran the race with - they knew the city better than us (had lived there their whole lives minus college) and knowing where the metro stops were in relation to where we were headed really helped

in all reality without my brother and his gf manning the phone/google we would have been screwed

8/3/2008 9:48:46 PM

a good friend of mine lives in chicago and while shes not running the race with us she will be avail on the phone and internet so she'll be a huge asset

the thing i have struggled with in past races is figuring out what is the furthest away first.

obvious tip, get your transportation pass before the race starts, comfortable shoes & clothes, WATER lol what else? hook a sister up!

8/3/2008 10:32:33 PM

items we had:
-laptop (tethered to my cell get online) - only used at the very beginning to due clue/problem solving
-my cellphone has gps so we used that with google maps - we had a backup battery for my phone
-another cellphone to call phone-a-friend
-handheld gps (not a car one) with maps of the area
-a few bottles of gatorade and water
-a backpack that can be tied down securely to you - enough straps so it's secure when running
-pad of paper + pens
-a master googler phone-a-friend
-all day pass for public transportation - we've yet to use a bus but people that typically do better do use the bus from what i've heard from talking to others
-breathable clothes - we wore a funny t-shirt and some lame plaid shorts our first race and learned quickly that we weren't going for looks the next time and we wore breathable running shirts and some comfy workout shorts

of all the things - the person on the phone is your most valuable asset (one of our optional clues in DC was even to watch a youtube video to see the sign of a building) - have them create a google map or something else like that on the fly where they can put all of the "stops" you have to make and tell you where to go - once we figured out where to go - we'd get directions then run as fast as possible to the location and once we were done there call and immediately get directions to the next one - we rarely ever had to look at a map once we started (although we marked each location on our map) - the only time we really looked at it was when we were on the train and had nothing else to do - i can't even imagine doing the race without my brother on the phone or someone else that's internet saavy

although we didn't do it this last race...i still do think you want to do the furthest clue away first while your person on the phone solves the rest of the clues

also so far for both of our races the clue to skip was pretty obvious i thought

8/3/2008 11:32:16 PM

so you've always skipped a clue? the strategy ive been using has been to not skip any clues until it was necessary because one might become impossible to do at the last minute but judging from your finish, taking a time penalty isnt so bad after all

do you just take photos of the clues and send them to your at home contact for them to solve when you're on the run? seems like a good strategy. i'd be willing to pay my friend $20 to stay home and do it

unfortunately, my phone a friend for the last 2 races is the person i am running the race with this time around so his internet savvy clues won't be of much help on that end. of course, we could always solve clues en route since we'll be on trains and buses but then we have to worry about going underground on the L and losing reception.

i got the laptop, water, backpack, clothes thing down. first race i did we showed up in jeans with no clue what to expect and luckily the meet was at an outdoor mall so we ran into a athletic store and got some capris that have served me well in the other race i did and that i plan to wear in chicago but now i have to match my partner who is a male this time around! we are getting tshirts made though, my friend has a tshirt press so we can do them for like $5 each

8/3/2008 11:44:13 PM

by skip i meant that you are allowed to skip one - 11 out of 12 is all that is required - once we've mapped the clues out 1 of them is always out of the way by more than the 30min. penalty you'd take to go there and get back so it's the one we weren't going to do no matter what

i sent you a link to my pictures of the race and you can see the pictures we took of the clues (even with the reduced quality i uploaded them at they are readable) - they come out very well if you have a decent camera - the first thing we do is take pics of all clues and email them out - ATL was 3 or 4 pieces of paper front and back but luckily DC was only 1 piece of paper front and back

8/4/2008 12:03:05 AM

wait a second, have i been misunderstanding something?

you're allowed to skip 1 clue without a penalty?

if so i am pissed at myself for not having as much attn to detail as i thought!

i need to get to the gym and start training for the next race. always more running than i remember and god it makes me tired!! but so fun & worth it

8/4/2008 12:41:23 AM

http://www.greaturbanrace.com/rules.html

Quote :

"During the race you will have the option to skip one regular clue. Choose wisely, as this can play a big role in your finish time."

8/4/2008 9:06:23 AM

now that im thinking back, i do recall skipping one clue

8/4/2008 3:11:42 PM

results are up from DC

http://greaturbanrace.com/register08_washingtondc.html

174 teams - after 59th place everyone was over 5hrs due to how hard it was and the time penalties just about everyone took

8/6/2008 9:45:41 AM

when i did dallas they said it was the hardest race they had done to date, looks like DC topped it

call me a dork but i had a nightmare last night about the chicago race. i dreamt that we brought a bike to the race thinking we could use it and our outfits didn't match and we ended up bringing all this camping gear with us then we didn't know where we were supposed to meet and on top of it all, it was taking place on a wed so it was hard to find someone to be the phone a friend

8/6/2008 11:48:50 AM

good luck in chicago this weekend

9/2/2008 12:00:26 AM

thanks!! can't wait!

austin is next- that one will rock too

9/2/2008 12:16:10 AM

austin is 100% buses - it'll be good preparation for vegas though due to the lack of public transport

9/2/2008 12:19:52 AM

i took a lot of bus transport in dallas but there were some trains there too

phoenix was the WORST

ALL BUS

very difficult!

i happen to be pretty familiar with vegas though, and i know some people at caesars in case i had to call in a favor for a crazy clue

vegas in nov though... might think about running most of it. there is still time to get into running shape and you could prob out run the bus after you factor in waiting for the bus, stops along the way and traffic. if you could run the strip i bet you could dominate!

9/2/2008 12:26:40 AM

chicago was a lot of fun for the simple fact that i love that city

a hard race but i finished in <3 hours

we finished like #90 our of over 200 so while we finished pretty quickly, so did a lot of other people

winning team finished in like 1:45!!!

i didnt use my camera for this race so i dont have a finish pic to post yet

debating austin now. not sure if i have the energy for it but it would be so much fun if i could find the right teammate!

9/21/2008 11:38:58 AM

congrats on the finish in chicago - 1:45 is fast - do you know if they took the bus?

austin would be hard just because of the lack of train - but if you want to go to vegas it's probably the closest in terms of amount of running - i'd have to imagine the clues will be closer than they typically are

9/22/2008 10:12:30 AM

we're not going to vegas

europe trip trumped it

next year i'm going to race with someone else other than my wife i think - i'm too competitive for us to be a great team

11/2/2008 7:27:25 PM

aw man!! i ended up not racing in austin even though it was the closest race to my house

i ended up being a bit too competitive for the people i teamed up with, too except for the phoenix race, shes competitive too but it was our first race and we had no idea what we were doing

europe will be fun though, there is always nationals next year!

11/2/2008 9:10:07 PM

it's today

11/8/2008 11:01:24 AM

registration fee reduced to $45/person until dec. 31st!

12/16/2008 2:46:40 PM