I don’t really do sports. I sit on the couch and watch them. I listen to my friends talk about them. I even watch a basketball game or two at Yates while I’m running on the treadmill. But I don’t do sports.
So what got me up at 6:30 a.m. on a Wednesday morning to jog two miles? And why am I loading up on carbs and consuming four Nalgenes of water a day? It’s because the race of all races, the challenge of all challenges, the adventure of all adventures is just around the corner. It’s the Urban Challenge and it’s coming to the District on Aug. 30.
In its simplest form, the Urban Challenge can be described as the Queen-of-All-Scavenger Hunts. It’s a new type of race that’s catching on in cities all across America. The object is to visit twelve checkpoints in the correct order and return to event headquarters. The first two-person team to return wins. Simple enough, right?
The only allowed methods of travel during the race are foot and local public transportation, so, if you want to win, some hustling will be required. Keep in mind, though, that the events are designed with all ages and athletic abilities in mind. The challenge’s website, www.urbanchallenge.com, states that it’s not a teams athletic ability that tips the scale (although it doesn’t hurt), it’s a teams ability to use a map and figure out where the checkpoint locations are.
The phenomenon started two years ago as a birthday party that Kevin McCarthy, a Phoenix, Ariz. resident, threw for his daughter’s 12th birthday. He organized a scavenger hunt that his daughter’s friends and their moms would be able to do and enjoy together. The birthday party participants had so much fun that McCarthy decided to invest some money into a citywide event, and the rest is history. That event and subsequent citywide events were so popular that Urban Challenge still exists today.
Each year Urban Challenge holds a final event-this year it will be in New Orleans-and pays for the winners from all of the year’s races to come to participate. If you win the big event, you leave with a big wad of cash-$50,000. Not a bad prize for just winning a scavenger hunt.
But it’s not just about the money (although the money does make it much more intriguing). The upcoming D.C. challenge will be an awesome opportunity for new Hoyas to learn about the city in which they’ll be living for the next four years. Ask any upper-class Hoya, the one thing we all suck at is capitalizing on the multitude of opportunities D.C. offers. This could help you start off on the right foot; you’ll see parts of the city you’d never normally see and you’ll probably learn the public transportation system timetables better than any current Georgetown student.
Urban Challenge also seems like the perfect activity for couples, friends or roommates. But even if you don’t have a partner and you want to participate, you can sign up on the singles list and get matched up with someone on the day of the race.
So you’ve got nine days to start training. Actually, you know what? Don’t train. Who needs jogging anyway? Eat a chocolate bar for breakfast. Just don’t be surprised when a kid that doesn’t even do sports blazes past you, heading for the finish line.
