My Amazing Race - 34.3 Miles in 7 Hours 45 Minutes

This past weekend I participated in Seattle's Oyster Urban Adventure Race. The race is a combination of running, biking and using public transportation to make your way to destinations around the city and complete the tasks given to you.

About 80 teams met at the Fisher Pavilion at the Seattle Center on a grey drizzly morning to start our adventure. While a little chilly at first we really appreciated the dampness as soon as we got started! For the race we had to start and finish each of the 7 legs at the Fisher Pavilion so there's a lot of back and forth that you have to do.

At 8:00 a.m. the race started with the organizer's taking each team's best runner (Mandy for us) and putting them on the Duck... blind folded... to where the ferry's get serviced down by Magnolia Bridge. In the meantime. Mayli and I ran up to Kerry Park to find her only to realize she wasn't there and wait another 15 or so minutes for her to run the extra mile there.

To Kerry Park and back 2 Miles on Foot

Next our instructions sent us to the wall of gum in Post Alley where we had to add our own piece to the landmark.

To Pike Place Market Gum Wall and back 2.2 Miles on Bike

After returning from Pike Place we had to find business or street signs that spelled out O-Y-S-T-E-R (for the name of the race) using the first letter of each sign. We found most right in the Seattle Center House but had to go a 1/3 of a mile over near Mercer to get the letter Y at the Young Children's Academy.

Finding Business Signs around the Science Center .6 Miles on Foot

After turning in our business signs pics we hopped on our bikes to the University District Farmer's Market. No easy way to avoid the hills we finally made it and ate a small bite of cooked oyster. Easy for Mayli and I, Mandy washed hers down with a fresh strawberry since she's not a fan of seafood.

To University District Farmers Market 4 Miles on Bike

From the farmer's market we were given part 2 of this leg to head to Greenlake where 2 of us were to jump in a boat and paddle a course on the lake. And the 3rd teammate would head off to the Woodland Park Dog Park for an undisclosed task...

To Green Lake Boat Rentals 1.9 Miles on Bike

Since I live in Seattle I decided Mayli and Mandy should do the boats because Reilly and I could do it anytime. Plus I knew exactly where to go. So I ended up at the dog park only to find out that I had to pick up dog crap. Yes you got that right. Pick up dog crap. Fortunately they had bags and hand sanitizer and it was relatively easy to do. But I'm the one person on my team who doesn't even have a dog and they got to go on the lake. I was a little annoyed but it is pretty funny and makes a good story :)

Side Trip to Woodland Park Dog Park and back to boats 2.4 Miles on Bike

The three of us rejoined at the boats and jumped back on our bikes to return to Fisher Pavilion for our next task.

Back to Seattle Center 5.7 Miles on Bike

We dropped our bikes off at the pavilion to find out that we now had to run all of the way across downtown Seattle to the International District and find the Chinese Community Bulletin Board. With Reilly's help via phone he found the location on Yelp (one of the race's sponsors) and after a gruelling jog/walk through downtown we made it to try and unscramble a coded message to our next destination.

To the ID Chinese Community Board 2.4 Miles on Foot

So the bulletin board had a series of numbers on it and we knew that I = 3 and Z = 20 so we figured out the rest of the letters but then didn't know what to do with them. After 10 or 15 minutes of frustration and teams arriving and leaving while we tried to decipher the code I overheard another team say is it "aquarium?" Duh! We just had to unscramble the letters "irqmauua" but we were too brain dead at that point to figure it out plus we thought it was going to be a location a little bit closer to where we were....

So we were off to the aquarium where our task ended up being to take a photo with the "Vacuum of the Sea" which is a sea cucumber and easily found since another team was already taking their picture there.

To the Aquarium 1.3 Miles on Foot

Then we went back to the Fisher Pavilion for our next clue. If we didn't make it back by 2:00 p.m. we wouldn't be able to finish the race. Fortunately we got there by 1:30 and got to keep going which was our goal.

Back to the Seattle Center 1.3 Miles on Foot

The second to last leg of the race had us head to Whole Foods where we received a sudoku puzzle that we had to complete on the South Lake Union Streetcar before we could get off. Unfortunately I accidentally misread the instructions and we first went to the Westlake Streetcar Station instead of the Westlake and Denny Station which added on an extra .5 mile at least to our day.

To Whole Foods (via an accidental detour) 1.4 Miles on Foot

Fortunately Mayli is a pro and I'm not to shabby at sudoku so we quickly finished and then were on our way.

From the South Lake Union Street Car Stop back to the Seattle Center 0.9 Miles on Foot

The 7th and final leg of the day gave us the option to bike or bus to the Seattle Language Academy in Fremont. Totally exhausted we decided to bus it.

Catching a Bus to Fremont 1.2 Miles to Bus Stop on Foot

Finding a bus and stop ended up taking longer and being more complicated than we had hoped. But we got to rest our legs and it all worked out.

To Seattle Language Academy in Fremont 2.8 Miles by Bus

After arriving in Fremont we hoofed it over to the language academy.

From Fremont Bus Stop to Seattle Language Academy 0.2 Miles on Foot

At the Seattle Language Academy they played a recording of "Bravely Done" in Russian which Mayli memorized how to say properly and then headed to our next stop, the Red Door Bar just up the street.

To the Red Door Bar 0.2 Miles on Foot

At the bar we had to taste test 4 of the Deschutes Brewery beers (an Oregon establishment) and correctly match the flavor to what beer it was. By first matching color and then taste we got it right on the first time plus Mayli did a great job pronouncing the Russian version of Bravely Done and we were given our next clue in the final leg to get our picture in front of the Linen Statue which was fortunately just a couple of blocks away.

To the Lenin Statue 0.1 Mile on Foot

From the statue we had finished all tasks on the race and just had to get back to the Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center. So we headed back to a bus stop.

To the Fremont Bus Stop 0.2 Miles on Foot

And after a 10 minute wait hopped on to head back.

To Denny an Dexter 2.8 Miles by Bus

The bus dropped us off at Denny and Dexter, the closest stop. And we decided after resting our legs that we could jog the final distance to the finish line.

From the Dexter and Denny Bus Stop back to the Seattle Center and the end 0.7 Miles on Foot

And after about 7 hours and 45 minutes, 12.5 Miles on Foot (I completed a half marathon), 16.2 Miles on Bike, 5.6 Miles by Bus, for a grand total of 34.3 miles we finished our Ultimate Urban Adventure.

We were greeted by a half empty pavilion as most of the racer's who had already finished had gone (the winner's did the race in 4.5 hours!) and booths were being torn down, but there was still lots of leftover pizza and beer. I am so impressed that we finished and proud of what we accomplished!

Overall, the experience was pretty cool but I was disappointed that the tasks were pretty simple. The adventure was more about getting there and back than actually doing anything. And we really didn't go anywhere unexpected. The only tasks that took more than a minute was kayaking (which I picked up dog crap instead), sudoku which really isn't a challenge, and figuring out the aquarium puzzle which actually was a good challenge!

Would I do it again? Probably - as long as I'm with a great team like Mayli and Mandy. We stayed together, kept eachother motivated as we struggled throughout the day and were determined to have a good time and finish and not worry about being the most athletic out there.

Thanks to my awesome teammates Mayli and Mandy, Reilly for technical support, and all of the friends and family who supported us with donations and their good thoughts!