Monday, June 22, 2009

City Chase Race Report, Part Two

See part one here.

Chase Point #6: Knock Out

"Like Rocky Balboa or Mohammed Ali, you'll train with the best and be the best you can be. At The Boxing Loft you'll prepare for the ring, start moving fast when you hear the bell ding."

Now it was time to get really physical. We had to complete 5 stations for 30-60 seconds each. Bicycle crunches, push-ups, jumping rope, burpees, jabs with weights and pounding the heavy bag. Holy crap, it was exhausting.




Chase Point #7: Urban Design


"This time your test is one of urban design, with creativity and patience you will do just fine."

We accidentally stumbled upon this challenge when we saw a bunch of chasers exiting a building. Inside we had to draw a card with the name of an urban structure, then use recycled materials to re-create it as a model. We got The Panthenon.



I think we did alright!

Chase Point #8: 8 Legs or None

"The flip of a coin will determine your fate, but don't show up before 11am or you'll have to wait. At the same square where you started your day, we have a few friends who can't wait to play."

So, we each flipped a coin. All three of my friends got the snake.



And I got the spider.



I had to lay there with this thing on my face for the longest 30 seconds EVER. *shudder*

Chase Point #9: Up The Creek


"On the east side of Rees Street Slip, you'll navigate your boat and try not to slip."

We headed back down to the lake where we navigated around a set of buoys in two kayaks attached together.



We got caught in a downpour out there, but it really didn't matter at that point. [We completed this challenge last year, only we had individual kayaks and no paddles!]


Chase Point #10: Step It Up


"Near Union go to the Goodlife facility, for a test of strength, endurance and even agility."

On the way to Goodlife Fitness we ran into a bridal party shooting photos and the bride agreed to pose for a photo with us. Her professional photographer grabbed a shot too!



When we got to the gym, we had to choose a chocolate bar from a pile. We were then informed that we would have to burn the number of calories in that bar between us. Patricia and I chose the creamy milk chocolate - 280 calories! We could choose any machine we wanted, so we jumped on the treadmills, cranked up the speed and incline and got it done. Here's Patricia finishing up:



After collecting our 10th Chase Point, the 4 of us ran back to Metro Hall where we had started our day and crossed the finish line together. They even held up the finishing tape for us [hopefully they captured this in the official pics]. What a day!

Here we are soaking wet and exhausted, but already talking about next year!



I highly recommend this experience if you ever have the opportunity. It is by far one of the craziest and most fun events you will ever complete. The City Chase takes place all over Canada, the U.S. and even the world, so check it out!

***

My upper body is feeling a lot better today, but I'm taking a much needed day off! Starting tomorrow I have some serious mileage to cover over the next 4 days so I can slack off when we go camping this weekend. I'm treating it as a recovery week, but I should still be running about 45K. We'll see how it goes!

27 comments:

Kelly said...

The City Chase Race looks SOO SO fun! I am going to have to do something like that at some point!

littlesack said...

you find the coolest races! I'm looking into this..and it all looks really cool (except the spider!)

teacherwoman said...

Sounds like tons of fun!

Marci said...

Those are such great pics, esp the tarantula.. scary, you are brave.

RunningLaur said...

can't believe you did all that in the rain, and got a photo with a bride!

Lindsay said...

so fun. i hope you got extra points for the bridal portrait :)

ok. 30 secs. i would have been hyperventilating when i saw/heard the "t" word. (i can't even bring myself to type it!) omggg you are amazing. i would have died. or it would have died. probably me though. as long as they don't do that particular stop at every race, i would consider doing one! lol, i'm such a chicken...

looks like a great time though!

Denise said...

sounds like so much fun!! I still can't believe you put that spider on your face, though!!

Anonymous said...

I would have had nightmares for weeks if I had to have the spider crawl on my face!! Fun report.

Vava said...

Man, this sounds like it was a tonne of fun, and a crazy workout too! The organizers must have been realy good to pull something like this off. Great pictures! I don't think I could have done that spider face crawling thing - you are very brave indeed.

tfh said...

Wow! I just read part one and part two, and feel exhausted just reading about it-- what a fun and crazy experience!

Jess said...

I could probably handle the spider, but not on my face! Ugh.

Sounds like a really awesome event!

Gotta Run..... said...

LOVE THIS IDEA!!!

#8... are you freaking kidding me?!!
#10... bride on the run..lol... love the candy bar idea on the calorie idea.

VERY COOL EVENT!!! Thanks for taking us along.

No Longer Using said...

oh my gosh.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! seriously who came up with this?! amazing recap. i died a little bit over the snake+spider...eeek.

Aron said...

WOW this just sounds crazy insane!! i could NOT handle the spider on my face, i am getting the chills just thinking about it!!!

Nitmos said...

That's a pretty cool event. I'd hope for the spider. If my belt is lying on the bedroom floor all coiled up, I scream and leap into Mrs. Nitmos' arms.

Heather said...

I thought that looked really cool until I saw that spider on your face. No way could I do that for even one second. You are way tougher than me! (Or maybe this is a race that requires a little pre-race intoxication????)

Christy said...

so fun!!!!!

Felice Devine said...

OMG -- I have never ever seen such a nutty race! It must have been such a blast.

Good luck w/the next 4 days!

Jen's Journey said...

Oh my word that has to be the craziest race I have seen and it looks SOOO FUN!! Well except for the snake and spider, that would freak me out!!

Thanks for the comment on my blog about my run - good grief it was the worst! I felt as if I have never ran before or something, my stomach was killing me. I am hydrating now and gearing up for tonight's run hoping to somewhat redeem myself, if possible!

Anyways, thanks again for stopping by! Jen

J said...

Such a fun race! I really hope they got that picture of you at the finish! Definitely a keeper!!

Anonymous said...

How fun! :)

yumke said...

Wow, that sounds like fun, I'm sure i'd suck at doing it. You must be EXHAUSTED with all this racing. I don't know how you do it. Get some rest!

I Run for Fun said...

I would attempt this, if they axe the part with the tarantula and the snakes!!! Creepy! You are one gutsy girl!

Jamie said...

that is so freaking cool. although the spider and snakes freak me a out a lot!

Laura said...

OMG...I would take the snake over that spider (or any for that matter) anyday..

joyRuN said...

Sounds like so so much fun! Can't blame you for looking into next year already :)

Boris T said...

Great pics! Sounds like a fun event.