The Urban Dare

On Sunday, April 28th Ben and I teamed up to take the "Urban Dare". Along with the team of Michael and Lauren Feeback we  teamed up to conquer the  "Amazing Race" around Lexington, Kentucky in the amazing time of 1 hour and 43 minutes.

Clue List - click to enlarge

Map we used to plot our course

We solved the twelve clues and covered over 6.5 miles around the streets of Lexington to a 10th place finish out of nearly 130 teams.  As proud as we are of our  finish we are more proud of the way we worked together to compliment each others strengths.  We took our time and figured out all of the clues, plotted all of the locations on a map and then decided the best and fastest route to all 12 checkpoints.  Taking time to plot our course before we started running enabled us to never having to double back at any point.

Ben and I at Memorial Hall

 It was a very special day exploring both Lexington and the University of Kentucky with my son.  We have both spent our lives just outside of Lexington and I am an alumni  of UK and Ben is currently a sophomore.  It was really special to count on him to use his expertise to solve clues and find check-in points that I didn't know existed   It was really cool to see the city  and my son through a different perspective.  The picture above is Ben and I at the answer to clue #8 - Memorial Hall.


To better understand  the competition I have included three of the twelve clues below along with pictures that we took to prove we were there.  (The clue sheet above has all of the twelve clues.)

1.  This "Black Box" theater was named for a woman who was a champion and philanthropist for the arts in Lexington.  (Ben's knowledge of the College of Fine Arts saved us a ton of time on this one.)

2. Get a picture of one you on bended knee proposing marriage to a Non-Race participant.  If the bride is wearing a traditional white wedding dress you will earn a 5 minute bonus. (We were just fortunate to have this lovely lady around to propose. )  

3. A person locally know for ignorance and stupidity.  Take a photo at an eating establishment that is named after this definition.  (I think I am pointing at Ben is this picture.) 

Once you arrive at some of the checkpoints, you must complete a "dare" in order to have your passport stamped.  An example of a dare was when we arrived in Duncan Park we were asked to give the last name of the actor that played John Coffey in the "Green Mile".  Spread around the park were the letters of the alphabet with numbers under the letters.  We had to find the letters of (Clarke Duncan) add them together and tell the number to the judge in order to have our passport stamped.  

The Urban Dare is a great competition that test both brains and brawn and we simply can't wait to do it again next year.