Busy Gamer Review - The Great Urban Race

And they're off!

Eventually, we decided we should, you know, leave the starting line. There were a couple teams left, but most had already taken off. We decided to start by finding the Seattle Pinball Museum in the International District, which is a short hike from the starting line. That's when we realized... we weren't sure exactly which direction to go. Fortunately, there was a Silver Cloud Inn across the street. My family had stayed there just weeks before - otherwise, I don't know that it would have occurred to me to go in. An extremely patient desk clerk marked the destination on a tourist map for us, and we were off!

As we walked by Safeco Field (where the Mariners play), we started looking for other opportunities to knock out clues. There was a tic-tac-toe option that required us to find strangers who would pose for photos in various configurations. Our first hit: a pair of tourists who gamely (and nervously) agreed to do the Village People YMCA pose with Gamewatcher and Pikachu Fan - good for the center square!

Less than a minute later, we spotted a police officer standing near the stadium. We needed someone to high-five a person in uniform, and figured this would fit the bill. As I approached nervously, I squeaked out, "Hi, we're..." and his hand went in the air for a high five. Pikachu Fan landed it, and we got our second tic-tac-toe square. We were on FIRE!

The last slot required us to find four people wearing Mariners jerseys. Being right next to Safeco Field, we assumed this was a no brainer. And we did find several people wearing team uniforms there and throughout the day - unfortunately, they were all Seahawks fans. We found someone better, however: a bus driver walking to the mass transit parking lot. He told us which buses to take to Capitol Hill, and where to catch them. Score!

We finally found the Pinball Museum and took the requisite picture. A little over an hour in, and we finally had one clue finished. We decided to head to Pioneer Square. Several clues were clustered between Pioneer Square, the Waterfront and the Pike Place Market - about 10 minutes apart from each other. We sampled some original flavors at Dry Soda, handed my camera nervously to a stranger to take a group photo in front of the totem pole and then headed to the Waterfront to pose with a pair of mummies at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop.

We grabbed some lunch on the waterfront and checked in on our Facebook/Twitter accounts. Two people had responded to our mystery clue with "it looks like a jewelry store." We ignored them and continued searching the web for electricity/movie stores in downtown and Capitol Hill while we ate.

My city by the (Elliott) bay

After lunch, we headed to the Waterfront Climb, which goes straight up to the Pike Place Market - and our next clue destination. Faced with climbing approximately 10,452 stairs or taking the elevator that goes one inch per hour, we opted for the elevator. When we finally got to street level, we made a beeline for Market Spice, a small store that is unfortunately located right behind the Guys Who Throw the Fish™. Getting through the hordes of tourists proved to be a bigger challenge than the official one, identifying spices by smell. (Well, the multiple choice helped.)

While we were at the Market, we stopped at DeLaurenti Specialty Food & Wine to pick up the requisite two items to donate to Northwest Harvest, a regional food bank. We had to backtrack a few blocks to find the donation truck, but it was worth it. This was one task we were not going to skip.

 

Who's on First (and Pine)

Our next destination was to be Capitol Hill. We briefly debated walking, but based on distance and our already aching feet, we decided to use our bus passes. A couple other teams were waiting for the same bus when we arrived at the stop. I took a shot in the dark and asked if they had figured out the logo clue that had been vexing us all afternoon. They did.

It was a jewelry store.

Specifically, a "fancy" jewelry store located somewhere near another task we had not yet done. We left the bus stop in search of this "fancy" jewelry store, cursing ourselves for not listening to the ever-growing list of friends and relatives who correctly identified the picture. We knew our next destination, the Milagros hair salon. We passed a bookstore with the doors wide open on the way to the salon. I ran in and asked the startled clerk if she recognized the jewelry store logo. This exchange actually happened:

Me: "I'm looking for a ‘fancy' jewelry store in this neighborhood that has this logo. Do you happen to know it?
Clerk: "Fancy?"

Me: "Yes, a fancy jewelry store."

Clerk: "Exactly."
Me: "Huh?"

Clerk: "You're looking for the Fancy jewelry store."

Me: "Yes, do you know what it is?"

Clerk:" Fancy."

Me: "No, really..."

Our Abbott & Costello routine continued 30 more seconds before I finally clued in: It wasn't a fancy jewelry store; it was Fancy, a jewelry store. The other team had technically given us the answer while also screwing with us. Nicely played.

Gamewatcher found the store address online while I styled a mannequin's head at the salon. Next, it was on to Fancy, the single hardest jewelry store in the world to find. (For the record, it's downhill from the Moore Theatre.) At the store, I pulled a quote from two separate bags. One was a long, thoughtful, mushy quote from My Best Friend's Wedding. The other was "ET phone home." I incorporated both into a heart-felt proposal to Gamewatcher. Pikachu Fan almost died laughing.

After Fancy, we finally caught our bus to Capitol Hill. We enjoyed a nice respite at Cupcake Royale, where Gamewatcher and Pikachu Fan bit into some mandatory cupcakes. We then worked off the calories at Velocity Dance Center, and made our way to a specific address only to discover - a boarded up area where our destination was supposed to be.

 

More progress in our city

Here's where it gets weird, but poignant. Our clue, which gave a specific address, had told us to look at three records and identify the artists from a selected list. Coincidentally, there were a number of artists on the wall exactly where the address would be. All were affected by the AIDS crisis. We stood for several minutes absorbing a massive timeline of the AIDS crisis, including artists who were both personally affecting and have taken steps to help. It was oddly sobering and touching.

After studying the wall for several minutes with a few other teams, we ducked into a nearby American Apparel and asked if the clerk knew what happened. She figured out they had meant to send us to Everyday Music, which had moved a few blocks away due to the light rail construction. Gamewatcher took the novel approach of calling the store and getting directions, which we shared with several other perplexed teams.

The record challenge was easy for me - my dad was in the music industry, and I was very familiar with artists and album art. I was able to make up some time, but it didn't make much difference - we were still stuck waiting for a bus back to the finish line!

 

All's well that ends well

And yes, we did make it to the finish, with a time of just over 4 hours. We came in 199th place, making my goal of finishing in the top 200. Given that we didn't listen to our friends, took a long lunch, walked a lot more than we should have and generally did everything wrong, I think we did pretty well. But best of all, we accomplished our main goal: we had a fantastic time.

It might have been the Great Urban Race, but for us, it was truly amazing.

 

Tips and tricks

Knowing what I do now, here's what I would tell future racers:

• Research. Read all the blogs you can find (like this one!) that have personal accounts of past races. It really does help to prepare you for the day.
• Pack light, but smart. Knowing what I do now, my pack list would include everything I mentioned above, plus sunblock (reapply!) and a tourist map of the city. That was the single most valuable item of the day.
• Dress smart. You're going to be walking/running/taking buses all day. If you go for a costume, make sure you aren't going to die of heat stroke - and can get on the bus!
• Figure out the most far-flung neighborhood and head there first. Everything we did was in two general areas: The stretch between the Market and SODO, and Capitol Hill. We had one clue that specifically said "Capitol Hill." The second we saw that, we should have left for the bus stop. We could have maximized our time by working on clues at the bus stop and on the bus, and then hitting the rest of the locations on the way back to the finish.
• Listen to your friends. When several people say "I think it's a jewelry store," it probably is.
• Don't use your cell phone as a camera. You will have to hand your camera to strangers at some point. Better to lose a digital camera than your iPhone. (We didn't, but there is a risk, obviously!)
• Ask other teams for help - and offer. We never would have gotten the jewelry clue if we hadn't talked to another team that was generous with information. We paid it back by helping teams searching for the missing record store.
• Listen to your teammates - and correct them if needed. For some reason, I referred to the Moore Theatre as the 5th Avenue Theatre three times while trying to help other teams. Fortunately, Gamewatcher heard me - and corrected the info. I was mortified. I was also exhausted and not thinking clearly (obviously).