If the mind were exercised as much as the mouth, we would be a race of geniuses.

Today I participated in the Great Urban Race. This was an urban adventure race that involves solving numerous clues with a partner, finding the particular locations, and then completing them all before making it back to the finish line. I got in a little early so I could scout out the are a bit for clues and get a general layout of the place. I grabbed breakfast at Centennial Park at the weekly market event and then picked up a trolley/bus pass before heading over the Gaspar's Grotto. I set up my netbook with the Wi-Fi so as soon as the clues could be opened we could research the answer and make a plan of attack. after solving what we needed to get started, I took a picture of some of the puzzles and riddles and e-mailed them to friends to aid in the research.

Our first stop was Centennial Park where we had to find the 'Immigrant Family' statue. It was much more crowded than just a few hours prior as there was some kind of event going on at the same time, so it was a bit chaotic weaving in and out of the crowd while dodging other racers as well. We weren't even the first to get there since people in the park seemed to be caught up with what was happening and simply pointed the way to anyone with a race bid. Next we had to head downtown. The streetcar was packed, so we figured the best thing would be to just hoof it to the next clue and take the streetcar back in the afternoon. There were three of the clues in a short distance with challenges. We had to do a team bike partnership, find a particular 'Earth Energy' sculpture to take a pic, and then complete a blindfolded beanbag toss in a game called 'cornhole'. After that it was across the Kennedy bridge, cutting through to Platt, and then on to Hyde Park where there were several challenges, surfboard riding, drop off a purchased water bottle, soccer challenge, and smoothie eating. From there it was a straight run back to the Convention Center and then take the excruciating slow streetcar back to Ybor and then on to the finish.

Overall our team came in 21nd out of over 300 teams, meaning we qualified for the national event later this year. My partner was more of a jogger than a runner, but put forth a great effort and picked up things when we needed. Overall we did a great job and had a lot of fun. After that was finished we headed to beer fest to meet up with some friends and enjoy a few hours of beer sampling. I headed over to Carrollwood for a friend's birthday party with a 'crazy hat' theme for more drink, food, and games before finally making it back after 2AM.