The inaugural Medina Amazing Race was launched as a fundraiser for Medina Elementary School, and we participated as Team Tangis a.k.a. Team Smalt (every team had a color, so we of course went by a word nobody knew: smalt, or deep cobalt blue). The race was set up to face off 6 teams, all starting at 1 starting line and ending at 1 finish line, but each getting to the same set of locations in different orders of receiving clues.
After having to launch paper airplanes a certain distance (we quickly wadded our paper up into a ball and threw it over the distance line, surprising the other teams until they caught on and all did the same thing), we were off and running to grab a mascot (ours was a stuffed jester’s hat) and then everyone was scrambling over children’s playground equipment, going down slides while not spilling any of the water in water-filled open cups. Six vans and SUVs waited for us, engines running, and we instructed the drivers where to go and what to do as we then drove around the Eastside (Medina, Redmond, Bellevue, and Clyde Hill) chasing clues to get to our next spot. Throughout, we always had to make a stranger wear the jester’s hat and have their picture taken with us. Each location presented a series of tasks to perform before a race staff member would give us the next clue (such as completing 2 holes at a golf course, with 2 clubs between the 4 of us and needing to work between more “serious” golfers on the course). And the rest was just fun…
Dan swimming to the floating platform from Medina Beach Park on Lake Washington; the next clue was in the container on the platform and that was the only way to get it!
To be given our next clue, Dan and I had to hold hands and skate around a busy roller skating rink several times together
Waiting in line for the sloooooooow beer server at Chuck E Cheese kid’s restaurant. We had to first get a large number of tickets by playing skee ball, then buy the beers for all of us, pound the beers, stuff pizza into our mouths, get our picture taken with Chuck E Cheese, and get a picture with a stranger wearing our jester’s hat, all as quickly as possible before being given the next clue.
The dastardly race organizers said we had to wear a t-shirt that was laying in the bushes before they’d give us the next clue. Only problem: the t-shirt was frozen in ice. We thawed it out using a garden hose attached to the Clyde Hill Fire Station. Surprising how long it took to do that, when the ice was completely embedded into the fabric!
Putting on the too small children sized helmets and the WAY too small little girl’s bikes…
Standing up on our ridiculously small little girl’s bikes, pink tassels flying through the air as we raced through neighborhood streets to our next destination. Halfway, we switched riders after all of us had to swallow blow job drinks (irish cream, kahlua, whipped cream) out of large shot glasses without using our hands.
We were “arrested” by the Medina Chief of Police during the race!