Over the weekend, one of my best friends and I took to the city, running into the unknowns as we helped raise awareness for the BC Lung Association. It was our second year in a row participating in Rush – The Urban Scavenger Hunt, and even more memorable than the first. Along with 298 of our now closest friends, we scoured through the city not knowing what to expect, but the unexpected.
As I’m recapping the highlights of the day, my legs and arms are still mildly sore. This is an improvement from last year, where I was sore for a week after. I can still feel the burning! The day began with rain but that didn’t stop us. Joyce and I had a plan, and that was to actually plan and plot our route before we began to run like maniacs. When we were instructed to “GO!” I ran for the volunteer holding the clue cards that would guide us for the next few hours. Joyce and I decided to go far into Richmond first, and leave the Vancouver checkpoints last. To sum it up, we basically popped a balloon with a stranger, attempted to translate traditional bikrams yoga poses into Sanskrit, decipher clues at the Richmond Public Library, and orient ourselves at the killer mandatory checkpoint at Minoru Park. By killer, I meant this was why we didn’t place near the top 20 (which was our goal). Because the checkpoint was mandatory, everyone had to do it. By the time we got to Minoru Park, we were so stoked because we had already 3 checkpoints under our belts, and was ready to conquer this one and run back to Vancouver for the remainder of the course. However, with nearly 20 teams ahead of us in line, I knew this was when that Gold Rush Pass would have played an integral part to the day. The Gold Rush Pass allows teams to bypass any lines at any checkpoint. We stood waiting for 45-55 minutes in line (I know this as I was tweeting, texting, and nervously gnawing at my Cliff bar to pass time). We completed the task within 7 minutes. From there, we knew some of our stamina had been lost and we hopped the skytrain back to East Vancouver where we entered my old stomping grounds for the last haul. We shot balls from sling shots between our legs (think human Angry Birds), caught wet sponges with buckets, went blindfold through the periphery of a park (blind leading the blind), and finally an obstacle/boot camp course at Slocan Park. We did all this within an hour or so. With energy in us again, we hopped the skytrain again and headed to our very last and mandatory checkpoint in Chinatown. This was where we had to stuff our faces with a hazelnut sparkle cookie and a gigantic cinnamon knot from Bread Garden. It’s too bad we didn’t get to enjoy the lovely treats, and I’m sorry to Follow Me Foodie for having to see our faces of anguish as we tried our fastest to devour the goods. Now, we just had to make it back to the finish line. By this time, our good friends Team Dinosaur and Team T & A were already done. Joyce and I finished 45 out of 150 teams, just under 5.5 hours.
With the multiple bumps and bruises, the the mysterious bug bites all over, it was definitely an experience we won’t forget. Though I will never look at Minoru Park the same, and I’ll surely cringe at the sight of another cinnamon anything, I’m glad we all did so well, and helped raise big money for the BC Lung Association. Kudos to the many people in charge of making this day run as smooth as it did, and all the hours of hard work you put into this. Your creativity is what makes us so excited to do this! So, THANK YOU!
Also, thanks to everyone’s generosity, we raised a total of $1260 and will be receiving free registration for next year’s event. Joyce and I really would like to say a very sincere “thank you” and know that we had you in mind when we battled our way through the course of the day. Next June is awhile away, but it’ll be our third year… and you know what they say, three times a charm! Unitl then… with love, team j&k, ftw. yes, for the win 
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