Preparation

Humming the Tom Lehrer song in my head

I've got two PuzzleHuntContests coming up next week, and I've been preparing (or not) for weeks.  How about you?

Seattle Night and Day Challenge

Hopefully a magnifying glass is on my checklist

First up this Saturday is the Seattle Night and Day Challenge, an event that gives you a map with 60-odd checkpoints in the city and challenges you to find as many as possible in 90 minutes, 3 hours, 7 hours, or 16 hours (starting at 4pm, so if you choose 7 or 16 hours, you get some Night, some Day).  This will be my 9th Night and Day, so I've got preparing for this down to a science.  In fact, I've got a spreadsheet.

In case you're wondering, I use the same spreadsheet for similar races, and I don't slavishly follow it (for example, I doubt I'll bring along an emergency blanket given the low is forecast to be in the high 50s).  Other than gathering up equipment, the main preparation I need is to get enough sleep and make sure my bike seems to be in good working condition.  Oh, yeah, and going for a few long bike rides.

 Ready Player One Gate #3

Would you buy a DeLorean from this man?

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the final gate for the Ready Player One contest.  For those of you who skipped the last few classes, here's a summary:  Ernie Cline, author of very geeky book Ready Player One, about a contest involving video games and 80s culture, announced a contest of his own, involving video games and 80s culture.  The first person to complete three challenges wins a real DeLorean.  As of the last count, 1200 people have completed the first challenge and over 500 have completed the second.  I expect those numbers to hit around 2000 and 800 before August 1st, when the final challenge opens, and it's a race between these 800 people to solve/finish/master one more game (or combination of games).  Actually, here on the west coast, we get to start at 9pm on July 31, which is sort of an advantage.

I've finished the first two challenges, so I'm one of the 800, and what have I done to prepare?

1. I read Ready Player One (duh).
2. I took August 1st off, in case it looks like I need to pull an all-nighter to win.
3. Some of the challenges in the book involved popular and cult movies from the 1970s and 1980s (e.g., WarGames and Monty Python and the Holy Grail), so I did my best to try to have a copy of these films on hand in case they are useful (thank you, Seattle Public Library).

Otherwise, not much else.  Should I be doing more (practicing my Defender skills, perhaps)?  It's a cost-benefit tradeoff, and I've decided it's unlikely this would help.  If the final challenge involves video game skills (and there are strong indications it might), I think there are a number of people in the 800 competitors who will be much better than I am, no matter how much I practice in the meantime.  But supposing I did think I had a good chance to win, my preparation might look a little more like...

Canlis New Year's Eve Hunt

 

The competition

 On December 31, 2010, I was the captain of one of around 50 teams competing in the final Canlis hunt.  The announced prize was considerably less than a DeLorean:  annual dinner for two at the fancy-schmancy Canlis restaurant for life, but you had to give it away to a deserving person.  In this case, though, I thought I had a chance.  The contest was presumably just going to be a compressed version of the contest Canlis had been conducting for the past few months:  they hid a menu and gave out clues as to where to find it.  They used a variety of clue types, but I thought I was pretty good at solving them.  My experience with Night and Day and other Seattle urban orienteering events meant I probably knew the city better than most of my competitors, and presumably the final event would require us to travel all over the city.  Finally, I was allowed an unlimited number of helpers to research questions at home, and I had a number of smart friends willing to assist.

So in this case, I went all out.  I had weeks to prepare, much of which I spent reading Seattle historical trivia (again, thank you Seattle Public Library) and jotting down interesting facts I thought might be useful.  I wrote up a document to tutor people on solving clues themselves, based on the clues they'd already given.  I wrote a webpage that could 'decode' a message, using the codes they'd already used, plus a couple of other basic ideas.  (Note:  I updated the page for a subsequent contest, so it references some unrelated things).  In short, I spent most of my free time for about four weeks preparing as best I could.  And we won.  Although plenty of luck was involved as well, it would not have happened without good preparation.

So, BE PREPARED.  If you want to win.  Unless you don't feel like it.

Coming up  

You could win this building! (not really)

 

(italics = new since last time)

• Seattle Night and Day Challenge, July 28-29, show up around 2:30 at Road Runner Sports in Green Lake.  See above.  Basically a gigantic Street Scramble that covers most of Seattle and starts at 4pm, with options for 90 minutes, 3 hours, 7 hours, and 16 hours.  16 hours gets you a real 'night and day' experience.  I prefer the 7 hour option, which still gets you some night, but with less of the hangover after you pull an all-nighter.  If you clear the course (I almost did it once; forgot the Locks closed at 9pm, dammit), you'll go around 70-80 miles.  This will be my 9th Night and Day.
• Seafair Treasure Hunt - Thursday, August 2.  Visit a Seafair info booth to find a 'treasure' and win a prize. 
• Ready Player One Easter Egg Hunt - See above.  Final gate opens at 9pm, July 31st (PDT).
• First Thursday Adventure Run - August 2, Road Runner Sports Green Lake.  As always, free, with thousands of dollars in prizes raffled off at the end.  Bonus:  July's run had a Slip and Slide and a bouncy house.
• Gumshoe 5K - August 3-12.  A charity event where you walk around Greenwood and solve a puzzle using clues you find along the way.
• Rabbit Hole Alleycat and Sprint - August 4, Cool Guy Park.  Put on by the organizers of the UW alleycat earlier this year.  Should be fun.
• Choose your own Paddle Adventure - August 5, UW Waterfront Activities Center.  Canoe orientering.  Rent a canoe, or bring your own (kayaks are okay as well).  Don't forget the sunscreen, and watch out for thick lilypad patches and swans (those guys are nasty).  Note that this ends at 12:30, so the registration is open early (9-11am).
• BEAST race #4 - August 7, Issaquah.  Did I ever tell you about the time I was on a BEAST race in Maple Valley and the course got me so confused I ended up going to the other end of the Cedar River Trail before I realized I was heading east instead of west?  Bring a compass.
• Evening Orienteering - Wednesday, August 8, Luther Burbank Park, Mercer Island.  If it's sunny, bring your bathing suit and have a swim afterwards.
• Pirate P"arr"ty - August 8, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center.  For the kids, includes a treasure hunt.
• Great Urban Race - August 11, starting at Jillian's.  Amazing-race style event.
• Seattle Rep's Theatrical Scavenger Hunt - August 18, noon.   Win Seattle Rep tickets for life!  Instantly become Foursquare's Mayor of the Bagley Wright.
• Bainbridge Street Scramble - August 18.  I assume this will be kind of like the Chilly Hilly, except with more checkpoints, better weather, and fewer people who fall over at the bottom of the hill because their derailleurs rusted out over the winter.
• TRIOBA Sprint Adventure Race - August 18, Ellensburg.  20-30 miles of biking, 5-15 miles on foot, no paddling, 5-10 hours total.  If you're looking for the next step after BEAST races, this would be a good place to start.
• 2012 Geocaching Block Party - August 18, Fremont.  It's International Geocaching Day, so break out your GPS devices and head on down to Fremont, headquarters of Groundspeak, which runs geocaching.com.  Various urban geocaching activities ensue.  Other events take place during the week, including one the next day at Snoqualmie Pass...
• Going APE at the Tunnel of Light - August 19, Hyak.  At the east end of the Snoqualmie Tunnel, on the John Wayne/Iron Horse Trail.  For those who like their geocaching more rural.  Or for those who like going into a 50-degree tunnel on a potentially hot day.  Bring a flashlight.
• Scavenger Hunt - August 21, 3pm, Northeast Branch Library.  Ages 12-18 only.  Heads will roll if they don't visit Top Pot.
• Amazing Ring Race - August 25.   Free entry.  Prizes:  a local jeweler puts up a ring purportedly worth $15,000.  2nd prize is also nothing to sneeze at.  You run around a small area downtown solving clues using a mobile phone application called SCVNGR. 
• Choose Your Own Adventure #3 - August 25, North SeaTac Park.  Orienteering where you find as many checkpoints as you can in 75 minutes.  If you ever lose your bearings just wait for the next plane to come by and remember the airport is due south.

Still going on

• Book Scavenger hunt - Seattle Public Library's Teen Summer Reading Program.

Puzzle cache of the week:  Missing Long Lat.  Find an address in the city that matches its longitude.  There are actually a few of them; the hints narrow it down to a unique answer (or at least a single block).

Summer Puzzle Hunt Wrap-up

What you get if you Google 'run bike fun wine'

Last Sunday, under sunny skies, 8 teams competed in my Summer Puzzle Hunt at the University of Washington.  Much running and biking around ensued, fun was had by all, and prizes were awarded.  You can view the clues and see how many you can figure out.  Go ahead, I'll wait.

Spoilers

The original Washington Elm scion, in front of Lewis Hall

Okay, I'm done waiting, time to give you the answers.

1, 2:   I think that I shall two times see/General Washington’s progeny.  (2 locations)

This is a takeoff on the Joyce Kilmer poem, Trees ("I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree.").  There's a particularly famous tree known as the Washington Elm, under which Washington took command of the American Army (except this probably didn't actually happen).  This tree is long gone, but scions of the elm were planted all over the country, including 2 in Seattle.  One is on the UW campus, between Clark Hall and the Communications Building, the other is in Evergreen Washelli cemetery up on Aurora.  More info is on Evergreen Washelli's page.

3: Find the coordinates of the final location of this geocache:
http://coord.info/GC1XKCM .

See Geocaching Puzzle of the Week, at the bottom of this post.

4:  In the thick fog, the Brontes lost their way/Their cargo (and their pen names) came through to save the day

This is based on an interesting story that appears in Paul Dorpat's Seattle Now and Then (and which I can't find anywhere online).  The Territorial University ordered a bell for its (at the time) only building, which was shipped to it aboard the bark Brontes.  It was foggy as the Brontes was approaching Seattle, and the ship got caught on the shallow mudflats (where SoDo is now) as the tide was going out.  The captain got the bright idea to summon help by ringing his cargo, the large bell.  People came running to see what the commotion was, and the ship was successfully pushed back out to sea before the tide went out.  This bell became the Denny Bell, now located at the top of Denny Hall.

What makes this story doubly interesting to me (and makes the riddle solvable), is that 'Bell' was the pen name adopted by all three Bronte sisters, to disguise the fact that they were female authors (frowned on at the time).  Charlotte Bronte was Currer Bell, Anne Bronte was Acton Bell, and Emily Bronte was Ellis Bell.  The winning team actually found the checkpoint using this information; the others who found it used the hint I provided at checkpoint 12.

I'm on a boat!  But not really (it was just a pier built to look like a boat)

5:  Holy Rip Van Winkle!  You had a big audition with E&E Productions scheduled for July 8, 1972, at the Showboat Theater.  But apparently your Mickey Mouse alarm clock didn’t go off, and you slept for 40 years!  Still, this could be your big break!  Better go see if they’re still there!  Knock ‘em dead!

The only difficulty here is figuring out where the Showboat Theater used to be located.  A cursory Google search says it was down by the water near the University Medical Center, which would be enough to solve it, as this was a manned checkpoint.  There's a picnic table east of the Ocean Sciences Building that has a sign commemorating the Showboat, and my wife, Elizabeth and our son Emmett were waiting there; participants who found them had to sing a song as an 'audition' to complete the checkpoint.

Don't mess with the monkey

6:  Visit Populus tremuloides, being careful to sneak past the monkey guards.

Populus tremuloides is the Latin name for quaking aspen.  The monkey guards are the statues outside the Medicinal Herb Garden, south of the Chemistry building.

7-8:  Repetitive building name, in more ways than one.  (2 locations)

There are a number of buildings with the same name:  two Gates Halls, two Allen Halls, not to mention a number of 'annexes'.  But even more repetitive than these are the two Hall Halls, better known as Hall Health (near the HUB) and Bejamin Hall Hall (on the Burke-Gilman west of the University Bridge).

9:

A straightforward orienteering checkpoint to the Ernest Conrad Dedicatory Manhole.  No, really.

This guy ain't gonna sell a lot of T-shirts

10:  Visit the home of the Sun Dodgers, circa 1919, and play a sport the current Sun Dodgers might be more comfortable with.

For a long time, the University of Washington football team was just known as 'the University of Washington football team', but then colleges started jumping on the 'mascot' bandwagon, and the UW had to join in.  By student vote, and to the regents' chagrin, UW's first official mascot name was the Sun Dodgers.  Anticipating future Nike revenue, this only lasted a few years before they changed it to the Huskies.  Nowadays, the Sundodgers is the name of the men's ultimate frisbee club team.

Back in these simpler times, the football team also played in a simpler stadium.  That is to say, not a stadium at all, but a cleared field on the northeast corner of campus known as Denny Field.  Denny Field is still there, although much of the real estate has been converted to tennis and handball courts, as well as dormitories.  This was a manned checkpoint, featuring a challenge I stole from a BEAST race.  You had to complete a hole of frisbee golf, with the twist that after each throw, you had to run back to the tee and then to the disk.  Could have been worse; during the BEAST race, you had to run to the disk, then back to tee, then back to the disk.

This one's definitely a copy

11:  Omar wanted to know if MOMA’s was a copy.

Omar is my son.  MOMA is the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  MOMA and the UW have one piece of art in common:  they both have a Broken Obelisk (MOMA's is in their sculpture garden, UW's is in Red Square, of course).

12: ESE ROAM RO RYEGROG EARN EGG’IASM KEDS FRO A THIN.  EB EQUIT DAN EPILOT.

It pays to study the old Canlis clues, as this is just a variant on a Canlis menu hide at Warren Magnuson's desk (Maggie's desk, an anagram of EGG'SIAM KEDS), which is normally located in an alcove in the Suzzallo Library Graduate Reading Room.  The desk is currently being renovated, but I camped outside the alcove anyway, at least until my laptop batteries ran low and I had to move to an outlet just outside the Reading Room.

I had two copies of Seattle Now and Then with me, and instructed people who found me (who were quiet and polite) that they could get a hint for either question 4 or 11.  If they chose 11, I gave them 'Barnett Newman', the name of the sculptor of Broken Obelisk.  If they chose 4, I gave them one of the books, and told them to look in the 30s (the story referenced above, Denny's Bell, is number 37 in the book).

Bonus Checkpoint

Doomed Prunus

Every time a team visited a checkpoint and verified it with the web application, they got a clue:  a word or two that together spelled out a bonus riddle for checkpoint 13.  In full, the riddle read:

Arrived in 1939, saved in 1964, replaced by 1959.  But where are/were the others?

I also tweeted 2 extra clues during the event.  The first clue:  'Prunus', which is the genus of trees such as apples, plums and cherries.  The second:  'Socratic confusion re: Psalm 145 (8)'.  This is a cryptic crossword clue with the answer 'acrostic' ('Socratic confusion' indicates an anagram of 'Socratic'. Psalm 145 is an acrostic.  You should read about cryptic crossword clues if you're serious about puzzle-solving).

If you took the first letter of the first word (the 'A' word) for all the checkpoints, it spells the acrostic 'Canal Reserve', the location of the bonus checkpoint.  The riddle refers to the Yoshino cherry trees in the quad, which were acquired for the Arboretum but actually planted in the Canal Reserve (where the original, small Montlake cut used to be) in 1939.  Most were moved in 1964 to avoid being bulldozed for highway 520, and the class of 1959 recently raised money to have replacement trees planted, as the original trees are getting near the end of their lives.  The riddle refers to the fact that a few of the trees (2-6) were left in their original place, as they were not in the path of the freeway.  You used to be able to see them in the section of the Canal Reserve west of MOHAI.  Omar and I visited the area the day before the Puzzle Hunt, and talked to the brother of a local landowner who was watering some plants.  He knew all about the cherry trees, as well as other original plantings, as he is a landscape architect, and he confirmed my observation that the Yoshinos all appear to be gone.  They would have disappeared soon, anyway, as this land is slated to be wiped out when the 520 bridge is replaced and the freeway re-aligned.

Next time

Lessons Learned

Although people had a good time, there were a couple of things that could definitely have been improved.  First of all, the questions were, on the whole, too hard.  A number of people didn't get any of them, which had to be disappointing.  I should have created a few 'gimme' questions, and made a few more a little easier.  Interestingly, I did think checkpoint #9 was a gimme, but even some of the people who were orienteers could not find it, likely because manholes are pretty inobtrusive.

Second, I had checkpoint volunteers sit around for 3 hours with not very many visitors.  I should have made the manned checkpoints (at least the Showboat and Sun Dodgers checkpoints) pretty easy, so that more people would go to them, more quickly.  That way, the volunteers should have been able to knock off early, and more people would have been able to take part in the fun/silly stunts at the checkpoints.

Combining these ideas, I should have made the manned checkpoint clues very easy, which would have been better for the volunteers and allowed more people to have more fun.

Also, registration was too slow.  I should have just had people sign in on a piece of paper with all their information, which would have been much quicker.  There were also a number of technical glitches with people being unable to log into the web application, which I think were caused by smartphones aggressively caching login credentials (most of these were cases where people tried to log in with a special id different from their usual Google id).  These could be averted by creating a toy application before the event solely to test login ids.

Gold doubloons and pieces of eight

Coming up  

(italics = new since last week)

• Renton River Days Duck Hunt III - now through July 24.  Follow the clues (posted on Facebook) to find rubber ducks hidden in Renton.  Bring your findings to Renton River Days (July 25-27).  The more you've found, the more chances you have to win a prize.
• Road to the NACCC - July 14.  Alleycat (to fundraise for next year's North American Cycle Courier Championships), followed by a concert.
• Evening Orienteering - Wednesday, July 18, Big Finn Hill Park, Kirkland.  With a big barbecue afterwards.
• Seafair Treasure Hunt - Thursday, July 19.  Thursdays through August  2, visit a Seafair info booth to find a 'treasure' and win a prize.  Locations vary.
• Pirate Treasure Hunt - Friday, July 20, 6pm.  Meadowbrook Community Center.  Family event, I imagine.
• Amazing Kitchen Race - July 21, 11am.  Scavenger Hunt + cooking competition.  Paging Menu Hunters Anonymous.
• Seattle Urban Beer Hunt - July 22, noon.  Photo scavenger hunt + beer + some other stuff.  Valuable prizes plus, hey, free beer.  21 and over only (duh).  Groupon discounts are out there, at least for one more day.
• Urban Bike Adventure - July 22.  Looks like a bike version of the Amazing Race.  Solve puzzles, bike to checkpoints, cash and other prizes.  I'd totally enter this except I have a prior commitment.
• Tour de Watertower - July 22.  A punishing race to all of Seattle's high hills ('cause that's where the watertowers are, baby).  Since the towers and the starting/ending points are widely known, this race favors speed and endurance over route planning.
• Choose Your Own Campus Adventure - July 22, UW.   Orienteering on campus, with a get-together at the Big Time Brewery afterwards (in the early afternoon, which means the Big Time is all-ages).
• Seafair Treasure Hunt - Thursday, July 26.  See Thursday, July 19.
• Seattle Night and Day Challenge, July 28-29, show up around 2:30 at Road Runner Sports in Green Lake.  See the interview above.  Basically a gigantic Street Scramble that covers most of Seattle and starts at 4pm, with options for 90 minutes, 3 hours, 7 hours, and 16 hours.  16 hours gets you a real 'night and day' experience.  I prefer the 7 hour option, which still gets you some night, but with less of the hangover after you pull an all-nighter.  If you clear the course (I almost did it once; forgot the Locks closed at 9pm, dammit), you'll go around 70-80 miles.  This will be my 9th Night and Day.
• Seafair Treasure Hunt - Thursday, August 2.  See Thursday, July 19.
• First Thursday Adventure Run - August 2, Road Runner Sports Green Lake.  As always, free, with thousands of dollars in prizes raffled off at the end.  Bonus:  July's run had a Slip and Slide and a bouncy house.
• Gumshoe 5K - August 3-12.  A charity event where you walk around Greenwood and solve a puzzle using clues you find along the way.
• Down the Rabbit Hole Alleycat and Sprint - August 4, Cool Guy Park.  Put on by the organizers of the UW alleycat earlier this year.  Should be fun.
• Choose your own Paddle Adventure - August 5, UW Waterfront Activities Center.  Canoe orientering.  Rent a canoe, or bring your own (kayaks are okay as well).  Don't forget the sunscreen, and watch out for thick lilypad patches and swans (those guys are nasty).  Note that this ends at 12:30, so the registration is open early (9-11am).
• BEAST race #4 - August 7, Issaquah.  Did I ever tell you about the time I was on a BEAST race in Maple Valley and the course got me so confused I ended up going to the other end of the Cedar River Trail before I realized I was heading east instead of west?  Bring a compass.
• Evening Orienteering - Wednesday, August 8, Luther Burbank Park, Mercer Island.  If it's sunny, bring your bathing suit and have a swim afterwards.
• Pirate P"arr"ty - August 8, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center.  For the kids, includes a treasure hunt.
• Great Urban Race - August 11, starting at Jillian's.  Amazing-race style event.

Still going on

• Book Scavenger hunt - Seattle Public Library's Teen Summer Reading Program.  .
• Ready Player One Easter Egg Hunt - I cleared the second gate, so now I wait until August 1st for the chance to win a DeLorean.

Also

There seems to be a mini-trend of PR firms using treasure and scavenger hunts to promote movies, TV shows, and other items.  For example:  USA Network Launches Virtual Treasure Hunt

Geocache puzzle of the week:  Guardrail Multicache.  Really more of a puzzle than a multicache, and the final cache find has eluded me for weeks.  Still, solving the initial puzzle is a good way to spend a few minutes.  Stop by the guardrail at the end of 36th Ave NE near the Burke-Gilman, and look for something that doesn't belong.

Terry Farrah on the Origins of Night and Day

Where the Puzzles Begin

But first, a word from our sponsor...

This Sunday, July 8, I'm putting on a puzzle hunt at the UW.  If you're interested in this blog, you should attend.  It's free, and there are prizes, and you'll probably win one because there are so many prizes.  And you'll have fun and it'll be sunny and all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.

More info.  

Terry Farrah

Now, back to our program

Terry Farrah and I went to grad school in Computer Science together at the University of Washington and then promptly fell out of touch for a number of years.  Imagine my surprise when I met her again at the very first Street Scramble in the University District (April, 2004).  She wasn't competing, she was in charge, as part of the (at the time) 2-person company, Meridian Geographics.

Street Scrambles are technically orienteering events (urban rogaines), but it's easier to think of them as neighborhood scavenger hunts.  You're given a map with around 30 checkpoints and your object is to visit as many as possible in a time limit (typically, 90 minutes or 3 hours).  Usually, the checkpoints are located at interesting places or things.


Eight years later, Meridian Geographics is still putting on Street Scrambles and other events under the leadership of co-founder Eric Bone.  Terry has a different, full-time job, but is still in the loop, since she and Eric are partners who live in the same house (along with a few housemates).  I stopped by a few weekends ago to interview her about the origins of the Night and Day Challenge, a much longer version of a Street Scramble.  While we were talking, Eric and a volunteer were finalizing the map and questions for the next day's Issaquah Street Scramble.

This tree is an inspiration

The First Night and Day Challenge

Terry:  The first Night and Day was in 2003, and the first Street Scramble was in 2004. [...]  Eric and I went for a long run in October 2002 in the San Francisco Bay area, on the Southern Peninsula.  It was a 15 mile run where we visited a few different sort of touristic spots, but all along trails.  There's a thing called the Methuselah Tree, and there's a thing called the Sandstone Formation. 

And maybe it was this sort of orienteering-like aspect to our run that prompted Eric to say, "I want to put on a rogaine in Seattle someday."  And I said, "Like an urban rogaine?"  And he said, "Yeah, yeah." 

[...This eventually led to,] "Let's do it in Summer 2003."  At the time I was either mostly or fully unemployed, so it sounded like a fun project to take on.

And it was a fun project, because of (or in spite of) the fact that she had never put on an orienteering event before.  She volunteered to put on an event in April 2003 for the Bay Area Orienteering Club, to learn more about how to do it, but there were a number of obstacles they had to overcome.  The most obvious was the maps.  Eric had made orienteering maps before, but not on this scale, and it was clear you could not make an orienteering map of Seattle (and parts of Vashon Island, where they had a few checkpoints) in the time they had, as orienteering maps feature a number of details that simply aren't available on standard maps (for example, every building and most man-made objects), and use special symbols to boot.  Luckily, Eric came up with the idea of using US Geological Survey maps instead (with some corrections, as these maps are typically decades old).  These days, you can get map data from the City of Seattle pretty easily, but back then the USGS was pretty much the only game in town.  To this day, Street Scrambles and Night and Day use USGS maps as the basis for the event maps.

Not anymore

Mistakes were made

They made a number of mistakes, including putting checkpoints at overpasses without telling you if the checkpoint was on the overpass or below, and not indicating access points, such as how to cross the 1st Avenue S bridge.  The latter error was compounded by the fact that they did not allow you to bring along any other maps.  A Seattle bike map would definitely have helped at the 1st Ave S bridge.

The 'no maps' rule has since been dropped, as well as a 'no bikes' rule (they thought they wouldn't be safe to ride overnight).  The first Night and Day also had a rule (now dropped) prohibiting you from being south of Denny Way in the wee hours, due to safety concerns.  This rule made it particularly difficult to go to Vashon Island, as you were supposed to go there from the start in the Central District, find all the checkpoints, take a ferry back, and then make your way back north of Denny, all between 4pm and 11pm.

A common feature of other rogaines is the hash house, where you can go to get food at any time during the race, so they had an elaborate spread of awesome food, most of which went uneaten.  As Terry said, "When they were coming in at 11pm, they just wanted to go home and go to sleep.  And when they were coming in at 8am, they just wanted to lie down on the ground and rest their muscles."

On your mark, get set...

High Points

Between 105-115 people participated (all on foot), because Terry worked hard to get people to come, posting in as many running and orienteering event calendars and e-mail lists as she could for months in advance.  A number of people came up from the Bay Area, including a group of Girl Scouts who stayed after they finished the race to help out (because that's what Girl Scouts do).  Other notable volunteers were Virginia Stratton, Bruce McAllister, Don Atkinson, and Dave Enger (who vetted the course on bike because they wouldn't let him race on his bike).

Terry's favorite part was probably the start.  "To have worked for months on this thing, and then have 100+ people standing there and you say 'Go!' and they all run.  That was such a thrill.  It was just awesome."


The finish was also exciting, but then came the scoring, where there were also a few glitches.  The answers were not arranged in a way that made it easy to score, including a string of 5 questions that all had the same answer, which made it difficult to see which ones were actually answered.  They also thought they needed to have multiple answer sheets to discourage sharing answers.  There were 3 different sheets, which meant every checkpoint had 3 different questions and 3 different correct answers (as someone who's designed other courses, I often have trouble coming up with one question at a checkpoint I want to use).


A number of the checkpoints were deliberately uninteresting, like manhole covers or fire hydrants, because their original concept was to use mundane checkpoints.  But as they got out in the field to scout out checkpoints, common sense kicked in and they started choosing distinctive objects like sculptures and odd signs.  Nowadays, they only set checkpoints at a manhole cover or hydrant as a last resort.


Seattle Night and Day Challenge 2012 takes place Saturday, July 28 (ends on July 29 if you go all 16 hours).  This year the event center is Road Runner Sports in Green Lake.  I will be there (bike, 7 hours).  See the list of current and upcoming events for more info.

Still going on

• Book Scavenger hunt - Seattle Public Library's Teen Summer Reading Program.  .
• Ready Player One Easter Egg Hunt - The 2nd gate is open, and it leads to a Facebook game created by Richard Garriott, aka 'Lord British' from the 80's Ultima computer games.  I wasted a lot of time playing those game.  Some things never change.

Coming up  

(italics = new since last week)

• Renton River Days Duck Hunt III - now through July 24.  Follow the clues (posted on Facebook) to find rubber ducks hidden in Renton.  Bring your findings to Renton River Days (July 25-27).  The more you've found, the more chances you have to win a prize.
• Sue Bird Bobblehead Hunt - July 5-7.  Somebody's been taking hints from the Seattle Opera.  Follow Doppler (the Storm's mascot) on Twitter to find a Sue Bird bobblehead and a Seattle Storm prize package.  Only one bobblehead left, so Saturday's your last chance.  Hint:  the first 2 were hidden in businesses that sponsor or are affiliated with the Storm.
• CitySolve Urban Race - July 7.  Another Amazing-Race
• TRIOBA 24 Hour Adventure Race - July 7, Cougar, WA.  "There will be 15-25 miles of flat water paddling, 50-75 miles of biking, and 20-30 miles of trekking and trail running."  Be prepared, or just stay at home and rest up for...
• Summer Puzzle Hunt 2012 - July 8, 1pm.  See above.  Just go.
• Road to the NACCC - July 14.  Alleycat (to fundraise for next year's North American Cycle Courier Championships), followed by a concert.
• Evening Orienteering - Wednesday, July 18, Big Finn Hill Park, Kirkland.  With a big barbecue afterwards.
• Pirate Treasure Hunt - Friday, July 20, 6pm.  Meadowbrook Community Center.  Family event, I imagine.
• Amazing Kitchen Race - July 21, 11am.  Scavenger Hunt + cooking competition.  Paging Menu Hunters Anonymous.
• Seattle Urban Beer Hunt - July 22, noon.  Photo scavenger hunt + beer + some other stuff.  Valuable prizes plus, hey, free beer.  21 and over only (duh).  Groupon discounts are out there, at least for one more day.
• Urban Bike Adventure - July 22.  Looks like a bike version of the Amazing Race.  Solve puzzles, bike to checkpoints, cash and other prizes.  I'd totally enter this except I have a prior commitment.
• Tour de Watertower - July 22.  A punishing race to all of Seattle's high hills ('cause that's where the watertowers are, baby).  Since the towers and the starting/ending points are widely known, this race favors speed and endurance over route planning.
• Choose Your Own Campus Adventure - July 22, UW.   Orienteering on campus, with a get-together at the Big Time Brewery afterwards (in the early afternoon, which means the Big Time is all-ages).
• Seattle Night and Day Challenge, July 28-29, show up around 2:30 at Road Runner Sports in Green Lake.  See the interview above.  Basically a gigantic Street Scramble that covers most of Seattle and starts at 4pm, with options for 90 minutes, 3 hours, 7 hours, and 16 hours.  16 hours gets you a real 'night and day' experience.  I prefer the 7 hour option, which still gets you some night, but with less of the hangover after you pull an all-nighter.  If you clear the course (I almost did it once; forgot the Locks closed at 9pm, dammit), you'll go around 70-80 miles.  This will be my 9th Night and Day.
• First Thursday Adventure Run - August 2, Road Runner Sports Green Lake.  As always, free, with thousands of dollars in prizes raffled off at the end.  Bonus:  July's run had a Slip and Slide and a bouncy house.
• Gumshoe 5K - August 3-12.  A charity event where you walk around Greenwood and solve a puzzle using clues you find along the way.
• Choose your own Paddle Adventure - August 5, UW Waterfront Activities Center.  Canoe orientering.  Rent a canoe, or bring your own (kayaks are okay as well).  Don't forget the sunscreen, and watch out for thick lilypad patches and swans (those guys are nasty).  Note that this ends at 12:30, so the registration is open early (9-11am).
• BEAST race #4 - August 7, Issaquah.  Did I ever tell you about the time I was on a BEAST race in Maple Valley and the course got me so confused I ended up going to the other end of the Cedar River Trail before I realized I was heading east instead of west?  Bring a compass.

Also

Yet another armchair treasure hunt.

Geocache puzzle of the week:  Something Evil at the UW.  I've been kinda busy, but this is a good one.  I'm inexorably working my way down to the final location, which (open secret) is in the swamps by Foster Island.  Good times.