Terry Farrah on the Origins of Night and Day

Where the Puzzles Begin

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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.

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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.