Seattle Post-Intelligencer
(Original article online)

Urban Challenge tests runners' mental agility as well as speed

By KRISTIN DIZON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

You are running as if the bulls of Pamplona were gouging at your heels.

Your razor-sharp mind unravels clues like Yoda harnessing the Force.

This is what it must feel like to master the Urban Challenge, a new race series that's coming to Seattle June 8.

Taking place in 21 cities across the country this summer, Urban Challenge combines a road race with a scavenger hunt -- almost like a 10K for brainiacs.

Two-person teams race around a city, deciphering clues to find 12 checkpoints. Using only their feet or public transit to get around, they get a bystander to photograph them in front of each checkpoint with a digital camera they carry.

A checkpoint clue might be a word scramble, a fill-in-the-blank, a math equation or more. For example, at the May 18 Phoenix race, one clue asked teams to find the real diner seen in the opening for the TV Show "Alice." (The checkpoint? Not Mel's, as in the show, but Pat's.)

Nothing marks a desired destination or landmark, so teams never know how they're faring until the end. At the Phoenix challenge, eight of the 20 fastest finishers were eliminated because they'd captured at least one wrong photo image.

More than 50 pairs are signed up for the Seattle race, but there's room for 300. Within two weeks of race time, it costs $200 per team to sign up (those who joined earlier paid $150). The first place finishers get $2,000, second place $1,000, and third $500.

In-line skates, taxis or rides from a friend are verboten on the course, which averages around 16 to 20 miles. About half of it is done fastest on public transportation.

But, participants may use aids such as cell phones, bus guides, maps, GPS units and other references. They may ask people on the street for help, call their Aunt Edna and even give other teams false information.

Teams are given a full list of clues at the start and must visit the checkpoints in sequence. If they're lucky, they'll come across the designated "skip man," identified to all the teams before the start. A snapshot of themselves with the skip man lets racers opt out of one checkpoint.

The race, which generally avoids obvious landmarks such as the Space Needle to better test racers' knowledge of the city, takes between two and three hours for first-place finishers.

Urban Challenge started as a birthday bash for a 12-year-old last October. Kevin McCarthy, 40, created a race for his daughter and her soccer buddies.

The Phoenix man, who owns cabinet and contracting businesses, was so consumed with the concept and planning that he decided to take it to the rest of the country.

"I've got passion coming out of my pores," McCarthy said. "I eat, sleep and breathe Urban Challenge."

But, he doesn't make money at it -- yet.

McCarthy laughed when asked that question, as he dined at a Hollywood trattoria while prepping for the L.A. race last weekend.

He'd like to see Urban Challenge become a profitable venture and recently met with a TV production company. But for now, he, his family and a small band of employees travel from city to city in an Econoline van, arriving a few days before a race and printing course clues on the fly from laptop computers.

McCarthy, a "middle-of-the-pack" runner who's competed mostly in 5- and 10Ks, came to Seattle in March for a little recon.

He has received local help from Stephanie Bowman, the director of intergovernmental relations for the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. She approached Paul Allen's investment company, Vulcan Inc., which came on board as a local sponsor.

Bowman, 34, a jogger who runs three to four times a week, also plans to compete in the race.

"I have not met a single person who doesn't think this is the neatest idea in the world," said Bowman, whose knowledge of local bus routes could be a boon in the contest.

Public transit know-how is key, but it won't pay to blindly follow other teams like sheep. One team might have to start at checkpoint 5, then work their way through sequentially; while another twosome starts at checkpoint 11 and so on.

Teams compete for starting positions by answering 30 general trivia questions with multiple-choice answers at race headquarters, the Stadium Exhibition Center.

Homegrown brothers Michael and Brian Blue, both attorneys, are banking on their knowledge of city lore, but their background as competitive triathletes doesn't hurt.

"I always think it's going to be faster to run than to take the bus," said Michael Blue, 42, who finished his first Ironman Triathlon in 1981. "Foot-speedwise, I don't think there'll be any teams faster than us."

That's easy to say when you run a six-minute mile and log 45 to 50 miles a week. (That doesn't include the 200 to 300 miles of cycling or three to five swim workouts.)

Physically, Michael Blue acknowledges, Urban Challenge will be a walk in the park for him and his brother, who is 38.

"It's the whole thought-process thing that sounds fun," Blue said. "I have no idea what to expect."

While the classic athlete-scholar may have the best chance at winning Urban Challenge, McCarthy says the event is for everyone, including his "couch potato" sister. She has yet to finish a race -- each is capped at five hours -- but loves it.

"I'd say, the fitter you are, the more fun it is," McCarthy said. "But the race is designed to be accessible. It's not something you have to train for."

People in wheelchairs can compete if they have a teammate who walks. Kids under the age of 18 can participate if teamed with an adult.

The top 10 teams in each city will be invited to compete in the national championships in Las Vegas in November.

McCarthy is gratified at the response so far.

"I just love the folks who are competing this year -- they have the courage to try something new," he said.

P-I reporter Kristin Dizon can be reached at 206-448-8118 or kristindizon@seattlepi.com.