… I take a bit of offense at your assumption
that my team had an over abundance of ground support and are just
fast runners who can't problem solve. In fact, Team Fluffy Bunny
had a single ground support person who ran most of the semi finals
with us. In the finals he did not run with us.
We solved checkpoint clues the way we did in placing
2nd in the LA and 3rd in the San Diego local races, we used our
heads and had help from people at computers to whom we read clues
over the phone. Most of the checkpoints we found by solving the
problems ourselves.
All of the teams that made it to the finals exhibited
a great deal of skillful racing that was quite free from the questionable
tactics that you outline. Many of the top teams were pretty close
together for much of the semis race, and I saw nothing of the
sort of thing that you mention. For the most part, I find that
serious athletes, especially those involved with endurance sports,
tend to operate under a pretty strict level of integrity.
As to our intelligence. In four UC trivia contests
we placed first overall twice, and are in fact excellent problem
solvers as well as pretty intelligent people who also happen to
run fast. It is a race after all. We train our asses off, running
90-100 miles per week, and race often. We were probably the fastest
runners on the course, and that was to our advantage certainly,
but I am also 41 years old and both I and my partner work for
a living like the rest of you. We are not professional athletes.
I also personally did a tremendous amount of research for the
three cities in which I raced, spending hours on the UC website
reading the trivia questions and checkpoint clues for every city,
as well as poring over maps. The bottom line is, given all of
the disparate demands of the race, we were better prepared than
most, and that is why we did well. It is frustrating to me to
have you suggest otherwise.
For me, Urban Challenge is about as much fun as
I have ever had. I have run in many big time races, including
the Boston, New York, and Chicago Marathons as well as the Olympic
Trials, and UC is definitely at the top of my list of racing highlights.
The contest is great, the organizers great guys, and the competition
fierce and friendly. I can't wait to race again next year.
