|
FROM AN UNLIKELY BARBER SHOP in the middle of a fish market to
an 1897 wooden schooner to a life-size faux pig outside home plate
of Safeco Field, Seattle's Urban Challenge teams hit the street
in cool weather amid intermittent rain and turned in the best group
performance of the tour to date.
Winners:
Brothers Michael and Brian Blue, accomplished Ironmen, won the race
with a time of 2 hours, 50 minutes after the first team to cross
the finish line was eliminated on a missed checkpoint clue. "We
felt like we had to win, since we were caught bragging in the paper,"
said triathlete Michael, captain of the winning team. Their team
name? The Blues Brothers, of course!
College buddies Jack "Jake" Hanover and Ray
McKinley took second with a 2:56:00 time. Close on their heels were
Rich Burton and Gillian Torode, finishing within a minute behind
Jake and Ray. Complete
list of winners »
Checkpoints:
In all, three of the top ten teams to cross the finish line went
down to mistakes made at a couple of different checkpoints.
"My partner was convinced that Colonel Sanders was
born in Kentucky so we took our checkpoint photo at a KFC instead
of the Abraham Lincoln Building," said one challenger who will
remain anonymous. "I thought Lincoln was born in Illinois,"
remarked the fallen competitor, before adding, "It was my partner's
idea." Check
out the checkpoints »
Trivia Challenge:
The Seattle group averaged 17 on the 30-question Trivia Challenge
with a high score of 25 and a low score of 12. Most teams were surprised
to learn that William Lear, more commonly associated with corporate
jet airplanes, was also the inventor of the 8-track tape player.
Test yourself with
the Seattle Trivia Challenge »
UC loves
Seattle:
Race creator Kevin McCarthy was impressed with the quality of the
Seattle competitors. "The racers were spaced more tightly that we
have seen in previous weeks. More teams finished this week than
ever before," said Kevin. "It's a tribute to the courage
and determination of the Seattle racers." View
more photos from the Seattle event »
Press:
After our great press in the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer, we were pleased to see reporter Bobbie Nodell
and photographer Ellen Banner from the Seattle
Times and a tv crew from KING
5. Radio 107.7 The End
also jumped on the Urban Challenge bandwagon, set up a booth next
to the finish line, and shared some kettle corn with us.
Thanks:
Our thanks to Stephanie Bowman (who also raced) for getting us some
prime downtown space outside Safeco Field. We also enjoyed hanging
out with the good people from Red Bull (thanks for letting us use
your neat-o arch for our start/finish line). Between the killer
Seattle coffee and the Red Bull in our gullet, the Urban Challenge
staff were amped to the max. Someday we'll sleep!
|
