South African Warrior Race

Last month Paul and our neighbor, Adam, took on the South African Warrior Race. If you've ever heard of the Tough Mudder in the US, this is the South African equivalent. They signed up for the Black-Ops version - 21km (13 miles) of trail running with over 30 obstacles.

Adam's 7 year old daughter, Lucy, also signed up for the kids race, 0.5 km with about 10 obstacles. It was awesome to watch her take on that course. She was fearless!

After Lucy finished her race, Piper and I were ready to cheer on Paul for his big race!

It was a tough run. After about 12 miles of trail running with 25 other tough obstacles, the last 5 obstacles were near enough for us to go and cheer him on. He and Adam looked exhausted at this point and they still had another mile of running and some crazy obstacles to get through!

The last obstacle was the electric shock, he managed to make it through upright, with only one shock. So three hours later, covered in mud, Paul finished his first South African warrior race!!!

The Washington Post Hunt 2012

This past June, for the third year, Paul and I participated in the Washington Post Hunt (we also participated in 2008 and 2011). It was great timing, Paul was home on his R&R from South Sudan, and we got back the night before from our fantastic week in Antigua. It was a great day for the hunt, and as has been our past experience it was ridiculously hard but we tried our best!

The Post Hunt is a citywide brainteaser game created by the syndicated columnists Dave Barry and Gene Weingarten and the Washington Post editor Tom Shroder. We woke up that Sunday morning and grabbed the Washington Post Magazine and flipped through to find the Hunt information.

Here was our map of the city sized game board we were going to be playing on.

Arriving at Franklin Square Park we found our competition. We sized them up and figured we were definitely going to win this year.

So at noon, the hosts of the hunt come on stage and give everyone the five map coordinates that will lead us to the five clues of the hunt. We have 3 hours to solve the clues (each solution is a number) those clues will be part of the larger "end game" clue, which is typically a completely unsolvable, ridiculously hard puzzle that is impossible except for those few teams that happen to have super brains and win the game. So with that in mind we head out.

First puzzle: We find an auctioneer of the "CIVIC auction" selling off the most bizarre set of items: a race car, kayak, level, and a pile of poop. As the auctioneer does his thing he sells off the items for specific amounts. One amount is $26,062. Notice anything similar about all these? They are all palindromes! So the answer is 26062, which matches one of the answers in the Post Magazine. Puzzle #1, we got it!

Second puzzle: We headed to the second coordinate point in the city and found a huge crowd surrounding a large inflatable bowling ball with 3 red arrows pointing west. People at this clue were also handing out clue's with the following information: Your first roll was pretty good, But some you didn't smite, Now you have to find that wood, Because what's left is right. So if you look at the map above in the first picture you will notice a red triangle, the arrows near the bowling ball pointed towards that red triangle on the map. Ah ha, these must be the pins. According to the clues handed out the bowling ball didn't knock down all the pins, so we had to go find out which pins were still standing.

We walked over every inch of that triangle and discovered large 7 foot pins standing in the 2, 6, and 8 positions. In the Post magazine 268 was an answer. Whoo hoo, second answer for the Dawn and Paul team! Told you we were going to win this thing...

Third puzzle: The next coordinates led us to Marshall Park where we found a statue of two men playing chess and hunt volunteers handing out a black and white 8x8 checkerboard with one box labeled "start".  We flipped through the Post magazine and found a page with the same 8x8 checkerboard with random letters in each box. As we stared at the two clues trying to figure out what to do next we (well okay, Paul) realized that a song was playing on repeat very loudly in the background -  Bob Segar's "Night Moves". Since Paul actually knows how to play chess he figured this one out quite quickly and from the starting box moved around the grid with the letters like a knight would move and spelled out FIFTEEN (15). Another answer in the magazine. 3 for 3! We are on a roll!

Fourth puzzle: Back at the main stage we find skit with a chicken, a dog, and a fox holding a torch plus a mouse moving around a person in a chair cursing. When the mouse would push him in front of the fox he would say "click" and a person would come on stage with a sign saying "where do you go now?"

Yeah, where the heck do we go now? We puzzled over this one for a long time we figured out that the mouse was a computer mouse and the fox with the torch was Firefox, but from here we were stuck. Turns out we were supposed to go back to the map and notice the Web (for the world wide web of course) and we were supposed to head to that point on the map. Once there we would have found a billboard with a variety of browsers listed. Mozilla Firefox was labeled as version 6.2. In the magazine, 62 was the right answer. We didn't get this one, uh oh...

Fifth puzzle: At the fifth map site, outside the Spy Museum, we were handed the clue pictured below. We thought we were being really smart about this one and we thought the red number was the V from the cover of the post hunt and the "dreaded" part was the Hunger Games theme. Yeah, we were WAY off base on this one! Turns out on the map there was a cartoon of a dentist with dreadlocks in a red shirt giving someone an injection of novacain. That was the dreaded, red, and the number was the map coordinates. If we had gone to that map site we would have been given a handout with cutouts which if we had put over top the clue would have spelled out: A H UND RED TH IR TY ONE. 131. Yup we had no idea.

So with the five, or maybe not five, answers in everyone's possession all competitors returned to the stage by 3pm to get the final clue for the end game. So if you thought that the above was easy, this is where it gets hard.

The five correct answers and their associated clues were:

15: When you know where to look, it's as easy as 340th, 343rd, 612th, and 660th. The just follow the instructions.

62: You completed your W-2 b4 U8 6Ps.

131: Even though b=9 and i=7 and x+z = 3, it's still fun to Google "Santorum."

268: The nerve beneath the twelfth thoracic vertebra (T-12) is almost entirely used for sneezing.

26062: Quoting the Book of Epididymus Ch. 6, Vs 16: Yea, and Noah did behold the pregnant dinosaur. And she was 12 cubits long. If he took her, there'd be no room for dogs and cats!

The final clue was "You may want to look for it where the sun doesn't shine". At this point, Paul and I had no clue so we hung around and just waited for the super brainiacs that were running around the city to return and tell us how the heck they solved this! It took a lot longer this year than it had in the previous years we've participated, it was over an hour before the first team returned with the solution. The solution to the end game is quite complicated so instead of me trying to explain it, go to the End Game solution page to see how it was done!

Another year of the Post Hunt for us! Someday we'll win...

Green Living DC Scavenger Hunt

A couple weekends ago I participated with a few friends in a scavenger hunt that was themed to increase awareness of all the "green" companies and products available in DC. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the rain held off till later that evening. Not only was it a nice opportunity to learn about the environmentally friendly places in the city but I don't normall spend too much time in the neighborhoods of DC so it was nice to get out and explore some as well!

Top row: L - Before the event, getting caffeinated.  R - One of the finds: Group picture with the Yeti

Middle Row: Some of the other teams went all out in costumes! Ninja Turtles and the Keepers of the Trees. 

Bottom Row: L - Another team doing the childs pose at a yoga studio. R - Finger painting leaves on a tree. 

My First Half Marathon

I made the decision a few months ago to run a half marathon and promptly got online and found one in Annapolis for this past weekend. It took me a few weeks to commit, finally pay the money, and sign up but I did it and set out on my official training schedule. All was going well, I was running like crazy and enjoying it. And then about a month and a half ago I got pretty badly injured in a climbing accident which took me out of my training for about 3 weeks (also the reason I haven't taken any new pictures lately). So with only 2 weeks left before the race I hobbled back into my training and got a few more miles on my shoes. 

The big day was on Saturday. It was a cold but bright morning. The race started and finished at the Navy Stadium, coursed through downtown Annapolis and over the Naval Academy Bridge. Since I had never run this far before and my training was a bit screwed up, I wasn't sure how it was going to go down...but it was great! I broke my goal of 2 hours and felt good throughout the entire run. I was quite happy with myself. I just may have to do another one!

These are screen shots from the race page (hope this isn't illegal to post these!)

Paul also competed, he beat me by nearly 11 minutes. He's speedy!

Warrior Dash Virginia!

This past weekend Paul, myself and our friend Mari, participated in the Warrior Dash down near Richmond, VA. For those that haven't heard of it, the Warrior Dash is a "mud-crawling, fire-leaping, extreme run from hell". Oh yeah!

The obstacle course races are held all over the country (and in Canada and Australia too!). The VA course was 3.56 miles with 12 fun and muddy obstacles including barricades, barbed wire, climbing walls, jumping over fire, and swimming through mud. It was So. Much. Fun!

The race is done in heats of about 500 people every half hour. Paul and I were in the 11:30am heat so we were able to clean up and warm up and be ready to cheer our friend Mari on for her heat at 3pm.

Mari about to start her race!

Way to go Mari! You rocked it!!!

Here are a few more pictures of the costumes!

And the mud! I loved the mud! :)

Warrior Dash. Mud. Sweat. Beer.

The Washington Post Hunt 2011

Two weekends ago Paul and I participated in the fourth annual Washington Post Hunt in downtown DC. We've been looking forward to this since we got back to the states and saw that it was going to be in June. When we were living here in 2008 we participated in the first Washington Post Hunt and had a blast. 

The hunt is a citywide brainteaser that has participants running around for 3 hours trying to solve five ridiculously hard puzzles which each result in a number. Those 5 numbers are the clues for the "end game" an even more ridiculously hard puzzle that someone will eventually solve and win the game. 

Sounds easy right? Ha!

So on Sunday morning we read through our Washington Post Magazine. This is a crucial piece to participating in the hunt, as this magazine holds the map with all the potential coordinates.

The rest of the magazine is normal with the standard articles, any of which could hold clues to the puzzles, but what they might be is anyone’s guess.

We arrived about 30 minutes early to the starting area down near Federal Triangle and picked up our goodie bag. The information that came with the goodie bag was that some of the items in the bag may be helpful and some may just be to throw us off track. So we examined our goodies to see what we got!

At noon the creators of The Hunt, syndicated columnists Dave Barry and Gene Weingarten and the Washington Post editor Tom Shroder, came on stage to give us the map coordinates of the puzzles. Coordinates received and we headed out with the thousands of other hunters.

First puzzle: We arrived at the Navy Memorial and Hunt volunteers were handing out scratch cards with lots of letters. As you were given a card you were told “the pound signs mean nothing” and then on top of the card it stated, “Scratch ONLY where needed”. And those were the clues.

Second puzzle: We arrived to find a group of people gathered around a furniture display. No other clues…except wait, the furniture display is the exact display that was in one of the Magazine articles.

Third puzzle (no pictures due to way to many people in my way!): Outside the news museum there was an acrobat doing different contortions. After about 3 minutes she would stop and say “You didn’t come here to see my show, you came here for a clue. Put on your thinking caps. I’m going to give you a password, text it to 98999.” Then she stood on her head and said “The password is Lemons”.

Fourth puzzle: Back at the main stage, which now had the banner: Government Agencies Providing Solutions, there were three people, each wearing a number, answering questions. The first person always answered the questions with a spin towards paying taxes. The second person answered questions with a spin towards disaster and emergency preparedness. And the third persons answers always discussed farming and agriculture. 

Fifth puzzle: Over at the ellipse we encountered a large number of black boxes 5 of which were labeled with these numbers: 1&3, 2, 4, 5&6, 7.

So once we solved those 5 puzzles (ha!) and filled in our paint-by-number grid with the answers, we headed back to the main stage for the final clue which should link all 5 clues for the “end game”.

Final clue: A Beatles tribute band came onto the stage and each Beatle sang a part of a song. We were told one of the Beatles would give us the clue. 

     Paul – When I’m 64

     John – Tea for Two

     George – Taxman

     Ringo – 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

So at this point we are completely clueless! So we decide to just follow people who looked like they knew what they were doing. We did end up at the first part of the end game, where we called a number and were given another clue, but alas, we had no idea what to do after that.

So back at the main stage we found out that there were actually 4 teams who were able to figure it all out. We thought we had more correct answers going into the end game but we only had 2 out of 5!

SOLUTIONS

First puzzle: The Scratch Card. Man we struggled over this one, we made it way harder than it should have been and we never came up with an answer. So the clue was “scratch ONLY where needed”. What do you scratch? An itch. One of the words on the card spelled itch. Scratch those letters and what do you get the number 0816.

Second puzzle: Furniture display. We really thought we had this one, but we were waaaay off on the wrong track. So the furniture display was the same one as in the magazine, with a difference – there was no mirror in the vanity in the one we were looking at but there was one in the magazine. So you had to remove the mirror. Tear it out of the magazine, and lo and behold you can now see that on the next page there is an article about a 45 speed LP record with the number 45 right smack dab in the middle of the vanity mirror area.

Third puzzle: The acrobat. We actually got this one! We texted Lemons to the number provided and received this message back “Sorry, it’s not that easy”. So since she gave us the password while on her head, we turned LEMONS upside down and got SNOW37. Texted that to the number and received this message back “WE”. Turn the phone upside down a you get a 3M, map coordinates! So look at our handy dandy map and head off to those coordinates and find a big 61. Now 61 is not a number that is on our paint by number grid, so now what. Well turn it upside down and you get 19.  Yay, solved one!

Fourth puzzle: Government Agencies Providing Solutions. We were close on this one, but screwed up a bit. If you recall, one of the goodies in our goody bag was a fill sheet of paper that said GAPS – fill in the blanks followed by:

F_ _ _ T    _ _ _ _ L E    P L _ _    _ _ T E

The speakers were talking about:

            Taxes – IRS

            Disaster and Emergencies – FEMA

            Farm and Agriculture – USDA

Fill in those blanks and you get: FIRST FEMALE PLUS DATE.

The first female on the stage was wearing a number 27 + the date June 5 (6/5).  27+65=92

Fifth puzzle: The black boxes. We got this one pretty quickly. The 7 foot black boxes were lined up in the shape of a keyboard. When you drew out a keyboard and looked at the specific keys that were labeled with numbers: ETIFN and put those letters in the order of the numbers you get FIFTEEN. 15.

End Game: So with those numbers you were supposed to fill out your paint-by-number grid and see what picture appears. It turns out to be a small house with a crescent moon at the top. When the Beatles came on stage and same their songs you were supposed to realize the small house was actually an outhouse, aka a john. A-ha, therefore you were supposed to pay close attention to John’s song “Tea for two and two for tea”.  And that of course would be T 4 2, or T4.2 map coordinates. Going there you receive the business card with a number to call, call the number and get the following message “Listen to all the words”. Tea for two and Two for Tea, you were supposed to exchange the numbers of the phone number. T for 2 and 2 for T. On the phone keypad the T is an 8 so all 2’s become 8’s and all 8’s become 2’s. Call that number and you get a new message “Put your phone number on the little white ball and drop it in the hole at the bottom of the sea”. What??? Smart people somehow figured out that you write your number on the ping pong ball in the goodie bags, run all the way back to the elipse to the big black keyboard and lo and behold at the bottom of the block that would represent the C there was a hole. Bingo! You won!

So how well did you do?

Marine Corps Marathon 2008