2008 Harbour City Amazing Chase

Update: The results are now online. We finished in second place!

Yesterday, the 2008 Harbour City Amazing Chase took place in Saint John, NB. The money raised went to P.R.O. Kids.

The HCAC is designed with teamwork in mind. This event is not only based on collecting objects, but also solving clues to get to your next destination. Our event will require teams of 4 to put their heads together to solve puzzles, codes and riddles and perform tasks, each leading to a “mystery location”; it could be a historical location, a well-known statue, or even a specific person. To win the prize, teams will need not only to work together as individuals but as a team.

I thought it sounded like fun, so I sent out some emails and recruited some guys to join the team. Our team was called “Those 4 Guys” (T4G). Our team dressed in red 2007 Bluenose Marathon running shirts, white head and wrist bands, and running shoes.

The event began at UNB-SJ at 12 noon, where we were given a crossword puzzle to complete before receiving our first clue.

We began in the West Side, where we:

• Recycled at the Carleton Community Centre.
• Kayaked in Dominion Park.
• Ran up and down the hill by Alex Coffin’s Fitness Shop.
• Answered energy related questions at the Milford Community Centre for bonus points.
• Took pictures with us at Reversing Falls, Martello Tower, and Partridge Island
• Gathered scavenger items at Deluxe French Fries and the Aquarius Tavern.
• Carried shot glasses of water across the room to fill a glass (with feet tied together) at the Aquarius Tavern.

Next was the North End, where we:

• Beat another team at Ultimate Frisbee at Shamrock Park.
• Dressed in Firefighter’s gear (extra points for carrying the heavy oxygen tanks) and ran through an obstacle course (extra points for pulling ourselves through a long tube).
• Found out our blood types at the Canadian Blood Services building on University.
• Completed a math puzzle at Rockwood park for bonus points.
• Took pictures with us at the Old Museum, Regional Hospital, Saint John sign, Rockwood Bark Park, and with a yellow car.
• Gathered item’s at my Mom’s cousin’s house and attempted to get a piece of Lego by knocking on the door of a random house.
• Raced back to Reversing Falls to get a Fast-Forward card from the Wave Cruiser.
• Had to make a leg split at the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre.

Next was the East Side, where we:

• Made a jigsaw puzzle at Benjamin Moore Paints.
• Played Guitar Hero at Future Shop.
• Stretched out pizza dough to fit a pizza pan at Vito’s.
• Gathered scavenger items at Future Shop and the Dollar Store. The items included money that was from a certain year and an American dollar bill.
• Took pictures with us at McDonald’s, the Jarvis Bay Artillery Gun, with an out-of-province car, Geraniums, and a person with a strange hat.
• Had to lookup SKU’s and take them to the Switchboard Operator at Kent.

Next was the South End, where we:

• Learned three types of kicks at Jay Chang’s Taekwondo. Russell and I also had to fight each other (sorry about kicking you in the neck).
• Climbed the rock wall and did the dance-dance game at the YMCA.
• Completed a crossword puzzle at First Steps by St. Joseph’s Hospital.
  
• Skipped the ball hockey course at Harbour Station by using our Fast-Forward card.
• Identified four different smells at SudsMuffin.
• Made a clay dish that held small glass items at Se’ramik.
• Dove off the highest diving board in the Canada Games Aquatic Centre.
• Answered music questions at A Khord.
• Found the large Whale Jaws at the New Brunswick Museum.
• Played “Are You Smarter Then A Fifth Grader” at Atlantica Centre for the Arts.
• Took pictures with us at the timepiece at Market Square and with the whale Jaw at the Museum.
• Collected a few items for the scavenger hunt.

We had one remaining stop in the South End (at the Bear making store in the mall); but, with fifteen minutes left, we raced back to UNB-SJ where we had all of the bonus clues needed to find and open the bonus locker. Inside was information on decoding a word puzzle. We raced downstairs to find the people with the decoding machine (like in the Da Vinci code). After we figured out the puzzle, we opened the machine to receive extra bonus points.

With five minutes to spare, we handed in our Passport and finished the Amazing Chase!

We stayed around for pizza and door prizes. After that, they announced several other prizes. Our team won the prize for finishing the most locations (we only missed one). We also anxiously waited to see if we won; but sadly, we didn’t. Today, the results were posted online, and we found out that we finished in second place.

Overall, the day was non-stop fun. We started at noon and didn’t finish until 6pm. We all had a great time and found it to be very well organized.

I hope they do it again next year, it’s another event that really makes this city a great place to be!