June 3rd was National Running Day. I celebrated with friends, RUNdetroit, and (of course) running! RUNdetroit and Saucony teamed up to bring us a cool new event - a running scavenger hunt through Midtown. For the event, participants needed to create teams of 2-6 people and be ready to run 3-6 miles. Brian and I teamed up with our friends Megan and Jason for the the challenge.
The event started at the store at 6pm. At that time we were handed a list of 20 clues/challenges. Each item on the list was assigned a point value, anywhere from 3-15pts. Everything was located within a 3-mile rectangular radius of the store.
Teams needed to meet between 7:15-7:30 at Great Lakes Coffee. Winners would be determined based on the number of points. Photos had to be taken at each location and posted along the way using specific hashtags: #rundetroit #finddetroit #saucony
Let the games begin!
Before we could go anywhere we had to come up with our strategy. We knew we wouldn't hit everything on the list in 75-90 minutes. RUNdetroit captured us attempting to come up with a plan.
1. First we completed the Saucony challenge (run around the block one time) while we strategized where to go. (10 pts)
2. Next we completed the Rock CF challenge at Northern Lights. We let Megan take this one. She went head to head with Emily Schaller in a Nintendo Power Pad track race. Emily was the clear winner! (10 pts)
3. From Northern Lights we headed up to Grand Boulevard for this clue: "You've got Nowhere to Run and There Ain't No Mountain High Enough so Come See About Me." We knew that could only mean one thing. (10 pts)
4. On our way down Trumbull toward the Wayne State track, I realized I knew where we were! Brian had already solved the clue earlier on the run: "The name says it all about where I'm located. This graffiti and sculpture installation is where cool stuff gets created. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Street _ r _ _ _ r _." (10 pts)
5. From there we kept going down Trumbull to the track. We found Coach Stefanie who was ready for us with The Dynamic Runner Challenge - planks and squats! (10 pts)
6. Just across the field we found the answer to this clue: "Detroit's favorite letter in sculpture form. You'll find me near your favorite green and gold oval." (5 pts)
7. Continuing on Trumbull we stopped for a picture with this little guy. He helped us with this clue: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to be better. It's not." (5 pts)
8. Then we ran to my favorite kitty in the city. I was so excited that this was on the list. I drive by it several days a week but haven't ever stopped for a picture. Clue: "I'm the most epic feline some pedestrians have seen. A tail, a paw, and a head in-between." (15 pts)
9. Our last stop was "Welcome to Woodbridge" (latex on brick, 2006) as we headed back up Trumbull to Martin Luther King Boulevard. (5 pts)
And we made it back! Here we are tallying up our points.
Justin at his mobile office coming up with official results.
After the points were tallied, our team ended up coming in 3rd with 80 points (top point earners had 95 points and 81 points). We got some sweet Saucony swag (towel, koozie, and slap bracelet) for it.
The Running Day Scavenger Hunt was the most fun running event I've ever participated in! I sure hope RUNdetroit does another one next year. We didn't realize that we could have gotten points here and there for smaller items (3 pts for each Man in the City and Shinola clock) so next year we'll be all over those.
If you missed out on the scavenger hunt, be sure to check out the upcoming RUNdetroit & Saucony event - The Saucony Shoe Demo and Which Way 5k on Wednesday, June 24th. It's like a choose-you-own-adventure run! How awesome is that?!
