I had asked my colleagues if one of them was able to take me to the place of action in Best, around 16 km and too far to cycle in combination with
survival. A nice woman was able to pick me up.
Besides general clumsiness I have some other nasty flaws - mild prosopagnosia has made it difficult for me to recognize people, and complete horror
trying to find my way. I discovered I'm not alone - the colleague I went with was equally bad. Luckily she had GPS - unfortunately her app
wasn't always 100% clear. At one particular crossing we had to turn left on a bridge to end on the right side of a canal, but we turned left too
early, ended on the left side of the canal and had to drive in a circle, which cost us ten minutes.
Ten minutes late, but we were on time for the course. I had brought a T-shirt and legging and a towel, since we were warned things might get dirty. We
had formed 2 teams - team South was 10 people of which 3 were male, and I was in team North, 9 members with only 1 man. One person would occasionally
have to run an extra loop.
We started with a walk through the woods towards an obstacle race. Treading through tires, diving through tires, climbing a net, climbing over and
ducking under cables and poles, and ending with a 2 cable walk, you know the deal, walk over one cable and hold the other. The higher cable was way
overhead rather than chest hight, which makes walking difficult.
It was a relay race, and one of our runners would have to go a second time.
My team was in the lead for some time, but unfortunately the two less sportive individuals, myself and a nice colleague, were right after each other,
by the time I finished after getting a mouthful of sand at the tire ducking, getting my foot trapped in the rope ladder and nearly losing balance on
the rope bridge, we were 20 seconds behind. Fortunately after me came The Guy, who made up for most of it. A fast girl who began the running did the
last lap, but it was getting all too much. Totally exhausted, we lost the first race.
We went back to the central terrace to have a short pitstop.
Then: game 2, Cow Milking. A more complex game with the opposing teams playing at the same time.
Both teams have one bucket. One team starts milking a fake cow. While that team milks, the other team runs a small lap using a very tricky pair of
clogs - they're attached by a metal rod, no lateral play and if you walk with them you have to lift your knees up high. The clogs are big,
painful and unwieldy, and since they have no lateral play, you have to jump with them to turn.
Once a runner finishes his lap, he starts milking, and continues to milk while a member of the opposing team runs.
It was close, but my team won!
Straight on to the third game, the Tire Game. Two posts with 5 tires numbered 1 to 5. The explanation was a bit tricky, but some members of my team
were quick to realize it was the Towers Of Hanoi, with the small handicap that you could never see more than one pole at the time and only one person
is allowed to run at a time.
At some point in the game, the Game Master mentioned that my team had made a thinking error and that the opponents should take advantage. Oh no!
With a pit of a pow wow we could correct the issue and fortunately some of my colleagues managed to keep oversight, and on occasion I even got to run.
By the time we had tire 5 and 4 on the target pole, we looked at the opponents - and they had tires 5, 4, 3 and 2... on the STARTING pole! "Are
you guys starting again?"
GameMaster decided to give them tactical advice. Too late since we were down to the last tire - which we brought to the finish, all together in a
polonaise (= conga line without the sidestep),and there was much cheering.
We took the tires back to the starting poles for the next users and took our lunch break.
Except well, I didn't have lunch, but I did get a roll from a colleague.
During the break, the Game Master announced we were allowed to use the slide. The company organizing the challenges is part of an entertainment
complex by a lake, with a pool, a little kiddie park and a surf company. They had a tower with base jumping and sliding options - the water slide is
one of those steep things that goes up towards the end, launching the slider. Worth a thought, but with no swimming gear, no change of underwear or
socks and since, well, I hadn't swum in 17 years, maybe not the best idea.
After that it was time for the Bungee Run. An inflatable installation with two narrow running lanes - players are tied to a big elastic and get three
attempts to place a ball to a velcro line as far as possible. 2 people run at the same time, and for competitive value, these would be people from
opposing teams. One of us had to run an extra time, and we'd wait to see who was best of us.
It wasn't going well by the time I got to start, as 4th, we'd lost the first three tiers. But, what do you know, bungee run is one of those
rare things where packing extra weight is actually an advantage, so I scored much better than the opponent, and that got me some high fives. Felt
good!
Our best runner was the only male of the group, he got to go twice after each other.
In the end, our scores would be added up and then calculated, we wouldn't know the results of this game until the prizes were handed out.
The fifth was also inflatable, and we had to first get a couple of buckets of water from the lake for that. It was a steep run up, and then a steep
slide down, basically we had to take a spunge and carry it through the course, run up, slide down and then back to the starting point, to put the
spunge in the team bucket.
Our tactic was "get BBP up, so she can help other people up from the top", but my body weight thought otherwise, I couldn't make it.
Eventually my team found a rhythm, but still, we lost.
Two for two, results were to come later, big question: do we go down the slide?
Since the inflatable track from the last game is wetted with water from the lake, which is all collected at the bottom of the slide, I was already wet
and very dirty. So I thought "I might as well, may be last chance and I'm not going to get much wetter." And since we had to wear a
helmet and flotation devices, I was secure. We went up the tower, 10 metres high, looking down the wetted slide, all steep...
Game Master gives us instructions to slide on our backsides for the first slide, and to pull up our knees after the launch. Reason: because of the dry
summer, nearby farms use the lake for watering crops, which meant the water level was like a foot lower than usual.
Oh SHIT.
I watched one colleague after the other go - oddly the one flirtatious guy who's normally always ready to try to impress the ladies and the lady
who begged for the slide to open in the first place - were struggling themselves. As second-last I decided to take a plunge, set myself feet first,
buttocks on the edge, watching a colleague trying to get well out of the way. As she is clear, I cross my arms across my chest, curse myself for being
such an idiot, and lift my buttocks. The slide commences at a very untheatrical pace, I almost worry about halting in the middle of the slide, but
then...
I don't remember much of it - at some point I hit the water in the dip, before the slide goes up, and water splashes everywhere. Then I'm
launched, it's an eternity before I feel the water under me. I land, and sure enough, I feel the ground. I re-emerge, water all up my nose and
disoriented.
Then I see the steps and sort of swim out of the way, but swimming is slow. Since the water's not deep, I turn to wading. Soaked thorougly, I
emerge from the water. I'm allowed to go again but decide against it, and hit the showers.
There are only five showers per gender and our group was 4 men, 15 women, so that was tricky. Plus some have brought their soaps and shampoos from
home. I begin with washing out my socks, and put them in a plastic bag a colleague picked up. When the middle shower gets free, I take it. It's a
camping shower with a knob you have to push occasionally, but the water is hot and welcome. I put my soaked clothes in the plastic bag, and enjoy.
After I've warmed up sufficiently I dry off, shuffle through the room to my clothes bag, get dressed but without underwear or socks in the
clothes I came in with.
We finished off with a barbecue. I'm exhausted and find it hard to socialize.
Then the Game Master comes with the score - all colleagues are rounded up, the organizer brings a trophy and medals. He announces that the score was
incredibly close - only 2 points, equals 5 cm on a game with 10 runners each, 665 to 667 - and the winner is my team!
We all get a medal and take a picture where I'm holding the trophy (yeah), some stay to party but my colleague drives me home (she has another
party!).
Back home I took another shower.
Piccies to come...
Up to the fourth game
Search
FAQ
Member List
Today's Posts
Stats
Board Rules
