Tampa Gorilla Challenge!

Today we did our first scavenger hunt race and it was a lot of fun! The Gorilla Challenge website describes it as a "fun outdoor event, where you race around the city to complete 10 out of 12 clues. Some clues require you to take pictures and others require you to complete small challenges (Field Day or Fear Factor'ish type). You can get prizes along the course or at the end of the game AND we always team up with the local food bank to raise food." We decided on "Guerrillaz" as our team name, got dressed and met up with Alex and Kirk at Game Time in Ybor ready to win some cash!

Every good freedom fighter knows to load up on sunblock when you're starting a revolution...

Mike was worried that people might think we were "Occupy Tampa" but I'm pretty sure that no one was taking us seriously, particularly with the water pistol...

Thank goodness we dressed up since we didn't see a single other person that hadn't. There were some great costumes...

For my outfit I bought a child's costume in Target for $14.99 and cut it up to make a top. Unfortunately it was made of some kind of cheap polyester-type stuff which didn't exactly "breathe." Combined with Mike's cargo pants and running around in 85 degree temperatures it wasn't long before I smelled like a jungle-dwelling freedom fighter too...

Kirk was already the proud owner of this shirt prior to the event. Alex told him that this would be the first and last time he would be wearing it when out in public with her :)

Alex really wanted to win. She was the only person there with an ipad to help with the clues. She's a clever one that Alex :)

Everyone really got into the spirit of the whole thing and with about 500 participants it was absolutely packed. They collected over two tons of canned goods for the Tampa Food Bank too!

We had to run around Ybor solving clues, taking photos with various poses, and doing challenges. Mike and I were pretty hopeless and didn't know our way around at all. If it hadn't been for Alex and Kirk we probably wouldn't have completed it. Which goes to show - it's not what you know but who you know that counts :)

Mike did take one for the team though and let us spray vinegar in his mouth for one of the challenges...

Charlie's Angels pose with two random strangers from a state beginning with the letter "N." I think they were actually more into it than we were which scared me just a little...

Thanking a fireman...

Don't drink and drive billboard...

Sizing up a picture of Zeus outside Acropolis. We couldn't find the real picture and the restaurant staff drew this one in chalk for us. . It totally worked - the guy validating the answers didn't care and gave us the points anyway :). Look at how excited Mike gets when he thinks he's cheating...

Striking a pose outside the Roosevelt Building...

Praying outside some church. Alex really wants to win that money...

We're in! And we solved 11 out of the 12 clues (with only a tiny bit of cheating). You only needed 10 but we wanted to be sure that we completed it just in case we had done one incorrectly. We didn't win but actually did really well! The official results won't be out for a while but it looked like we were pretty close to winning some cash!

Overall, we had a great time, laughed a lot and really enjoyed the day. I've heard that some of these types of events are more 'athletic' than others and this one was definitely much more about solving clues than running - at least for us! The route was probably about 5 miles and we solved clues in between locations. In retrospect, we probably would have been much faster if we had taken the time to map out the route before heading out. So we're going to do another one. Soon. And I'm going to wear more deoderant. And next time we're going to win:)

Tampa Police Memorial 5K

Today was my anniversary race - it's now been two whole years now since my first 5K! I rode over with Catherine and she introduced me to some of her 'Run Tampa' friends when we arrived. I've never tried running with a group and they seem like a really nice bunch so I may try that soon.

I've done this race three times now with the adorable Emily :)

Darren was right when he said "all the cool people will be there" - but there's nothing like taking a photo with him to make you feel really short...

There was a good turnout as usual and we warmed up by taking silly pictures of ourselves at the start line...

Amber was nursing a nasty hangover but still managed to look fabulous and run like a demon!

Everybody loves it when they release the American flag at the top of the Police HQ Building during the National Anthem at the start of the race...

It was really nice to have some overcast weather as we ran down Bayshore...

I was aiming to beat last year's time of 31:16 so I was really thrilled with my time of 30:04! That's my second fastest to date! Increasing my weekly mileage is definately paying off. Good time, good run and good friends - what a perfect start to the weekend!