Solve. Race. Win!

Running downtown to the Pike Market to the Space Needle and to South Lake Union Park. Check.

Taking your picture with 20 strangers at the Space Needle. Check.

Convincing a random lady at the market to put a fake tattoo on and take your picture with you. Check.

Yes, this was some of the crazy, fun while Drew and I participated in the High Trek Adventure this weekend. It was wild, fast, and oh...so much fun. Ironically, our adventure started early and much of our "experience" was just getting to the race.

We literally had to run to get to the race as the traffic downtown was horrific and rerouted due to a baseball game and the opening of the light rail. As the time ticked away, I was a total wreck (ask Drew.) wondering if we'd even make the race on time.

Check-in was from 11:00 - 11:55 AM and we came running down the street about 1/2 mile out, to inquire about our race packet at 11:54 AM (I'm NOT KIDDING HERE!). Unfortunately our idea of eating lunch before the race was shot and we used the couple of minutes we had to compose ourselves for the actual race...not just the one to GET to the race. (So us!)

The clues were much more complicated then we could ever imagine. We were so glad we had Drew's phone with us (I can't believe I just wrote that!) so we could look up some of the answers and vowed to borrow another one the next time we raced. Before the race, it seemed odd that you could phone a friend, use maps and GPS units, or Internet cell phones in aiding you to find the answers to the race, but trust me...we needed them.

For example, here is a sample clue:
Ma, can I have a calculator? Solve the equation below to find the address on 2nd Ave in Belltown.

(#MLB seasons Ichiro has 200 hits or more MULTIPLIED by Jay Bunher's jersey #) PLUS year of Seattle's World's Fair PLUS height of Space Needle to the top of the antennae PLUS 100.

Standard mathematics rules apply.

The answer was a address to some random coffee shop, so of course, we ran to that location and snapped our picture in front of the place all while thinking about our next strategy. Throughout the race, our spirits were good and only once did we have a small disagreement over a technicality of a clue. But, in true style we brushed it off and kept running to the end.

After 3 hours 39 minutes and 53 seconds team Irish Vortex, crossed the finish line to take 23rd place. We had qualified for Las Vegas! (The top 25 teams qualify for Las Vegas.) What a rush!

I've never been to Las Vegas, so racing with my baby in November sounds like a much needed break from our "normal" lives where we can solve, race, and win again.

From inside the little blue bungalow,
Katie Jean