Fall Fun 2011

More random acts of fun continue...

We missed the first home football game because we were in Aspen (I know. Rough life.) We picked up with game two against Cincinnati! We smushed them.

moi, ki and shawn smile pretty pre-game (yes, i have on clothes)

this is always fun - although we missed the first game, we did NOT miss the first running through the T due to excessive rain during the MT game. first T of the year!

Next, I was lucky enough to go to lunch with this little lady:

a lady is always prepared for inclement weather. even in september.

Next up, Tailgate Time! Amanda rocks the annual HSF fundraiser with guest host...

heath shuler

Don't believe me? Check it out!

me, heath and amanda share a hug

The evening was a resounding success! Had a great time, in spite of the Vols loss to Florida (a tear....)

yea amanda!

Post event, we head out to bask in amanda's shared glory with emily!

but emily ditched us

Next up, time to lace up the running shoes! It's Knox Venture time, baby!

meet your match.... you beenTHUNDERSTRUCK!!!!

Although we ran with the Mowrers last year, we were hindered by the fact that Mattie was stuck on a red eye from Cali and couldn't make it to the race. Jenny weighed her options and opted for Marty Mason as a substitute husband/race partner. Tommy came up with our team name and shirts, and before you could say THUN-DER! a team was born.

This year was a bit different from last year. We were asked to bring a power cord and digital camera (cell phones are a strict no-no in the race) and instructed to take three specific photos of the team during various challenges. It started in Market Square where all teams were asked at 10 AM to find six differences in two similar photos. Once you found all six, you were given a map... and.... GO!!!!!

We learned from last year that it behooved us to run out as far as possible and work your way in. Strategy success! We didn't have to wait in one single line. We first went to the downtown fire department where we had to complete a maze on a sheet of paper before we could begin the challenge: as a team we had to belly crawl to a bucket of water and transfer all the water from hand to hand with a sponge (over head, under legs, over head, under legs) into another bucket. We dominated. We got our stamp and again, new this year, puzzle piece to help us identify the last, and mystery stop on the race. RUN!!!!!!

Next, easy peasy. Rerun's. We were given a photo and a box of clothes and told to dress like the lady in the photo. Pffft. We all donned denim jumpers, got a pic from the judges, got our stamp and took off.

Sunsphere! We were sent into the Convention Center to study three paintings and then told to send one team member to the top of the Sunsphere to answer questions about the paintings. Easy choice on who to send: Tommy. We all studied the paintings and sent him on his way.

Waiting... waiting... studying the map to see where to go... and someone noted that we hadn't been given a puzzle piece at the last stop.

Sigh.

I took off to go back and get it and agreed to meet at the next location: Veterans' Memorial. I ran back to Rerun's (now, literally) and got the piece (they hadn't handed out any to anyone HAHAHAHAHA) and got back with the Sunsphere in my sight to see THUNDERSTRUCK all take off again to the next challenge (Tommy missed one question and had to come down and study again). I caught up with them at the Memorial but missed the activity and basically followed them around panting while they counted names on the memorials. This translated into letters which translated into numbers which opened a combination lock (I'm good at locks and used their puzzle results to actually open the lock) got stamp and puzzle piece GO!

To Second Creek parking lot: Marty dizzy bat carry an egg in a spoon. Megan dizzy bat and walk with a balloon between legs. Tommy dizzy bat and sack race. Jenny dizzy bat and find a jelly bean buried in whipped cream with her mouth. Stamp! Puzzle! GO!!!

City/County Building. Had a hard time finding the event. Went through lawn, courthouse before finding it BEHIND the building between it and the jail. Sigh.... lost some time there. I noticed that Jenny still had whipped cream all over her face still and as a testament to our friendship, wiped it all off of her with my gross and sweaty shirt (she forgot it was all there HAHAHHAHA). We had to as a group answer a riddle before we were all given the chance to walk across a swing rope. We all four had to cross and I had the hardest time of all four of us! Another riddle, another rope, another riddle; stamp, puzzle GO!!!

LIBRARY! I was thinking we'd find books but no! We had to load the assigned photos using a library computer to the Big Brothers Big Sisters Facebook website. Fortunately, I had been keeper of the camera, and mindful of the photos we had to take, and had already gotten the three shots requested. A photo of the team (above), a photo of us at a landmark (veterans' memorial)

cheese!

and a photo of us completing a challenge!

Post, post, post! Stamp, puzzle, GO!!

Regal Cinemas! Jenny was put in charge of identifying the riddles that gave you clues to the name of an actor/actress and then you had to name the current film they were in. We were told to get five out of the eight... Jenny got five out of five. Stamp, puzzle, GO!!!

Mast General Store: games. I was told to blow a four inch bubble and I eagerly agreed and was ready to blow it out of the water... when I realized them meant bubblegum. Sigh. I chomped Hubba Bubba until I got a cavity but couldn't produce a four incher. I totally grossed out the judge when Tommy offered to go in my stead... and I handed him the wad of pink sugar goo out of my mouth and he put it in his HAHAHAHAHA (I then hastily assured her we were married and it was OK. Or something like that.) He produced the bubble, Marty got four horseshoes in a row, we all worked as a team to send three frisbees through holes; and again, STAMP, PUZZLE, GO!!!!

AAA!! We had a lot of trouble last year with the car feature, and when we saw rental cars parked in the lot with the hoods up... even though there was no line, we were told that it took about five minutes to complete the challenge so we decided to fast pass that event and head to our second to last stop - so, fast pass, stamp, puzzle, GO!!!!!

Gray Cemetery! (Yes, if you know Knoxville, I practically ran home during this race from downtown). Four teammates, four stories to listen to. We split up, listened to the stories, and went to the front of the cemetery and we all answered all four questions about the cemetery correctly SO.... STAMP, PUZZLE!!!!!!

Where to go?

The last stop had to be the mystery stop. But.... we knew where it was ALL ALONG. Marty's blushing bride of one year (and current baby mama WHOOT!) was volunteering for the race at the History Museum.... which strangely was not listed among the locations we needed to visit. We had all our puzzle pieces, and yup... a cursory glance told us that's where we needed to end up.

Down Gay Street! Into the Museum! Answered a few short questions, got the final puzzle piece, glued it all together:

here is our puzzle piece map

STAMP! GOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Market Square, Market Square, Market Square!

There was a farmer's market and a dog show going on, and don't think I didn't do my fair share of dodging, jumping, avoiding and excusing myself to all manner of people WHEN!!!!

YEAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

SEVENTH PLACE!!!!!!! and my worst 5k time EVER.

Funnity, fun, fun, fun. Would do it again tomorrow if I could. Guess I'll just wait and do it again next year. Oh here's the whole race map we completed:

it was tough stuff, cream puff

Next week: half marathon for which I have not trained. At all. Location to be revealed IF I manage to pull it off!

Hug,

M