Now that we got New Orleans out of the way, I felt more prepared for Vegas, and this is basically my home turf. Advantage, US. We got up at 8am, which is way too early for Vegas, and cabbed it over to Planet Hollywood. We found everyone at a Hawaiian themed Cheeseburger restaurant (sound familiar) at the Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood. Before we even got our clues, we had to build a house of cards. I am good at shuffling cards, dealing cards, and playing cards...but a house of cards? We had it collapse once before we completed the task and got our clues. Our first mission was to beeline for UNLV where we had 3 challenges, and we were able to catch two more on the way back. At this point we are cruising and I felt we were ahead of the pack. There was an anagram that Hans and Kat couldn't solve, so we had a choice to get on the Deuce towards Circus Circus and hope the answer was in that direction, or head to NY NY where we had a confirmed clue, which was much closer. I made the decision to go to NY NY, and of course, the other clue was by Circus Circus. Now we took a calculated risk and took a half hour penalty thinking we would be WAY ahead of the pack, but not so much. Even with our skip, AND penalty we finished in sixth. Meaning we had to hope four teams did not cross in the next half hour. Not very likely. Dannel was actually upset, and he didn't say it, but he felt that going to NY NY was incorrect. I still think if we go the other way we still don't make it. Well, after watching the clock, miraculously, even with the penalty, we finished in tenth, meaning we were in the second race. Now in the Great Urban Race, we had at least two hours in between which was really nice to change, shower, and wind down a little before the next race. This time not so much. We had a 45 minute clock which meant we had to hang out at Miracle Mile, and before we were allowed to go, we had to win three hands of blackjack. This is my kind of race! Gambling, playing cards, Vegas..again home field away from home. We got our clues and headed BACK to UNLV. I felt that was a little redundant having to do that twice. All teams were provided with an escort (not a prostitute, a runner from a local track team) to ensure that nobody cheated, or got in a cab or anything. I mean, after all, this race was for $12000. I was struggling to keep up with Dannel and Jamie, who was our escort, and an incredible runner. We still managed to finish everything we needed to do on the strip, and make it to our first major checkpoint which was at Margaritaville. Now here is where things get interesting. And I know Jason, the organizer of the High Trek Adventure, will read this because he scours blogspot and other website for what people have to say about his race. Mind you I am sharing this with family, friends, and have NO REASON than to describe the next series of events other than EXACTLY HOW THEY HAPPENED. We got to Margaritaville at the exact same time as this team called Zach Attack. Now the rules were implicitly clear. Get the clues from the lady, who is employed by High Trek at the bar. Take a picture with her. The clue specifically said, It is up to you to remember to take a picture with her. Not doing so will result in a half hour penalty. Now the Zach Attack, get their clues, and takes off. We take our picture with the lady. The lady, who is employed by High Trek, gets up, leaves Margaritaville, goes out onto the strip to search for and call out for the team that forgot to take their picture. This is important, but you will find out later. We get our last three clues, head to downtown Vegas, and quite efficiently finish our last three challenges. I started to taste the money, and I said to Hans, get us on a bus off the strip and we are going to win. Well a miscommunication forces us to miss the bus. We get on the deuce with the pack that was 5 minutes ahead of us, meaning we were actually five minutes ahead, because they got a head start, if that makes sense. Now we could really taste it. They decided to get off and take the Monorail but we decided to chance the Deuce. Bad idea. It took an eternity to get back to Planet Hollywood and we actually had to get off at Ceasars and run back. Much to our disappointment we were among the last teams back, but the caveat was there was a GIANT crossword puzzle waiting for each team at the Cheeseburger restaurant. Normally that would not be my forte, but the puzzle was about cities, Las Vegas Casinos, and Ocean's 11 trivia. Now, anyone that knows me knows that this is a home run for me. Still, other teams finished theirs relatively fast, and although we tried to be as thorough as possible, we still left a couple of the answers blank. I had been up since 8, it was now 6, and I was ready to leave. Dannel was going to stick around for the award ceremony. I did not need to wait around to find out that we were in 6th or 8th or whatever. Well I am standing in line at the Subway at the Orleans Hotel, and my phone rings and its Dannel. Normally he would just text me, but he called to tell me that we finished in second place. We crushed the crossword puzzle, and with each wrong answer costing each team five minutes, it vaulted us up to second. Which is all fine and dandy, but the team that finished in first was Zach Attack. The Zach Attack of forgetting to take their picture at Margaritaville fame. The same team that should have been penalized had the employee of High Trek not chased them down. Now I know for a fact she went into CYA mode (cover your ass) because you would hate to have an otherwise good race tainted by a questionable result. It is my understanding that she at first said she never went after them, and then it changed to, she did go after them but didn't find them. So here is the question. If they forgot, and left, what prompted them to go back. Did they realize this as they were halfway down the strip heading towards downtown Vegas? Clearly not. What I theorize is that the lady caught up with them as they were about to get on the Deuce. Or maybe it was just outside Margaritaville. Thats why they were running alongside our bus, instead of being in it. If the rules are followed, to the letter, they are penalized a half hour, and we are drinking Grey Goose at Tao that night. Let me tell you, its not easy winning these things, and opportunities are very few, and very far between. And I know this was the cleanest way for Jason to end this thing, but I know there is a TON of ambiguity on what happened, and it would have all been fine with a little honesty. Not on Jasons part, who tried very hard to put together a good race. But from his employee. So they get 12 G's and we get a plastic medal. I can't even drink out of a plastic medal. Alot of this also could have been avoided if the prizes are staggered, as opposed to a winner take all format. It would have sucked, but a few G's thrown our way would have definitely eased the blow of how the whole thing went down. Oh well, I was still in Vegas, and had a great night with Darren, Tain, and Adam that night. Sorry if this was more of a venting than a summary of the events!
