Sat, Aug 25 2007 - TOC Urban Chase (View Original Event Details)
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TOC Urban Chase #2 and Lillian reveals a horrible secret about herself
It wouldn't be an urban chase without chaos and boy, was there ever chaos! But I'm getting ahead of myself here. The theme of this chase was "Toronto on the Map" because I wanted people to visit different places that put Toronto on the map, in other words, what makes Toronto famous. Aside from the
Saturday's weather was a bit drizzly, but nothing could dampen our mood! Twenty-five eager racers were ready to go on a journey of their
I yelled loudly into my cell phone, "We're in front of Union Station! Union Station! Front! Front! That IS the name of the street - FRONT!" Several passer-byes were very aware of where we all were.
Finally at 10:04 I sent off the first team of Diane and Dorianne. First they headed west and a minute later, they backtracked and went east. Each team was staggered by 3 minutes, so even though Lauren and Lilliane left Union 12 minutes later, they were the first to call in at Checkpoint 1, which was the Toronto Sun building. There was a lovely mural by John Hood depicting 200 years of historical events of Toronto.
I heard some stories of what happened at Checkpoint 2, but I have a feeling that unless you were there, you don't fully understand the sheer and utter level of confusion that occurred there. I sent the racers to The Beaches (or The Beach, whichever you prefer) in order to dig for a "buried treasure" (little glass bottles with messages) to fulfill the spirit of Ontario's motto Yours to discover. Racers were instructed to find a melanin-challenged Race Marshall to complete their next task; Carolyn and Justin were clever enough to realize right away that I was referring to Matt.
Apparently there was a HUGE beach volleyball tournament going on and racers were given maps with instructions to locate and dig for a buried bottle containing a special message that would let them continue on with the race. I got several phone calls from racers desperately pleaing with me to help them find the bottles.
It's pretty difficult to find a buried object when that object 1) had been accidentally taken back to Matt or 2) a beach volleyball player dug it up before you and threw it away. Jen found that bottle and reburied it allowing racers to continue with the race. Despite the chaos and confusion, several racers expressed afterwards that it was their favorite checkpoint and it was cool seeing a really large tournament and having to dodge between people and volleyballs to find something. As for me, I subjected a few hundred Torontonians of unintentional noise pollution by yelling in my cell phone because of poor reception. Basically I acted like a proverbial fish monger's wife, made especially notable when one of the racers asked if I was in Cabbagetown.
"How did you know?" I asked.
"Someone came up to me and asked if I was in a race. When I asked how did he know about it, he said that there was a girl standing on a street corner yelling on her cell phone."
Who could come to Toronto and not pay a visit to this incredibly longstanding show -- DeGrassi! Racers had to visit the street where "The Kids of DeGrassi" grew up and went on to jr high, high school, and now they even have kids of their own, so there's a new generation. At Checkpoint 3 they had to discover the name of the schoolteacher who inspired Linda Shuyler and Kit Hood to develop their initial short film, Ida Makes a Movie, which became the inaugural episode of this epic franchise. Marco and Darrel discovered that having a friend on the internet does not always pay off and sometimes it's better to do the task properly by actually going to the plaque, when they called in with the wrong answer. Dorianne & Diane created their own pit stop by stopping for lunch at one of my favorite places in the world, Bonjour Brioche. Try their iced lattes. It's the best.
Lillian reveals her horrible secret
The United States has Britney Spears and Canada has Avril Lavigne as their reigning pop princesses. Checkpoint 4 had racers pay an homage to this "Hey hey, you, you, I don't like your girlfriend" singer. I'm forced to reveal my shameful secret -- I know where Avril Lavigne used to live in Toronto.
Thanks to this race, there's about 30 more people in Toronto who know where she used to live in Cabbagetown (39 Broadcast Lane, in case you're curious, and now I imparted my knowledge to more unsuspecting people). Ben and Ping manned this checkpoint. Racers had to skateboard (in tribute to one of her breakout songs Sk8er Boi) up and down Broadcast Lane in front of Avril's home (more like next to it since someone else actually lives there now). Jen & Renee proved to be very helpful to Marco & Darrel as Jen & Renee couldn't shake off the Dyanamic Duo and the DD followed them straight to the checkpoint. Shannon, Joanne, & Sandy said they got help from a local man who lived there. He requested that they didn't ask him how he knew where Avril used to live and please please please don't tell anyone.
Checkout these little movies of TOCers trying to complete the challenge (Thanks, Ping!).
The guys:
Tali almost flips
Neil
Justin
Ian
Darrel
The gals:
Carolyn
Lauren
Lyne
Kate
Jen & Renee
From Cabbagetown, they raced to Yorkville for Checkpoint 5, the iconic yellow house - a restaurant called Sassafraz. In December it turned down and bloggers blogged about their reaction to this place. And as one noted, "It's tough to put out a fire with $12 martinis."
At Checkpoint 6 racers ran off to the St. George campus of UofT, where I lead them to a place that not even students would be aware of. Yann Martel wrote Life of Pi, a story dealing with religion, spirituality, truth, and reality. The protangonist of the novel, Pi, was a zoology student at UofT, so the racers went past a zoology laboratory to Zoo Woods in order to complete their next task -- how fast a slightly motivated 3-toed sloth could cross a bridge? Racers had to measure the length of the bridge and calculate the answer. Yes, I made them do MATH. This checkpoint was also well-received by the racers. They marveled at how it was possible to walk by a place many many times and not notice the little things that are out in plain view and yet are hidden from us because we're too busy in not noticing things. They loved how the race forced them to stop, look, and really notice the environment that's around them.
And then it was the homestretch. Originally racers were supposed to come meet me at Chalkers. I called Chalkers to make sure that they would be open at 1 pm and they said they would be. So imagine how delighted I was when I went to Chalkers to wait for the racers and I found that they wouldn't be open til 3. After deciding it wasn't worth the effort to change the finish line to a different pub downtown, I waited in the parking lot.
Andrew & Ian came flying out and were the first to greet me at the finish line. Less than 30 seconds later Marco & Darrel came out of nowhere to be the second to arrive (however because Marco & Darrel started after Andrew & Ian, they actually finished in less time). Marco scouted the area and found a Chinese restaurant to where I ended moving the finish line.
FINISHING ORDER
1. Marco & Darrel 2:59:30 and they are our official winners of the 2nd TOC Urban Chase
2. Andrew & Ian 3:02
3. Kate & Justin 3:10
4. Lyne & Neil 3:36
5. Lauren & Lilliane 3:39
6. Jen & Renee 3:41
7. Joanne, Shannon, & Sandy 4:28
8. Eva & Thilo 4:42
9. Carolyn & Tali 4:46
and rounding out in the end at just over 5 hours were
Damion & Ellen, Diane & Dorianne, and Gabe & Nadia.
Special awards go to:
Jen & Renee who won little dry erase boards for being the most helpful in the race. It may very well have been because of their work that Marco & Darrel won the race.
Kate & Justin for most spirited. They won little Canadian flags to show their pride. I loved Kate's email to me when she wrote, "I cannot lie -- I'm out for blood!"
Marco for Best Photography when he got a picture of 16 racers (that's over half the field!) into a single streetcar. He won a free entry to the next urban chase.
Mad props to Eva & Thilo for coming out. Eva's pregnant and Thilo has a torn calf muscle, but they grinned and walked their way all the way to the finish line. Andrew & Ian were pretty awesome racers and they picket fenced starting from the second checkpoint.
And as always, many many many special thanks have to go to Matt, Ben, and Ping for helping me out. I cannot carry this off myself. They helped me with preparing the materials for the race and manned the checkpoints.
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.