Urban Dare Philadelphia Top 5 Finishers

Thank you to everyone who participated in Sunday's race.

Pictured is Ryan standing in Rocky's foot prints.

Congratulations to Edward Wagner & Drew Haridis of team Franklin Institute for finishing first in Urban Dare Philadelphia. You will be heading to the Champions race on December 8.

It was an exciting finish! Edward and Drew were the third team to arrive at the finish, but they were the first to complete the last dare.

Danielle & Joseph Skelly of team Crooked Toenails arrived first, with Ellen Casey & Chris Hart of team Phill.com close on their heels.

Here are the top 5 finishers:

1 - 3:34:16 - Edward Wagner & Drew Haridis - The Franklin Institute

2 - 3:35:00 - Ellen Casey & Chris Hart - Philly.com

3 - 3:40:28 - Danielle & Joseph Skelly - Crooked Toenails

4 - 4:17:02 - Kerry Buker & Sarah Elder

5 - 4:22:18 - Benjamin Weagraff & Mike Walther - Team Terrible Therien Twosome Penalty Kill

And thank you to Cathy for coming up from DC to help manage the race.

4 days until Urban Dare Philadelphia

In 4 days, we will be running Urban Dare Philadelphia. We will start at Rittenhouse Square at 11am, and we will do check-in at 10:30.

This year participants must wear their Urban Dare t-shirt throughout the race. We'll get your shirts to you at the check-in.

The Urban Dare start is unique. We will ask multiple choice questions and you will move into A, B, C or D areas depending on your answer. Get a few answers correct and you are on your way. This gives us a staggered start, but we'll be through it quickly. Questions will be based on Philadelphia trivia and you can't use your phones at this stage of the race.

Once you are out of the starting blocks, you will pick up your clue sheets and be on your way. You can call friends as much as you want for help on clues. For the checkpoints that mention a dare, you must check in with the Urban Dare official, accomplish your task, and get your passport stamped before moving on. On checkpoints that mention a photo, you must get a photo with both team members to show you were both there. This is a team race. You must be together throughout the race.

At checkpoints with dares, you must accomplish a task and get your passport stamped to move on to the next checkpoint. Dares range from throwing a bulls-eye, doing a climbing wall, completing a puzzle or eating something(things people like, not bugs)

We expect the winners will finish the race in less than 3 hours and most of you will finish under 4 hours. We are working to provide a fun-filled day for you, while providing some good challenges.

The winners will receive free round trip airfare and 2 nights hotel for the Champions Race on December 9. They will find out their destination, when they report to the airport on December 8

Check out Urban Dare at http://www.blogger.com/.

See you on Sunday.

25 days until Chicago.

Urban Dare NY Top Five Finishers

Thank you to everyone who participated in Urban Dare NY today.

Pictured are my niece Nora and her friend Anja, both from Worcester. Nobody suckered for Gloucester. I guess New Yorkers really do pay attention.

After hearing all those weather reports of rain on Sunday all week, it turned into a fantastic day without a drop.

Congratulations to Kathryn Turner & Colin Greenspon who cruised to victory with a time of 2:48:58. Very well done! We'll be booking their flights to the Champions Race to be held on Dec 9, somewhere.

And congratulations to everyone who successfully navigated today's course.

Here are the top five:

1 - 2:48:58 Kathryn Turner & Colin Greenspon
2 - 2:56:36 William Benton & Beau Benton - Alcoholics in Training
3 - 3:09:30 Kristine Adzema & Heather Heathon - Two Cats
4 - 3:15:15 Jessica Jarvis & Jenni Lapovsky - Hell's Kitchen Hooligans
5 - 3:39:57 Melanie Stuparyk & Brian Thompson - Team MetroSports

Urban Dare's New Expanded Schedule

Urban Dare has just set dates for the rest of our 2006 season, and we have already scheduled two races for next year.

Pictured here are the Tourists, winners of the 2006 Urban Dare Boston.

In 2 days we run Urban Dare NY and in 9 days we run Urban Dare Philly. And yes, you can register on race day.

Here is the Urban Dare schedule:

May 14 New York

May 21 Philadelphia

Jun 11 Chicago

Jul 8 Denver

Aug 26 Los Angeles

Sep 23 San Diego

Oct 7 San Francisco

Nov 18 Tempe

Dec 9 Champions Race

2007

Apr 22 Washington, DC

Apr 29 Boston

The Winning Route UD Boston

Jordan Harrison has sent us a map of the routes he and Greydon took in Urban Dare Boston last Sunday. The yellow marks where they took the T.

Urban Dare Boston Top Five Finishers

It was a perfect day for the running of Urban Dare Boston, 65 degrees and sunny.

Congratulations to Jordan Harrison and Greydon Foil, who finished in first place with a time of 2:36:42. This week I will be booking them on flights to the Champions Race. I did let on that this will be in the mainland United States.

Denise Cheng and David Schannon came in second and Frank Doyle and Becca Master were not far behind. Jason Wildhagen and Jesse Morrow were the last team to make it under 3 hours. Michael Hundgen & Tim Malone just missed coming in under 3 hours.

Here are the top five teams with their official times.

1 Jordan Harrison & Greydon Foil - 2:36:42
2 Denise Cheng & David Schannon - Dsquared - 2:42:19
3 Frank Doyle & Becca MacMaster - Frankenbecca - 2:47:33
4 Jason Wildhagen & Jesse Morrow - 2:55:35
5 Michael Hundgen & Tim Malone - Eagles - 3:01:32

Thanks to everyone who participated in today's race. You seemed to enjoy it as much as I did.

And thanks to all the Keefes and other friends who helped manage the race.

7 days 'til NY, 14 'til Philly.

See you there, if you dare.

2 Days to Urban Dare Boston

9 days to NY and 16 days to Philadelphia.

Great news for Boston racers. I just watched the weather report and the forecast gave a 0% chance of rain for Sunday.

And yes, you can register on the day of the race.

On Sunday, May 7, Urban Dare Boston starts at 11am at the Boston Common, near the Visitors Center.

This year participants must wear their Urban Dare t-shirt throughout the race. Please arrive around 10:30 and we'll get your shirts to you..

The Urban Dare start is unique. We will ask multiple choice questions and you will move into A, B, C or D areas depending on your answer. Get a few answers correct and you are on your way. This gives us a staggered start, but we'll be through it quickly. Questions will be based on Boston trivia and you can't use your phones at this stage of the race.

Once you are out of the starting blocks, you will pick up your clue sheets and be on your way. You can call friends as much as you want for help on clues. For the checkpoints that mention a dare, you must check in with the Urban Dare official, accomplish your task, and get your passport stamped before moving on. On checkpoints that mention a photo, you must get a photo with both team members to show you were both there. This is a team race. You must be together throughout the race.

At checkpoints with dares, you must accomplish a task and get your passport stamped to move on to the next checkpoint. Dares range from throwing a bulls-eye, doing a climbing wall, completing a puzzle or eating something(things people like, not bugs)

We expect the winners will finish the race in less than 3 hours and most of you will finish under 4 hours. We are working to provide a fun-filled day for you, while providing some good challenges.

The winners will receive free round trip airfare and 2 nights hotel for the Champions Race on December 9. They will find out their destination, when they report to the airport on December 8
Check out Urban Dare for more info.

See you on Sunday, or the next, or the next.

GPS mapping of the winning team

Ty Summers of the DC Champion Jolly Rogers sent me his GPS tracking map with a satellite overlay. He and Erik turned it on about three blocks into the race.

Looks like they went to Harry's, to Capitol City, to Carousel, to Golf, to Farragut, to IMF meeting, to Webster, to Irish Embassy, to 51st state, to starbucks, to Exorcist steps, to Buffalo Billiards in that order. Although, they could have hit Starbucks and 51st State coming either way from the Exorcist steps.

Altogether a very well-run race.

Thanks, Ty.

Urban Dare Kicks Off 2006 Season in DC

Here we are in Pershing Square getting some last minute sign-ins before the start of the race. A special thanks to everyone who participated in today's race. And to all my friends who pitched in and ran the dares.

The Jolly Rogers, Erik Carpenter and Tyrone Summers, won the opening race of the Urban Dare 2006 season today in Washington, DC. They finished the course in 2:29:42, 17 minutes ahead of second place finishers Mark Hecker and Zack Moore.

This week I will be booking Erik and Tyrone with a couple airline tickets for the Champions race on December 9. They will find out where they are going when they show up at the airport on December 8.

What I thought was going to be one of the easiest clues turned out to be one of the toughest to solve. Of course when I write them, I already know the answer.

The Clue read, "He didn’t give’em hell. He gave them the truth. I get chills thinking of the dare in store for you at his place." Answer is Harry's Bar at 11th and E Streets

The other one people had a hard time with was, "This place is the DC shadow rep’s favorite place. Take two at this dare." Answer is the 51st State on Pennsylvania and 24th Streets.

I'll post results tomorrow.

Pyramid

One of the favorite dares in the 2005 Urban Dare DC was to get 6 non-participants to form a human pyramid.

One of the racers paid some homeless people at Dupont Circle to do this pose. I kept hearing about it, but never actually saw the pic. Finally, at a party last week, Paul walked up to me and handed me a CD with the shot.

This is it.

Stop your Swining.

With just 3 weeks left before the start of Urban Dare 2006 season, I feel momentum in the number of signups for our events. Every time there is a signup, I receive and email, so I have a good feel for how things are going.

As a lark, I asked people to put in team names this year. I love some of the things people come up with.

A couple of weeks ago, I get an email telling me that the Piggie Fatties have signed up for DC. A few hours later, the Pork Patrol signs up.

Naturally, this aroused my curiosity.

I emailed the Pork Patrol to see if there is any relation to the Piggie Fatties. A couple of days later, I get a reply that they don't know the Piggie Fatties.

So much for that I thought.

Then, a few days later, I get another email from the Pork Patrol. It turns out that a woman on the Pork Patrol works with a woman on the Piggie Fatties. They had not discussed Urban Dare or team names prior to their signups.

Go figure.I look forward to seeing more creative team names and any stories that come with them.

Click here to learn more about Urban Dare.