"Complete 10 of 15 events that are scattered all throughout the city".Since it first came to Toronto in 2004, I have been a huge fan of the Bell City Chase. This past Saturday June 24th, was no exception. Great weather, great people, great race. Although we did not win, it was the journey and all the events that took place that were the highlights including some personal highlights. Unlike some competitors, my teammate Dave-o and I can hold our heads up high for finishing without cheating and for running the race as hard as we could with the spirit that the City Chase had intended. Here is how "Team Running To Stand Still" ran the Toronto I Bell City Chase.
Starting Line. Dundas Square, at the corner of Yonge and Dundas, was our starting point for the race. We warmed up to "hip" style of Tai-Chi and went over all the rules of the race. The race began when we were told that our clues were at the two fire stations in the downtown core. Team Running to Stand Still decided to run East along Dundas, past Parliament, all the way to Regent Park's Fire Station to pick up our clues.
First Event. Dave-o and I decided to run North up to Riverdale Farm where we (we being only Dave-o) carried a bale of hay down a hill. From there, we had to build a life-sized Scarecrow. When completed, we had to take apart the Scarecrow, and then take the bale of hay back up the hill. Only one qualm with this event; our team arrived first but the event was not ready for us. In the long run, that didn't hurt us, but we did waste energy running around park looking for this event.
Second Event. We ran North to Bloor, then West to Mt Pleasant then North to Branksome Hall. Behind the school was a field where we had to quickly pitch a tent. No problem seeing that both of us are (ex)campers.
Third Event. I'm not sure why, but we ran South on Sherbourne all the way down to Queen St to Moss Park's John Innis Pool. With both of my calves begging for mercy, we both jumped into a pool of floating golf balls and rubber ducks. Each golf ball had a number that coinincided with a duck that needed to be found. This was a good event that didn't take too long because it was a chance to wash all that hay off us from our first event. Too bad my buddy forgot to take his wallet out of his shorts.
Fourth Event. Ran down to King St and grabbed a streetcar to 40 King St W. Under the Scotiabank building, we teamed up with another team and participated in a photo hunt with a Bell Mobility Cell phone. We had to find a man with moustache, a person with the City Chase logo, a manequin wearing jeans, and a person eating ice cream. This took a bit of time, but still, was not overly long.
Fifth Event. We jumped on the King street car and headed West to Fraser St (East of Dufferin) and ended up at Joe Rockhead's where we both had to do some rock climbing. I personally thought that this would be difficult, but it took no time at all to finish. By this time, my legs were not cooperating with my brain and refusing to run.
Sixth Event. We caught the King streetcar heading East to Strachan. Jumped off and ran up to Trinity-Bellwoods Park to play ultimate frisbee. The object was to play against another City Chase team and score 2 points in order to advance. Loster has to stay and play again. Our team forced a turnover and we scored a nifty point as I sqeezed a pass to Dave-o into the endzone. After another turnover, Dave-o threw a pass into the endzone where I made a diving catch to score our second point enabling us to advance. You usually know it's a good catch when everyone on the pitch start jumping up and down cheering and congratulating you on such a spectacular feat. This was easily my highlight of the day and thank God for Robaxacit Platinum.
Seventh Event. We ran East along Dundas past Bathurst to Scadding Court Community Center. In the bowels of this center, we found many anxious City Chasers weilding fishing rods surrounding the perimiter of a pool full of fish. In the nearby corner was a table of bait. We had two choices: 1. Spend 30min trying to catch a fish. 2. Spend 30sec Eating a worm. One qualm; don't bite a worm when trying to swallow it.
Eight Event. Dave-o and grabbed a Spadina streetcar and headed north to Harbord. We headed East up Queen's Park to the Royal Ontario Museum. From there, I had the priveledge of properly dressing Dave-o up in a toga. No problem no qualms.
Ninth Event. We jumped on the Subway and headed East to Christie Station. We headed south to Bickford Park where we had to fill a bucket with water using sponges (sans hands). Anyway, that took no time, and was by far the most forgetable of events. At this point, my legs had decided to go home.
Tenth Event. Scavenger Hunt. This was our ultimate low. We wasted over an hour trying to find a business card that had one of our names on it within the Church and Wellesley district. Although it took a lot longer than we were planning, we finished the scavenger hunt and headed to the finish line.
Finish Line. We jumped on the subway and headed south from Wellesley to Dundas and made a final dash to the finish. Our finish time was around 5 hours and 20 minutes.
We both had a blast and we will be in the race again next year with yet another top 10 finish as our goal. As I nurse my race injuries and battle scars, I can hold my head up high and say that Team Running To Stand Still finished with the right spirit in mind from beginning to end. Cheers to all that finished with that same spirit.
visit:
bellcitychase.com
