Listen to this article
Youth group stages its own “Amazing Race.”
by Christin Davis –
Fifty people25 youth and 25 adult volunteers participated in an “Amazing Race” youth event throughout Los Angeles County, based on the Emmy-Award-winning reality TV show where teams race around the world.
The clock began at 10 a.m. from the parking lot at the Pasadena Tabernacle Corps with the first task: the teams of four or five members had to make their way to the Pasadena Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC).
Armed with a $5 all-day metro pass, four of the five teams opted to take the four-minute train from a nearby metro stop. The fifth team thought they needed to run the 1.8 miles to the ARC, “a crucial mistake,” as one team member said along the way.
At the ARC, teams received their first “detour” and had to choose between two tasks: “strike it”bowl three strikes per team on the two available bowling lanes, or “sort it”sort and hang 25 garments of women’s clothing in the receiving warehouse by specific standards.
Once complete, teams opened the clue to move forward: “Make your way to Chinatown and find the world famous Foo Chow’s restaurant, where Rush Hour was filmed, to enjoy a traditional Chinese meal.”
Foo Chow’s offered an unparalleled experience for the teams, who had to eat a family-sized bowl of fish ball soup and a platter of fried eel to move on.
Teams left for the Olvera Street Marketplace, where one team member had to enter the marketplace and find the Avila Adobe. After discovering the name of the commodore who took over the adobe in 1847, he/she had to find the Valeria Gonzalez Candle Shop, salute the “soldier” (one of the volunteers positioned throughout L.A. County) and share the name.
Next: Locate Hollywood’s Kodak Theater and find The Road to Hollywood, along with a small plaque identifying the road’s designer. They then had to search for the soldier in a blue hat at Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
Back on the train for just over an hour, teams arrived at the Sierra Madre Villa Station. The “Road Block”: one team member awaited instructions at the bottom of the adjacent 1,000 car parking structure. From the roof, the other members scanned the area for a Salvation Army shield sign. They verbally communicated its location to the team member below, who ran to a parking lot across the street for the next clue.
The last train took teams back to the Pasadena Tab, where over 500 Matchbox cars and action figures awaited them in the chapel. Teams searched through the toys for a few specially marked ones.
The winning team—first to stand on a Salvation Army doormat in the Tab’s courtyard—included Sasha Crawford, Lauren Docter, Kyle Hassel and Shalini Henry-John, with chaperones Guy Noland and Samantha Smith. They finished the race in five hours and 15 minutes.
As a fan of the TV show, Young People’s Sergeant Major Jim Sparks said his goal was to “expose the kids to various Los Angeles culture, and blow every prior youth event out of the water.”
With an adult version on request, Sparks said he will plan another more difficult Amazing Race in 2010.
Fifty people25 youth and 25 adult volunteers participated in an “Amazing Race” youth event throughout Los Angeles County, based on the Emmy-Award-winning reality TV show where teams race around the world.
The clock began at 10 a.m. from the parking lot at the Pasadena Tabernacle Corps with the first task: the teams of four or five members had to make their way to the Pasadena Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC).
Armed with a $5 all-day metro pass, four of the five teams opted to take the four-minute train from a nearby metro stop. The fifth team thought they needed to run the 1.8 miles to the ARC, “a crucial mistake,” as one team member said along the way.
At the ARC, teams received their first “detour” and had to choose between two tasks: “strike it”bowl three strikes per team on the two available bowling lanes, or “sort it”sort and hang 25 garments of women’s clothing in the receiving warehouse by specific standards.
Once complete, teams opened the clue to move forward: “Make your way to Chinatown and find the world famous Foo Chow’s restaurant, where Rush Hour was filmed, to enjoy a traditional Chinese meal.”
Foo Chow’s offered an unparalleled experience for the teams, who had to eat a family-sized bowl of fish ball soup and a platter of fried eel to move on.
Teams left for the Olvera Street Marketplace, where one team member had to enter the marketplace and find the Avila Adobe. After discovering the name of the commodore who took over the adobe in 1847, he/she had to find the Valeria Gonzalez Candle Shop, salute the “soldier” (one of the volunteers positioned throughout L.A. County) and share the name.
Next: Locate Hollywood’s Kodak Theater and find The Road to Hollywood, along with a small plaque identifying the road’s designer. They then had to search for the soldier in a blue hat at Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
Back on the train for just over an hour, teams arrived at the Sierra Madre Villa Station. The “Road Block”: one team member awaited instructions at the bottom of the adjacent 1,000 car parking structure. From the roof, the other members scanned the area for a Salvation Army shield sign. They verbally communicated its location to the team member below, who ran to a parking lot across the street for the next clue.
The last train took teams back to the Pasadena Tab, where over 500 Matchbox cars and action figures awaited them in the chapel. Teams searched through the toys for a few specially marked ones.
The winning team—first to stand on a Salvation Army doormat in the Tab’s courtyard—included Sasha Crawford, Lauren Docter, Kyle Hassel and Shalini Henry-John, with chaperones Guy Noland and Samantha Smith. They finished the race in five hours and 15 minutes.
As a fan of the TV show, Young People’s Sergeant Major Jim Sparks said his goal was to “expose the kids to various Los Angeles culture, and blow every prior youth event out of the water.”
With an adult version on request, Sparks said he will plan another-more difficult-Amazing Race in 2010.
Download this page as a PDF