Urban Dare teams scavenge Atlanta for fun, prizes

It’s one thing to run a race through Atlanta and another to offer up a trivia-laden tour of the city. It’s another thing entirely to do both at once.

Ten teams took off Saturday from Atlanta’s Central Park on a single-afternoon “Urban Dare” competition – put together by a San Diego-based company by that name. Each team paid a $90 fee to compete for a $300 prize.

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Becky Stein / AJC

Urban Dare race director Jeff White instructs participants on the race rules.

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Atlanta race organizer Jeff White says his group ran its first race here in April and its second this weekend. It now plans to run races in the city every six months. Urban Dare officials will create new questions each time by wandering around, looking for landmarks and reading plaques that are often overlooked.

On Saturday, teams started slow, trying to map routes based on clues to the city they’d just received.

“I can never do ‘The Amazing Race,’ I’m finding that out right now,” said Gretchen Stewart, 37, of Lithonia as she and her partner, Craig Morgan, 37, dug into pre-printed maps and Web-enabled cell phones for answers. Or tried to.

“I’m gonna kill him,” Stewart said.

Urban Dare is run a little like a scavenger hunt, and a little like NBC’s “Amazing Race” reality TV show. Teams get a booklet filled with clues, questions and directions: Shoot pictures of Atlanta landmarks, build human pyramids of unsuspecting non-competitors, get a hat and a bite to eat at the world’s largest drive-through. (Can you guess that one?)

Two-person teams of mothers and sons, co-workers, couples and friends know where to start and finish, but must make their own route to get there.

Maps, reference books, laptops and cell phones are welcome. Cameras and comfortable shoes are a must. Bikes and cars aren’t allowed, but competitors can hop on public transportation.

What really helps is knowing your way around Atlanta and all its trivia.

One clue referred to a scene in the first thriller featuring the character Hannibal Lecter, filmed in Atlanta in the 1980s. “Get a picture of the entrance to this building found on Peachtree Street,” it said.

A little hunting online revealed the movie was “Manhunter,” not the more famous “Silence of the Lambs,” and the Peachtree Street building that portrayed Lecter’s mental institution was the High Museum of Art.

Michael Beasley, 31, and Rustom Maneksha, 28, won the race.

The Chamblee neighbors agreed Beasley is the trivia guy, while Maneksha knows Downtown and Midtown geography. It helped to have Maneksha’s wife on the phone, too.

The biggest stumper, they said, was a clue to look for a 1929 Federal Six. They thought it was money and ran around Atlanta Underground for about 10 minutes before they found it: an old car.

“Our strategy: we actually sat down and got all the answers to all the questions, plotted them out on a map, and then we ran like hell,” Beasley said.

They finished the race at the world’s largest drive-in, The Varsity after 2 hours 22 minutes 22 seconds. Then, they put away a chili dog, hamburger, fries and a frosty Atlanta tradition, the Varsity Orange.

Here’s a sampling of eight of the 12 questions posed Saturday to the Atlanta Urban Dare racers.

Clues

1. Hosford wrote a “Handy Guide” about the International Exposition held here (a little while ago). Take a picture of both your team members jumping for joy on the dock of the lake at this location.

2. It’s a wicked show tonight! Get a picture of both teammates with this building’s famous well-lit sign.

3. In the government district is a statue of a former Georgia governor pointing towards a large mural in the distance. Get a picture of both team mates with this mural behind you. (You’ll probably need to find a location closer to the mural.)

4. Been to the Underground? Prove it — get a picture of both team members and a sign indicating the Underground and “the world’s most recognizable trademark,” all in the same picture.

5. What is a 1929 Federal Six? Whatever it is, you can see one in the Underground — get a picture of both of you standing with it.

6. There is a national park in tribute to a famous leader of peace, in which there is a statue honoring another famous leader of peace. Get a picture of your team members with this statue.

7. At the capitol building is a statue of the 39th president. Surrounding the statue are 13 words or phrases used to describe this person. One of those words or phrases ends uniquely — which one is it?

8. End the race at the restaurant that is the world’s largest drive-through – although you should come inside, get a hat and a bit to eat, and find us to finish your last puzzle.

Answers

1. It was “Hosford’s Handy Guide to the Cotton States and International Exposition, Atlanta, 1895,” written for the event at Piedmont Park. Teams should have snapped a picture at the dock for Lake Clara Meer.

2. “Wicked” is at the Fox Theatre, where teams should have gotten a photo of the sign.

3. There’s a statue of Gov. Richard B. Russell Jr. that points toward a whale mural on Atlanta Underground.

4. Teams could have gotten a photo of the rotating Coke sign on Underground, or they could have held up a Coke bottle by an Underground sign.

5. It’s a car parked inside Atlanta Underground.

6. Teams were looking for a statue of Mohandas Gandhi at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.

7. Teams were looking for a statue of Jimmy Carter. The only phrase that ended in a “-th” was “man of faith.”

8. The Varsity.

Source: Urban Dare, urbandare.com