The HOP hosted its third annual Amazing Race on Saturday at 2 p.m. on the Beach. The race challenges teams of two to complete a variety of tasks that require them to travel all around campus.
Rebecca Wilson, the director of marketing for the HOP, organized the event and took part in designing the challenges.
“The Amazing Race is an event where 25 teams of two race in … tackling an obstacle course, finding an M&M among cups of icky drinks, taking a picture with the Humvee at The PUSH and answering questions about Hopkins and its history,” Wilson said. “The final leg entailed each teammate having to spin around a dizzy bat and use a small cup to move water to the team’s bucket on the other side of the Gilman Quad.”
The three winning teams received cash prizes. Juniors Ardian Latifi and Brian Allen came in first place and won $300. Juniors Mark Spencer and Kotaro Mitsuhashi, who finished in second place, won $200; freshmen Elana Stroud and Rachel Hoang finished in third and won $100. All of the competitors received drawstring bags.
“I competed in the race last year and placed third,” Latifi said. “I only wish there had been more mental challenges; it seemed as though the race heavily relied on physical talent. However, the riddles in the clues to each challenge were sometimes tricky to figure out, and there was a Hopkins trivia challenge. These added some freshness to the race and really tested different aspects and qualities of the competitors.”
The winning team reported that they had to endure physical pain in order to win.
“My least favorite challenge is definitely one of the first ones, where I had to take a shot of hot sauce,” Allen said. “It was pretty painful and hard to run with an upset stomach.”
The team that placed third walked away with more than its prescribed $100.
“Even better than [the prize was that] at the end of the race the HOP had some extra super-soaker water guns they didn’t want that [Rachel Hoang, my teammate,] and I got to take back to the dorms. We’ve wreaked havoc ever since,” Stroud said.
Some competitors were motivated to participate because they are fans of The Amazing Race, a reality series that is currently in its 23rd season.
“I’m a huge fan of The Amazing Race, so when I found out that the HOP was sponsoring an event based on it, I jumped at the chance to participate, and I’m so glad I did,” Hoang said. “The race, all in all, was so much fun, and even though we didn’t get to travel around the world, it was awesome running around campus doing all these random tasks.”
Most competitors approached the race light-heartedly and enjoyed the challenges.
“It was literally the most I’ve exercised in two years — I hate physical activity,” freshman Kylie Liu said. “But it was awesome because I was doing this with my boyfriend, who’s very athletic, and it was funny for him to watch me suffer through the running.”
Liu’s team finished seventh out of the 25 teams that participated.
Most teams completed all the challenges within an hour. Many team members were able to use a combination of physical and mental skills during the race. They drew upon their experiences and knowledge in academics, sports and other hobbies.
“My favorite challenge was the challenge in which your partner threw a tennis ball and you had to catch it in a bucket,” junior Daniel Zatarian said, believing his high school tennis practice had paid off.
