The Terrific Race in St. Louis
This is meant to be somewhat of a thought experiment, somewhat of a dream, and somewhat of a plan.
Okay, so the Amazing Race (hereafter AR) has the title trademarked, so we'll call ours the Terrific Race (hereafter TR). I was thinking of the Super Race or the Spunky Race or the Swell Race, but let's allow ourselves to be only a little bit silly. The TR needs five elements: locations, tasks, catch-up delays, alternate modes of transportation, and Phil (or at least a good Phil stand-in). The back office (if you will) needs people to call to answer phones and be at clue sites.
Locations are probably the easiest part of the planning - just pick some St. Louis landmarks. The Arch. Busch Stadium. The Dome. Savvis. The Brewery. Forest Park. The Zoo. The Science Center. The MUNY. The City Museum. Odd museums like the Dog Museum or the Fields Toy Museum. The universities. Ted Drewes. The airport(s). Union station. Malls. The Delmar Loop. Washington Avenue. The Central West End. The Landing. Historic St. Charles. Bevo Mill. Dental Health Theater. Brown Shoe. Bowling Hall of Fame. Cathedral. Lemp Mansion. Tower Grove. Any other suggestions?
Tasks are the hard part of coming up with a good TR. Since we don't have an unlimited budget, we can't have people jump from planes or row across the Mississippi. Most stops should have an associated task whether it be a detour or a road block. Get a clue from someone at the top of the Arch. Take the brewery tour. Eat something huge at Ted Drewes. Knock down XXX pins at the Bowling Hall of Fame. Run a mile on a track. Buy a set of products from the store. Any other suggestions?
Catch-up delays are an important part of the whole race. In order to make sure that everyone has a chance to win, you need to insert time-delays into the race. In AR, they frequently get to a site and have to wait until it opens. Ways to simulate this in TR include Brewery Tour start times, Arch tram schedule, Metrolink trains, and restaurant/store opening times. While I think it is a good idea to have some delays built into the schedule early, in the later game you have to let the cream rise to the top. Any other suggestions?
Alternate modes of transportation are necessary to give the game that whole AR-feel. If you're driving around in a car the whole time you miss the feel of "There goes the train and now I'm going to lose." So places that you can only go on foot and trains have to be added to the flow of the game. But I can't think of other modes of transportation that wouldn't be grossly expensive. Any other suggestions?
Finally TR needs a Phil-alike. While I would be happy to perform the honors, a local celebrity would add the required panache.
The back office is another concern. Depending on how you want to run it, you can have a back office giving hints on time-delay or you can have the clue sitters call in the status of teams as the teams arrive. Either way you would need access to several numbers for people to call in to each manned by a person. And then you need the clue sitters.
I've done something like this before. TR is much more straight-forward than Midnight Madness. Midnight Madness was like AR but with cryptic clues that led you from place to place and no tasks. Maybe it is all do-able.
Hmmmmm.....
Okay, so the Amazing Race (hereafter AR) has the title trademarked, so we'll call ours the Terrific Race (hereafter TR). I was thinking of the Super Race or the Spunky Race or the Swell Race, but let's allow ourselves to be only a little bit silly. The TR needs five elements: locations, tasks, catch-up delays, alternate modes of transportation, and Phil (or at least a good Phil stand-in). The back office (if you will) needs people to call to answer phones and be at clue sites.
Locations are probably the easiest part of the planning - just pick some St. Louis landmarks. The Arch. Busch Stadium. The Dome. Savvis. The Brewery. Forest Park. The Zoo. The Science Center. The MUNY. The City Museum. Odd museums like the Dog Museum or the Fields Toy Museum. The universities. Ted Drewes. The airport(s). Union station. Malls. The Delmar Loop. Washington Avenue. The Central West End. The Landing. Historic St. Charles. Bevo Mill. Dental Health Theater. Brown Shoe. Bowling Hall of Fame. Cathedral. Lemp Mansion. Tower Grove. Any other suggestions?
Tasks are the hard part of coming up with a good TR. Since we don't have an unlimited budget, we can't have people jump from planes or row across the Mississippi. Most stops should have an associated task whether it be a detour or a road block. Get a clue from someone at the top of the Arch. Take the brewery tour. Eat something huge at Ted Drewes. Knock down XXX pins at the Bowling Hall of Fame. Run a mile on a track. Buy a set of products from the store. Any other suggestions?
Catch-up delays are an important part of the whole race. In order to make sure that everyone has a chance to win, you need to insert time-delays into the race. In AR, they frequently get to a site and have to wait until it opens. Ways to simulate this in TR include Brewery Tour start times, Arch tram schedule, Metrolink trains, and restaurant/store opening times. While I think it is a good idea to have some delays built into the schedule early, in the later game you have to let the cream rise to the top. Any other suggestions?
Alternate modes of transportation are necessary to give the game that whole AR-feel. If you're driving around in a car the whole time you miss the feel of "There goes the train and now I'm going to lose." So places that you can only go on foot and trains have to be added to the flow of the game. But I can't think of other modes of transportation that wouldn't be grossly expensive. Any other suggestions?
Finally TR needs a Phil-alike. While I would be happy to perform the honors, a local celebrity would add the required panache.
The back office is another concern. Depending on how you want to run it, you can have a back office giving hints on time-delay or you can have the clue sitters call in the status of teams as the teams arrive. Either way you would need access to several numbers for people to call in to each manned by a person. And then you need the clue sitters.
I've done something like this before. TR is much more straight-forward than Midnight Madness. Midnight Madness was like AR but with cryptic clues that led you from place to place and no tasks. Maybe it is all do-able.
Hmmmmm.....
posted by mypetrock at 12:14 PM
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