You heard lots about it while I was planning but now it’s time to share all the specifics and some pictures. I was hired by a client to plan an amazing race style event for them and a group of their friends. They wanted it to run through the city of Ottawa and last about 5 hours.
To help offset some of the costs my client decided they would charge the attendees a small fee to attend. All the couples said they loved the idea and didn’t mind paying because it would have cost them the same amount of money to have gone out for dinner for the night. They loved that they got a whole day of fun with a great group of people for the same price a couple hours at dinner would have cost them.
The couple hosting the party wanted to participate in the event so after they told me how they wanted the day to run they were pretty much out of the picture. For weeks before the race day I sent out emails that contained tasks, lists of items to bring and details about the race. It helped to build up the fun and they were able to earn bonus points ahead of time that they would get to use that day.
I had a cool logo designed for the event. It looked just like the amazing race logo. I had posters, clue cards and signs all made with the logo.
The winning team won a cool trophy that I made. I kicked myself after I had made it because I didn’t take pictures of what I used to make it. I went to Value Village and picked up an old wooden cup, it looked like a wine glass but made of wood. And I got another wooden base of some sort and I bought a bag of kids play cars. The entire project cost me $4.75 plus a can of spray paint. I think it turned out pretty cool.
The event included 10 tasks. It was supposed to take approximately 4.5 hours but the first couples were through the finish line in about 3.5 hours. The tasks included trivia, physical challenges, and lots of other fun. One of my favorite tasks was the Newlywed Game. Couples were directed to the Dairy Queen on St. Laurent and were asked a series of questions about themselves and their relationship. They had to get three matching answers before they could move on. Many couples struggled and had to wait for other couples to proceed before they could try again. It was hilarious to see couples fighting over their answers. If I remember correctly the only couple to get it right immediately was a couple that is still only dating.
