Amazing Grace Race

As I sit here watching The Amazing Race on my new 42" flat screen TV I can't help but wonder what it would feel like to be racing to the finish line on the real show. On Saturday, I competed in the London version of it! A couple of weeks ago, one of my co-workers emailed me to be a part of the "A Team" for The Amazing Grace Race. It was a fund raiser for the Monsignor Feeney Foundation.

Our team consisted of Allan (creator of many scavenger hunts - a great asset to the team) MJ, Allan's wife and a fiend on the cell phone with our "phone a friend", Sue up for any challenge and a stickler for details, and myself. What a fantastic team...we were out to win.

The clues were all written as riddles but we were ready for anything. We each had an A-Channel shoulder bag with all kinds of devices that might help us: calculator, French/English translator, cell phones, GPS, and of course, snacks.

Our first stop had us running in a human hamster ball, around pylons over ramps, up and down a hill...it was AWESOME! How many chances do you get in your lifetime to run in a hamster ball? Sue started out and we switched about halfway through. I couldn't believe how exhausting it was pushing/running inside a plastic ball with no airflow. What a rush!

We also had to row at London's rowing club, perform "You're So Vain" on the stage at Centennial Hall, play "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?", search through a nursery for 2 gnomes as well as answer PAGES of trivia questions!

Our team rocked their way through the day. We got four 10's (out of 10) one 9 and one 5. We were feeling PRETTY confident when we arrived back at the check in point. As they tallied the scores, we enjoyed a catered dinner. As part of the fundraiser, Blue Rodeo was performing a concert in the evening. Part of the prize for the winners was to meet the band. SO....when they came into the dining tent and said "Blue Rodeo would like to meet with Team Coulter and the A-Team" ....we were ecstatic!

I could really care less if I met Blue Rodeo, but I was about to win a 42" flat screen TV! Wahoo! So, I met Jim Cuddy & co. Got their autographs, photos, etc. and waited for the big moment. Both teams were waiting in the wings on the stage when they announced "and coming in second place today...the A-Team!" What? I demand a recount! We had that in the bag. We were ripped off! As the runners-up, we each won an i-pod docking station. It's a pretty sweet little machine, but it's no TV.