Sore legs, wet hair, stiff shoulders, and overall fatigue. That's basically what we got after the 2nd Annual DC Rat Race. Well, actually that was not all, there was also the satisfaction and the countless funny stories we got from performing all the tasks that we got. From 1pm to 7 we were all over the district doing all kinds of things from finding a ginkgo leaf to getting a picture of the Seychelles' flag to putting bunny ears on a policeman. It was fun, but I got to be honest, when we realized that we should head to the finish (right in the middle of downpour) was very much a relief. Would I do it again next year? Of course!

Since we only finished 12th, I'm gonna give out our own awards. Here the are...

Most uncanny premonition
Myra for owning a member card for the Library of Congress, which turned out to be one of the task.

Most hilarious (mis)interpretation of a clue
Devmann & I for thinking that we were supposed to find a license plate of a state that begins with a letter 'T' instead of ending with it. We didn't even realize our mistake until when we talked about the tasks at the finish line with Allie. She said, "we got, like, five Connecticuts!" Devmann and I were like, "huh?" and in the back of my mind I was thinking, "So? What is she talking about?" I finally muttered, "Connecticut?" She replied, "Yeah, we have to find one that ends with 'T', right?" Now I know how it feels to be the stupidest person in the room.


Most tricky clue
The flag of Seychelles. The country doesn't even have an office in DC! Smart-ass organizers!

Most easy task yet not that easy to accomplish
A moldy bread. Everybody seems to have one or have just thrown away one... at their respective homes. But what respectable food vendor would keep moldy bread?

The nicest accomplices
The Chinatown Hooters girls! Thumbs up for them! oh and for the manager too! The task was to take a picture of the team with a Hooters waitress/waiter. We went in to the Chinatown branch and basically asked one of the girls point blank, "Would you mind taking a picture with us? No, no, a picture of of us, with you." Then the manager came and tell two more girls in the vincinity to take a picture with us. It was a very nice picture. But as we left the restaurant, we realized that the clue was, "... with a Hooter girl." Singular. We got two too many. There was three of them there. So we got back and told them about it, so they took another one with just one of them. So nice... thanks girls!

The most bizarre un-helper
This female cashier at McDonald's Chinatown. I think she's a cyborg. Truly! I mean I didn't even think that she was rude, I think what I was asking was just not in her software. Imagine this. She was at the cashier looking straight ahead. I came to the cashier, saying, "Hi." She answered in a flat tone "Can I take your order?" All while keep staring at the door no matter which position I tried to put myself in. Believe me, I tried looking straight at her and also blocking her line of sight to the door. Then I said, "Hi, I'm actually in this game, the DC Rat Race, we're supposed to do a list of tasks and one of them was to get an Egg McMuffin wrapper, Could I possibly get a wrapper? Just the wrapper." A full twenty seconds later, she said, "It's past eleven. You can't get Egg McMuffin." "No, no, I just need the wrapper. The paper," I replied. Another twenty seconds went passed by before she pointed me to the side, "Wait a minute." Mind you, she was still looking straight ahead at the door, then she said "May I take your order?" Apparently there was a guy behind me. So he ordered. I was like, "hmm... is my order getting processed? or did it just went to the recycle bin since it was considered as junk-mail?"
Luckily another cashier passed by and I just asked her, then she went to the kitchen and got it for me in less than twenty seconds. All this time, and I'm not exaggerating this — just ask Shierly, that first robot cashier was looking at the door. Man, McDonald's is so high-tech now!

The most embarrassing request for help
It's a tie between finding out which flag at the World Bank is Seychelles' and asking this guy if I could take a picture laying down on his truck's hood.
So Myra & Shierly went into the World Bank only to find this wall of flags and we were dumbfounded. "Which one is it?" After some logical deduction based on alphabetical older, we found it but not before we ticked off the guard for not knowing what we want after they let us into the building.
The other task was to take a picture of a team member laying completely on the hood of a pickup truck. We found a pickup truck on Wisconsin Ave in Georgetown — right in front of the Gap at that crowded throughfare. Luck has it that the driver of the truck came by to put his and his girlfriend's shopping bags. So I asked him if could use his truck. The girlfriend just got this big smile when I asked him, and after explaining what I had to do, they just laughed and said, "sure, sure... just don't screw it or something." Hahaha, on top of that... I'm pretty sure everyone passing the street was looking at this Asian guy in an anorak laying down on the hood of a white pickup truck posing for the camera.

Best photo manipulation
Shierly for managing to take a picture of two green shoes as one green and one yellow. The task was to put on a green and a yellow high-heeled shoes at the same time. Apparently when Shierly & Devmann went into the store, they thought it was just green. So they took this picture. When they got out, I took a look at the picture only to see one green and one yellow. So I didn't say anything. A few hours later, Shierly read the clue again only to realize that she didn't follow the clue correctly. So after discussing it, we ended up taking another picture with a green shoe and an actual yellow one. But seriously, don't you think the left one looks yellowish? Granted it's just the front part.

Most reluctant accomplice(s)
The DC Policemen. Well, actually they had such integrity that we didn't finish the task of taking a picture of a policeman with bunny ears. Devmann was quite adamant on asking each policeman to take a picture with him, but alas, none of them is in the photogenic mood. Allie actually told us that they asked this policeman who was reading magazines at Borders. She said that he was OK with taking a picture but refused to do so after knowing that they were gonna do bunny ears behind him. Such class those policemen have.

Most perseverance
Myra for getting the ticket stub of a basketball game at MCI Center. She kept on waiting in line to speak with a manager even after we told her that it was probably a waste of time to do so since why would they keep the stubs if the game was last night? But, apparently they do or... that manager just went through the garbage. So Myra, good thing you don't listen to your skeptic team-mates!

Most crucial help
The Google guys at their respective workstations. Thank you Henry, Sugih, and John. Without you guys we wouldn't have gone this far.