Let's cut to the chase.
Fans of CBS's "Amazing Race," the reality show where globe-trotting duos vie for $1 million, can enter the local-local version this weekend.
About 60 teams fanned out across the Windy City during the first Great Urban Race in 2007, organizers said. More than 200 are in the running this year. More are expected to sign up on race day, Saturday.
The teams of two must solve clues to decipher which Chicago landmarks comprise the six-mile course. They must then visit 11 out of the 12 sites, ordering a specific dish or snapping a photo as directed in the battle against the clock.
The catch: Duos must navigate the city on foot or by public transport. "No cabs," race founder Joe Reynolds warned.
The "Amazing Race" fan, a two-time marathoner who grew up near St. Charles, Ill, is surprised his event has grown from an eight-city fun run to a 20-city competition in two years. "I thought at the time, `People want to go on the show. Why can't I do something on the local level, opening it to everyone who wants to go?' " said the Illinois State grad, 28. "I just sort of ran with it. Word spread, things moved quickly."
Contestants must be at least 13 and accompanied by an adult to enter. The winning pair will collect $300 and advance, with the top 25 teams, to the finals in Las Vegas. The championship purse: $10,000.
Unlike conventional races, the Great Urban Race demands faster thinking than footwork. At the starting signal, each team rips open an envelope listing 12 clues. Then the strategizing begins.
Many contestants "sit right down on the ground to figure out the clues while others start running," Reynolds said. For example, "if you think you know the answer to No. 12, you can do that one first. So at the start, they're all going different directions."
Some clues are easy-peasy. Entrants last year were ordered to feed a "cheezborger" to their teammate at the original restaurant that inspired a famous "Saturday Night Live" skit. The masses scrambled to Billy Goat Tavern. Then there was a Sodoku puzzle -- the math-challenged are still weeping over this one -- that involved juggling numbers in select quadrants to yield an address.
Each team is allowed to skip one clue, Reynolds said. But all should bring a digital camera to submit proof they visited mandatory landmarks, a cell phone (you can call friends for directions) and $10 or more in cash for bus and subway passes. Runners are allowed to tote guidebooks, GPS, even laptops to aid their quest.
Registration begins at 11 a.m. Saturday at Lincoln Park (Grove 9), just south of the North Stockton Drive and North Cannon Drove. The cost is $70 per person, with a percentage of proceeds benefiting Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The race begins at noon. Winners are expected to finish in two hours, the map-impaired, within four to six hours.
Grapevine
Spotted: Cubs manager Lou Piniella and first base coach Matt Sinatro dining at Harry Caray's .... Vet hip-hopper MC Hammer, in town to co-host Macy's Glamorama, stopped by for dinner and bowling at 10pin Bowling Lounge .... Rock band Sugar Ray, booked for Enclave's Labor of Love Festival on Sunday, lingered for the after-party and cheered on Craig Bullock (DJ Homicide) on the turntables ... .
