Dodson's Diamond Dash

Shawn and I decided to do Dodson's Diamond Dash last Saturday (kind of a cross between The Amazing Race, and a scavenger hunt in downtown Spokane), for a top prize of a $15,000 diamond ring!! They accepted about 400 teams of two to play, and no motorized vehicles were allowed, but you could use anything human powered so we brought our bikes down. The entire dash was done through text messaging, so they would text you a clue to a location, then you would have to text back the location name (and spelling counted). Next you would be asked a "challenge" question about that location - something you would only possibly know by being at the location. We got points for each question we got correct, and the point value varied depending on how hard the clue was. We had 2 1/2 hours to complete as many questions as we could.

The competition was fierce, but we felt pretty good about our odds. Shawn's an extremely knowledgeable local who knows a TON about the city, and I'll toot my own horn and say I've got some pretty good street smarts and a pretty strong competitive edge. Sounds like the perfect team, right?

Here are some photos of us as we took as we were waiting at the start line.

The buzzer went off and we received our first clue via text: "Things in Riverfront Park are all off scale! Send back what child's toy has been blown up so big it can be used as a slide." Immediately we knew it was the huge red Radio Flyer wagon and we were off on our crazy adventure.

There were times in the race I honestly thought I could never run as hard as I was for over 2 hours. Shawn and I were riding our bikes so fast, and my legs were just shaking because they were so weak. We felt like we were doing really well, but we didn't loose focus, "this is worth $15,000, just keep pushing" we kept thinking.

Hours of racing went by, and we got a clue that read, "Home to the Chamber of Commerce, send back the name of this Riverside building." Ugh. We were stumped, and knew that time was going to be running out shortly. We rode our bikes to Riverside street and frantically looked all over for the Chamber of Commerce for what felt like forever. This question was worth 7 points, and shortly we got another text that read, "The game is over! Your team scored 409 points. Now head to the after-party at the Marquee Lounge to find out who won!"

Off we headed to the lounge, and while we were waiting in line to get in, conversation started up with fellow Dashers and we began comparing scores. We soon found out that most people's scores were in the high 200's. We were starting to feel really confident! But, there was no way that we would win this thing, right???

They started with the 5th place finisher (but of course didn't reveal how many points they accumulated), and built up from there. Each time they called a team/place finisher, I got more nervous that we might have actually won, and more disappointed that we might not have won. They got to third, and my heart really started to sink. Then they called second place - IT WAS US!!!!!! Shawn and I won second place out of 400 teams!!! We went to the stage and claimed our prize. Then they called the first place winner up to the stage and announced that their final score was 414. 414?!?!? Are you kidding me???? We lost by 5 points? I looked at Shawn and said "Oh my gosh, I'm totally going to cry" (and I did a little)

Still a cool experience, and we won a $2500 gift package to a spa, and an overnight stay at Silver Mt. Resort.

5 points?!?!? It's been a tough pill to swallow.

Official photos can be seen on the sideshows at http://www.dodsonsdiamonddash.com/. Look for my super bright pink hat, I think we're only in a few photos.