In our first Hollywood starting line ever, Urban Hunt: Los Angeles took teams on a whirlwind tour of the City of Angels this past Saturday. The course had teams explore the heart of Hollywood, with several movie and music-themed clues; and also solve puzzles in the Westlake/MacArthur Park and Wilshire Blvd. neighborhoods.
It was a small but competitive group who gathered at our starting line, Dillon’s Irish Pub on Hollywood/Vine, the center point of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Four teams entered the costume contest: Domo Mustache with their painted-on mustaches and mustachioed Domo monster t-shirts, Here’s Waldo in Waldo outfits, The Urban Ninjas dressed as armed-and-dangerous ninjas, and Team Occupy, with shirts representing the 1% and the 99%. In the end, it was the Urban Ninjas who won the costume contest with the audience vote.
The course challenged teams to solve puzzles at spots all over the Metro Red and Purple lines, including determining the winner of a dance competition in MacArthur Park, the site of the first ever Hollywood Movie Premiere, and the location of a long-lost dome from the popular 1920s restaurant “The Brown Derby” on Wilshire Blvd.
In the end, it came down to a photo finish, with our top three teams all arriving within thirty seconds of each other. First place went to Team Fun Galore, Mario Rivas and Kimberly Patterson, who narrowly edged out Team Occupy and the Beanie BZs, who got caught up by a poorly timed crosswalk light.
Congrats to our top finishers, and all of the teams who competed. Hope you had a fun time in Urban Hunt: LA!
Results
1. Fun Galore – Mario Rivas and Kimberly Patterson 3:05
2. Occupy – Jessica Stockton and Joshua McVey 3:06
3. Beanie BZs – Kevin Noertker and Stephanie Landicho 3:06
4. Double A – Ann Schade and Andy Ochiltree 3:26
5. Roving Pompatours – Anna Pallmino and Cesar Cabral 3:34
6. Domo Mustache – Calvin Tam and Grace Han 3:40
7. Ho Down – Alice Wang and Jubel Chan 3:41
8. Urban Ninjas – Andrew Gavieres and Lauren Kitaguchi 4:04
9. Here’s Waldo – Margaret Chang and Oscar Decastro 4:15
10. Ravenclaw – Kimberly Nowaza and Stephen Kim 4:17
11. Griffendor – Brittney Gibo and Michael Isihara 4:17
12. Finding MiMo – Morgan Ryan and Michelle Guaglianone DNF
Photos
Full photo albums from this event can be found on Facebook and Flickr.
NOV 2011: Eleven members of the University of Southern California Orientation Staff were looking for a unique and innovate teambuilding experience so they gathered to play Reality Rush’s game called SABOTAGE, a version of TV’s The Mole. Over the event, the eleven contestants worked together to win over $500 in prize money towards a holiday banquet, but among them was a Saboteur secretly working against the group. The Saboteur’s objective was simple- to ruin the group’s money-making efforts.
The game was divided into three rounds and contestants competed in challenges spread throughout the USC campus to try and win money for the eventual winner’s pot. After the challenges, the contestants took quizzes on the identity of the Saboteur and earned points with correct answers. At the end of the game the contestant with the highest cumulative point total was announced as the winner.
From the start of the game, the contestants were suspicious of Chrissy Roth and Neelam Savla. These two may have been the most popular suspects, but the finger-pointing continually shifted throughout the entire game. However, the true Saboteur, Amanda Mrotek, almost went completely undetected throughout the game, as she sabotaged challenges from the very beginning. Amanda masterfully used her outgoing personality and relationships with her peers to single-handedly lose money without taking heat or blame for it. Only one contestant, Cailin Lowry, was suspicious of Amanda from the start and stuck with her gut the entire game to secure her victory.
Congratulations to winner Cailin Lowry, runner-up Jessica Frey, third place Scott Flanary and Saboteur Amanda Mrotek on an awesome game!
PHOTO GALLERY:
Reality Rush is proud to announce the return of our URBAN HUNT California tour for the Fall 2011 season. Last year, we brought amazing races to three California cities, and we’re coming back!
Here’s the schedule:
- SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 – San Francisco
- SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6 – San Jose
- SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19 – Los Angeles
- POSTPONED – San Diego
Urban Hunt pits teams of two against each other in a city-wide adventure race. It’s a scavenger hunt on steroids, where you and your partner will solve puzzles, compete in challenges and navigate the famous landmarks and back alleys of your city. It’s a fun and exciting way to see your home city like you’ve never seen it before!
To sign up, click the link above for the city/date of your choosing.
If you purchased a ticket through either Groupon or HomeRun, please register:
For more information, check out the Urban Hunt rules and sample clues.
See you at the hunt!
For their annual Reality Reunion, fourteen college friends traveled to Anna Maria Island, Florida over Memorial Day Weekend to play Reality Rush’s ultimate game of strategy, EVICTION! Based on TV’s Big Brother. It was Season 8 for this group of gamers who did not disappoint and would have sent the TV ratings through the roof!
The game kicked off with a bang when double HOH winners Mike Gabbert and Anna Jenero nominated each other’s top allies. When the house kicked back a 5-5 tie vote twice, Mike and Anna were forced to evict one Houseguest. In a jaw-dropping move, the duo HOHs didn’t agree putting them from the most powerful and secure position in the game into jeopardy of being the first one evicted. After yet another 6-6 tie vote, Julia Gabbert made a last minute switch and the house evicted Anna by a 7-5 vote sending shockwaves through the house!
Throughout the weekend the Houseguests continued to battle for power in the game. From the start, power players Mike Gabbert and Bill Busacker dominated the competitions winning back-to-back HOH and POVs nearly shutting out their competitors for the first half of the game. Three of the six women were voted off first until Mari Gabbert pulled out an impressive POV win and removed Shelagh O’Donnell from the block. Mike Hundgen then became the replacement nominee and became the first male evicted from the house and the only player who was “back-doored” throughout the game.
Towards the end of the first day, Matt Jacobson won HOH and made a bold move to nominate dominant players Mike and Bill. To Matt’s dismay, Bill won the POV and removed himself from the block so Matt then nominated their close ally Gus Pabst. Before the vote, Mike revealed he had found a secret power in the game allowing him to save himself and Gus from the block and he then nominated two of Matt’s closest allies Evan Shaw and Steve DeMan. Never before has HOH blown up so much in someone’s face.
After more than 30 mental and physical challenges, bold moves, blindsides, secret alliances and the return of the third evicted Houseguest Tori Duoos into the game, the coveted Final Four players included Stacey Meader, Mari Gabbert, Tori Duoos and Steve DeMan. All four players successfully manipulated their way to the top, but in the end the jury sided with Steve’s strategy of using players when they thought they were using him over Tori’s challenge-dominating return to the game.
Congratulations to Steve DeMan and all of the Houseguests for an amazing, entertaining and well-played game!
PHOTO GALLERY:
Forty-seven teams competed in Urban Hunt: Los Angeles on Sunday, in a fun-filled day of challenges, puzzles and exploring the city!
Teams came dressed as court jesters, mimes, the Mario Brothers, and their favorite movie characters from films like The Big Lebowski and A Clockwork Orange. It was a creative and motley crew to say the least…but they came ready to take on the City of Angels.
Ten teams entered our costume contest, and it came down to our two top contenders: Team Eat Fresh who wore Subway outfits (and you can guess what they were asking the crowd to eat from the picture); and Team Mime Time, who stuck in character — even though they didn’t announce their team name to the crowd, they still came away as the audience favorites. Congrats to mimes Alexandra Volkema and Katie Scheaffer for the win!
The course took teams throughout Downtown Los Angeles, from the Staples Center all the way to Little Tokyo (and to many places in between), and our top team came in with a time of just under three hours.
Congratulations Kevin and Angela Wong of team Kandawong for coming in first, with an impressive time of 2 hours and 52 minutes! They credit their win to quickly plotting out the most efficient route and following through on their plan.
Just five minutes later, the second and third place teams, One Cup of Coffee (Eric Medina and Gloria Romero-Medina) and TKO (David & Jocelyn Estiandan) finished right on each other’s heels.
For the first time in Urban Hunt history, our top three teams were all married couples — proving that having a strong relationship and good teamwork are essential ingredients to success in the hunt!
Thanks to all of our competitors on Sunday. We had a great time running the event — our fourth and final Yelp exclusive Urban Hunt event in Los Angeles!
Results
1. Kandawong – Kevin Wong and Angela Wong 2:52
2. One Cup of Coffee – Eric Medina and Gloria Romero-Medina 2:57
3. TKO – David Estiandan and Jocelyn Estiandan 2:57
4. Molar Militia – Lauren Young and Zack Carnow 3:09
5. C-Squared – Christine Park and Chris Park 3:10
6. Second Chances – Curtis Chan and David Ahn 3:13
7. Faded Glory – Betty Fraser and Jill Smith 3:16
8. Cubbies – Raviv Balfour and Crystal Doyle 3:18
9. Scrub A Dub Dub – Crystal Kim and Jane Kim 3:27
10. Team Boobies – Arthur Bruckler and Joan Lao 3:30
11. Getting Hitched – Chris Baron and Kim-Tieng Tear 3:30
12. Eat Fresh – Blake Landis and Jesse Overton 3:36
13. The Team That Is Way Better Than Katie and Lexy – Paul Keables and Tania Gonzalez 3:42
14. Just friends – Po Chhim and Pedram Pourmand 3:44
15. Hart Attack – Greg Hartsock and Jeannette Hartsock 3:51
16. El Duderinos – Paul Atienza and Misha Reyes 3:52
17. Browning & Associates – Talia Goldman and Carla Browning 3:57
18. Junky Jugs – Lorena Valdez and Darren Ignacio 4:14
19. Mime Time – Alexandra Volkema and Katie Scheaffer 4:21
20. Royo-Choi Dynasty – Andre Roy and Jane Choi 4:22
21. Pump-Petes – Sakanel Suos and Soronit Suos 4:25
22. D-Listers – Amy Hoang and Cindy Seto 4:28
23. Suns Out Guns Out – Bret Parsons and Kate Garrido 4:34
24. T Squared – Tai Farnsworth and Ted Barrow III 4:36
25. Boogie – Ana Vasquez and Scot Leonard 4:38
26. Compatible Units – Mark Manansala and Jomarie Garong 4:44
27. Steelers – Lloyd Lacbain and Cynthia Kim 4:44
28. Team White-T – Gina Malbas and Rosendo Mejia, Jr. 4:44
29. Lucky On A Roll – Peter Taing and Ann Kim 4:44
30. Team Clockwork – John Villalobos and Julia Martinez 4:45*
31. Fancy Pants and the Curve Armada – Cionn Villalobos and Will Wilkerson 4:48*
32. Extreme Tennis Pros – Victor Pham and Crystal Le 4:48
33. Lady and the Tramp – Danielle Gonzales and Lisa Henson 4:52*
34. kimpia – bambi kuhlman and jin chong 4:53
35. Crab Leg Crunchers – Jimmy Kang and Danny Lim 4:53
36. Luke and Leia – Chris Alexander and Lesli Lytle 4:57
37. Team Catfish – Michael Taing and Cijae Kai 5:00
38. Mo ROYbots! – Roy Mananquil and Monique Magbuhos 5:02
39. THE CONVICTS – Fabiola Marquez and Fulvert Pineda 5:07*
40. PWNED – Lenin Villavicenzio and Bella Pineda 5:08*
41. FUN-da-MENTAL – Jennifer Thurston and Juan Perez 5:10
42. Mario Bros – Lily Vi Pham and Trami Tran 5:23**
43. Scoobie Crew – Jimenez Ray and Martinez Natalie 5:38**
44. JW – Jeff Macalino and Wendy Paulino 6:03**
45. Magnitude Cheer – Janae Cardona and Milton Cardona DNF
46. Hada – Harold Avila and Diana Aquino DNF
47. Anong Gusto Mo – Johnson Khun and Karmita Chan DNF
*Teams who received a time penalty for incomplete or incorrect clues.
Photos
View even more photos in our full Flickr Set or on our Facebook photos page.
This Saturday was our biggest Los Angeles Urban Hunt yet, with 80 teams competing in a fun-filled scavenger hunt through Downtown LA!
Teams came dressed as Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, Pokémon Trainers, Angry Birds, Batman & Robin, Reggae singers, Dr. Seuss’s Thing 1 & Thing 2, disco dancers, Legends of the Hidden Temple contestants and more, so it certainly was a lively group of characters hunting through Los Angeles.
Fifteen teams entered the costume contest, and after an audience vote, it came down to three finalists: Team We Are Right Here (wearing Where’s Waldo? outfits), The Newlyweds (dressed as a bride and groom), and Peanut Butter Jelly Time (who each dressed up as half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, inspired by the famous internet video of the same name).
In the end, Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Jade Ku and Lisa Horgash, came away as the audience favorite. Congrats on the win, ladies!
The course took teams on a whirlwind tour of LA, through many of LA’s melting pot of ethnic neighborhoods — Mexican, Japanese, Chinese and Middle Eastern — and to find many of Downtown LA’s famous art monuments.
In the end, Jessica Stockton and Joshua McVey of team We are Right Here completed the hunt in the fastest time, with an impressive time of 2 hours and 34 minutes. Dressed as Where’s Waldo? characters, they said they got picked out of crowds all over town as they raced through the course.
Second place went to Team PegMo, Peggy Su and Monica Ravizza; and Third Place went to Team Mootenburg, Elizabeth Moothart and Adam Hattenburg.
The top three teams credit taking a good route and strategically using public transit to their wins.
We had a great time running this Urban Hunt, and we hope you had a great time too!
Results
1. We are Right Here – Jessica Stockton and Joshua McVey 2:34
2. PegMo – Peggy Su and Monica Ravizza 2:45
3. Mootenburg – Elizabeth Moothart and Adam Hattenburg 2:48
4. Winning…duh! – Jessica Jorgensen and Jeanne Jorgensen 2:49
5. The Tweedles – Claudia Tjuatja and Kelly Kaye 2:51
6. Lumark – Luann Chou and Mark Gustafson 2:54
7. Bronx Bombers – Gregory Gerardo and Angie Mott 2:56
8. Fun Galore – Mario Rivas and Kimberly Patterson 2:56
9. The Dogg Pound – Jami Rudofsky and Stacey Levy 3:00
10. Everybody Loves Bob Marley – Kevin Tjho and Kevin Noertker 3:01
11. Bad Day to be Wearing Green – Calvin Ting and Matt Czubakowski 3:01
12. The Fotzinators – Jason Foltz and Lindsay MacFarland 3:01
13. Spite and Anger – Helga Buszta and Brian McAneny 3:02
14. Did I Swallow? – Hedy Lavinsky and Jason Lavinsky 3:02
15. Sweet Lemonade – Marc McFarland and Haissel Neira 3:02
16. Peanut Butter Jelly Time – Jade Ku and Lisa Horgash 3:04
17. Tine & Topher – Christopher Balik and Christine Kha 3:05
18. Denis & Jeri – Jeri Xu and Denis Shmidt 3:06
19. crutchy-face – Andrew Lim and Mary Kiang 3:07
20. Via dei Neri – Steve Miller and Andrew Schuster 3:13
21. Las Ratas – Pedro Abreu and Valeria Pia 3:13
22. ESYLVESTER – Scott Escarze and Michelle Sylvester 3:14
23. Smores – Erin Brett and Christian Denhart 3:17
24. Bonnie and Clyde – Avril Love and Dwayne Love 3:20
25. Team USA – Danny Susca and Robin Paige 3:22
26. TEAM DUNNIES – PHILLIP SHU and JOYCE ONG 3:23
27. Mother Funkers – Sarah Zimny and Bonnie Miller 3:24*
28. TEAM CL – Cindy Lou and Christopher Ledesma 3:26
29. The Sweet Tarts – Flo Lysaght and Diana Bayless 3:29
30. Winland – Mark Landouw and Lisa Landouw 3:32
31. Tiger’s Blood – Michael Maglonso and Christina Aguila 3:33
32. What Would Chuck Norris Do? – Erin Gil and Rainier Tablante 3:33
33. Madagascar-Avengers – Joriandra Coute and Crysta Arce 3:34
34. Cantervores – Diana Westmyer and Genesis Velarde 3:34
35. The Blue Barracudas – Caitlin Couey and Kathryn Imler 3:36
36. Team Johnson – Neil Johnson and Lynn Johnson 3:36
37. CorKey – Cori Spellman and Keyonna Taylor 3:36
38. The Go Gettas – Marlon Yates and Shaunie O 3:37
39. Speunher – Eunha Kim and Jeff Spears 3:37
40. Team What?!? – Dennis Mertzanis and Susan Chang 3:38
41. Friends4Life – Stephanie Pitts and Carla Elchebegian 3:39
42. Cops & Robbers – Eric Chung and Nora Betancourt 3:44
43. OG – Queenie Garcia and Elficer Garcia Jr. 3:51
44. H-Shizzle – Eric Grollman and Meryl Villas 3:51
45. Tean ESS-TI-EM-ESS – Tony Polanco and Annabelle Santos 3:51
46. Clapper Chicks – Andrea Fruits and Meliza Mayo 3:52
47. The Cheesebombs – Kristin Pagkanlugan and Spencer Putz 3:55
48. Lost In LA – Kathy Chan and Jaclyn Trias 3:57
49. Chocolate Stink Stars – Jessie Genie and Baldemar “MIKO” Garcia 3:59
50. Tree & Shade – Ann Schade and Andy Ochiltree 4:00**
51. Slayer – Chris Germano and John Elder 4:00
52. Fried Rice and Frijol – Bryan Phan and Cecilia Crisantos 4:01
53. Serge and Destroy – Sergio Meza and Daniel Lucas 4:02
54. Invincible – Vanessa Avilez and Jacqueline Avilez 4:02
55. No Name – Crystal Garcia and Jamie Gonzalez 4:17
56. Thing 1 & Thing 2 – Charlotte Lucich and Christina Fumia 4:17
57. Team Estacio – Raymond Estacio and Maria Ledesma 4:22
58. Green Team – Laura Delgado and Cindy Chavez 4:25
59. The D.I.N.K.S – Richard Alegria and Mary Alegria 4:28
60. Anything But Last – Elaine Nguyen and Dan Vu 4:29
61. Leslie & Suzy – Leslie Rose-Dethloff and Suzy Oliver 4:32
62. Team Chopsticks – Sophan Im and Reth Thach 4:43*
63. NeilAshaAaA – Neil Raj and Asha Patel 4:51
64. Forza Fiorentina! – Jose Sanchez Jr. and Angelica Marquez 5:02
65. M&M – Mark Hardison and Miranda Hardison 5:07
66. The Amazing Race-ists – Candice Yang and Stephanie Mills 5:13**
67. Sharma-Soliman – Pearlina Sharma and Rachelle Soliman 5:16*
68. The Winning Half – Katrina Lambakis and Sheila Morales 5:16*
69. H.R. Puff & Stuff – Elisa Atwood and Benjamin Atwood 5:37***
70. Aurum – Angie Burns and Eric Burns 5:48**
71. Thing Team – Morgan Ryan and Michelle Guaglianone 5:57**
72. Yellow Kitty! – Rebecca Nasrani and Maria Pramudito DNF
73. Funny Bones – Spencer Reitz and Kristin Pagkanlungan DNF
74. L.A. Jags – Harrison Wolf and Nicole Cervi DNF
75. Zeek & Dora – Zayra Garduno and Ria Yambao DNF
76. Chan Fun – Chris Ledesma and Cindy Lou DNF
77. Brown-Mean – Angela Mean and Tracy Brown DNF
78. Where’s Walnum? – Michelle Montiel and Roxy Walnum DNF
*Teams who received a time penalty for incomplete or incorrect clues.
Photos
View even more photos in our full Flickr Set or on our Facebook photos page.
