AIMazing Race

AIMazing Race

Last Saturday we embarked on an "AIMazing Race" around the greater PE area. This was organized by none other than Judy and Ken Kendallball. They are amazing people and go out of their way for us. Here's how it went.
Teams of two with one AIMer and one native. I chose Matthew Paul as my partner. Very funny guy. In the end, turned out to be just the man for the job. Light hearted but passionate. Intense but not overbearing. Competitive but not one who cries when things don't work out perfectly. He goes to Fairview and I've been meaning to do something with him for the longest time. This was a great bonding experience.

8 AM we all met at "the nest" (Ken and Judy's house) for a light breakfast of muffins, scones, coffee, juice, water, milk, etc. The entry signatures were turned in, ground rules covered, t-shirts passed out, and lots of greeting and playful 'trash' talk.

9 AM we all go out to the back yard so Ken can video us and take pictures before we begin. All teams present and ready? Yes, thus it begins. Ken passes out the first clue in an envelope to each AIMer and we all wait with it sealed in our hands for the signal to go. As soon as the gate was fully open we were allowed to run to our cars.

. . . clink . . . clink . . . clink. . .

GO!
Matt and I take off for our car and head towards the nearest Mugg and Bean Coffee shop which was at the mall. No luck. Our clue was at the OTHER Mugg and Bean across town. Tough start but we made up time on the back roads. Matt really knows his slip-ways and short cuts.
Got the second clue and went to the nearest ABSA Bank Branch, which is in the same complex as the Mugg and Bean, to deposit the entry fee into their account. Clever.

With the bank slip in hand we rush across town again to the beach front where Judy is waiting with our third clue. This was a challenge. We had to go to the pier and get a stranger to do a three-legged race with one of us to the end and get our fourth clue. The rope we needed to tie our legs together was in a tight knot. This hindered us momentarily but Matt found a guy and took off. I look up to see running back toward me with the fourth clue in hand.

The Jacobs' house. That was our next stop. Good thing I go to Fairview and work at Sanctor with Reginald. We got over there fairly fast and saw it was another challenge. We took turns (as stated in the rules) doing every other 'task'. This was my turn and I thank God for decent fine-motor skills. It was making a bead necklace exactly like the one in the center of the table. Ten blacks, ten red, ten yellow, etc. It went by fast and the next clue was given to us by Sharleen (Reginald's wonderful wife) and it told us to go to Sanctor. Score, again...

This was a task that both of us could do. When we pulled up we saw that people were writing or covering exam booklets. Matt and I opted to write out 2 Timothy 3:7 which was actually 2 Timothy 4:7. After getting there half way down the place list we pulled out in third. Beautifully done Matt, beautiful.
Clue number 6 told us to go to the curio dealers down on the beachfront. Most of these guys are from Zim and the girls take them soup, sandwiches, juice, water, and stuff on Thursdays. It was nice to know where all the clue were up to this point. Our objective here was to help a dealer sell something for at least R10 and Masinga would give us our clue. Matt burned this one and Ken hopped in the car with us for the next leg of the race. Clue number 7 told us to leave PE and go to Jeffery's Bay. A good 45 minute drive from town.
Ken dozed off for a bit but did some digital chronicling beforehand. We talked and Matt eventually called his mate in J-Bay for his help finding a B&B we were supposed to get a clue at. He met us when we got into town and led us straight there. Rohan (? spelling) turned out to be quite helpful. Sharon gave us clue number 8 and we read it on the way to drop off Rohan's car so he could ride with us. "Find Mamma Judy on the beach". That's where we headed.

After a long time just wandering around enjoying the beauty that is J-Bay I found Judy on a chair in the sand and called Matt. It was his turn to do this task and as I approached Judy I saw that Lindsay and Jess had been yielded for fifteen minutes and we had a chance to grab another place up. 2ND!
Matt found the gold shell that was buried in the sand and we got clue number 9 which told us to go visit the "Tree People". No joke, all the remaining groups walked around confused by the beach in J-Bay for about an hour before figuring it out. Matt finally figured it out on the way back from checking out a bad lead to some shooting range called "tree people" but really wasn't and took us a good 5-7 km the other way out of J-Bay. It's in PE! We drop Rohan by the side of the road (his choice) and we take off for the highway. Missed the turn but took the back way and pulled up first to a wooded area near the Walmer township. Someone had the idea to paint some trees with clothes on them and we should have thought of it earlier. Finally arriving we discover the girls hot on our tails and step up to perform.

My turn to show I am worthy. Three cans, unlimited shots, old school slingshot. Took a little while but I got them and we got clue number 10. It said go to Emerald Square Spar and add up a shopping list for the manager. Matt called some people and couldn't figure out which Spar was Emerald Square. It wasn't in the system yet. It was a new one. We sat and wasted ten valuable minutes at some random Spar in Walmer before figuring it out. By the time we walked in the door the last two remaining teams were already shopping. Matt and I ran to the manager and grabbed a list. Splitting off we added it up on my phone faster than the girls. Shocking, I know. We ran out right in front of the girls with the final clue.

RETURN TO 64 KING EDWARD STREET FOR YOUR REWARD! Back to the nest!

Sarah-Jane and Brittney pulled out in front of us and Wendy and Carolyne were behind us. I took a wrong turn, unfortunately and both of them lost us. But we took a back way and managed to (somehow) pull up to the gate right on their tails. We all just left the doors open, jumped out of the cars, and sprinted for the backyard. It was the last run!

Finishing time: 17:00 PM
What a day! So much fun though. The standings when the dust finally settled:

1st - Sarah-Jane and Brittney
2nd - Matt and Tyler
3rd - Wendy and Carolyne

That was our AIMazing Race. Finished off with fellowship around a table filled with food, singing in the garage with kerosene lamps, and a satisfying R150 reward for me.

A day not easily forgotten. Next year is going to be even more intense. I heard a rumor it was going to be 2 DAYS long! How blessed am I that my coordinators will do things like this for us? Beyond what I deserve, that's for sure.