Starting with a challenge to carry a golf ball on a spoon, 24 teams of two raced around Westlock Sept. 14, searching for their next clue to lead them to their next challenge on their way to the finish line of the first-ever Amazing Race Westlock.
The black shirts, with yellow emblems could be spotted running from one location to the next in search of clues that would direct them to the next location, the next puzzle to finish, the next ghastly thing to eat, in true Amazing Race fashion — no cellphones allowed.
Competitors started at the Westlock Elementary School football field at 9:30 a.m. On several red and black posts which lined the field, organizer Wendy Lister hung string backpacks with a water bottle and a pen, as well as the first clue.
“Teams, you can bet the grass is wet. I know this is a race, but you need to slow down the pace,” Lister told the competitors to kick off the race.
The teams were then staggered, three per location, to prevent bottlenecking at any one challenge.
At the Westlock Butcher Shop, contestants were treated to owner Paul Lanouette’s soup du jour, ingredients: pork kidney, pork liver, beef liver, lamb heart, lamb kidney, goat and bull testicles. At the Rotary Spirit Centre, the challenge had teams looking for clues which were only discoverable if they were reading it in the mirror. Then at Eagle Excavating, teams had to choose who amongst them was willing to “dig deep and find faith” (i.e. find the rock with the word “faith” written on it in the pile of gravel).
Scavenger hunts took place at the Pioneer Museum and at Westlock Motors, while various puzzles and even bowling challenges had all 48 participants on the run to every corner of town.
“People are making it their own event,” said Lister.
At Westlock Motors, BobbyJo Mahoney helps mom Gail Mauch as she fishes 50 marble beads with her toes out of the kiddie pool.
A lot of work and preparation went into the homegrown Amazing Race. The goal was to have a competition as authentic as possible, with just as many thrilling, gnarly, and challenging events as the TV show.
Lister had her own shirt, the back of which read “turning thoughts into reality,” which explains exactly what this event meant to her.
“I enjoy the show, I love team-building. If someone would have planned this, I would have been the first person to sign up for it,” she said.
All the accoutrements that went into the event, Lister built, had made, designed and thought out. Planning the day revolved around recreating the atmosphere of the show down to the details. At each location, she left a mailbox painted black, with the red and yellow stripes, which contained the clues to each challenge.
“Amazing Race is known for the tear-away envelopes, so the first and last clue will be in tear-away envelopes,” explained Lister. The rest of the 698 envelopes were just regular envelopes as funding was an issue as she was preparing.
She had a team of friends and family whom she co-opted into this, but the concept was all hers. From July 1 to the day of the event, Lister’s home slowly filled up with Amazing Race planning boards.
There was a lot of community support around this too. Lister had help from Trent Muller at Muller Realty, Westlock Elementary School principal Pierre Ouimet, who offered access to the football field and then the bowling alley, the butcher shop, Eagle Excavating, the Pioneer Museum and many others took part.
“What a great team event. What an amazing way to connect with other people in the community, do something fun and get to know parts of our community we don’t otherwise. A little bit of a challenge, but definitely a good time,” said participant Sarah Greenfield as she was signing the waivers and getting her team shirt the day before the event.
At the end of the day, most participants were in the Pembina Room at the Westlock Inn, where Lister had organized a supper to close off the race. Pictures from the day rolled on the screen, racers sat down for drinks and tacos, and at the end of it all, winners Lindsay Lambert and Kristy Vervynck, self-described “best friends and hockey moms,” cut the cake and received the $1,000 grand prize.
The winning team “Verberts keepin it rural” of Kristy Vervynck and Lindsay Lambert finished the race in 2:14 hours even though they were delayed at the start.
Going in, participants were excited although they didn’t fully know what to expect. Those who know Lister personally might have had an inkling, but there was a consensus around the room at the end of the day that expectations had fully been exceeded.
Gemma and Rick Walker both agreed. The husband and wife team, the “Aussies,” are originally from Gold Coast, Australia. Gemma is an exchange teacher at Westlock Elementary, which is how they found their way to Westlock.
They moved here in December 2018 with their four kids and decided to say “yes” to anything that crossed their path. When the event came across their Facebook feed, they said “why not?”
Lister had them in mind too when she learned that they were only in town for the year; it was an extra boost of motivation to get the event rolling.
“We feel like winners just for getting the shirt. There was so much effort put into it … Even from the start there was so much excitement and anticipation,” said Gemma.
Husband Rick added that it was authentic and well put-together and great for community spirit.
Rick’s favourite challenge was setting up the plumbing contraption at Home Hardware, but Gemma really liked the word scramble at the Pioneer Museum — it took a while, but it felt authentic. Rick added that, even though he didn’t do it, he was happy to see a food challenge in this local re-creation.
“Coming to a small country town, there’s just so much more community spirit. This is a different mix of people,” said Gemma about the Amazing Race participants.
This was a point which also caught Lister’s interest, the variety of ages, from 20-year-olds competing with their parents or fellow students, to husband and wife teams, to best friends and co-workers.
“You can see that it will double in size for next year,” said Rick Walker.
Lister’s plan is to follow through, of course.
“The second weekend of September is mine,” she said.
