Updates!

Is this a version of "Hop in the name of love"?

It's been a wild week at Iditarod HQ and we are loving it!

Some updates for those who are joining us...

 

Race registration ends on Friday, March 1st at noon.

We will release the starting line location after registration closes at noon.

The Iditarod starts at 10:00 AM Saturday, March 2nd.  Teams can sign in starting at 9:00 AM.  Judging for "Best Cart / Costumes" will take place at 9:45 AM.

 

We will have maps for spectators at the registration table. Please take one and not the whole stack....and car pool to see the events! :)

 

 

This event is also a mobile food drive! Teams will have to have 25 lbs of food in their carts when they cross the finish line.

 

If spectators want to bring food for the Taylorsville Food Pantry we will have a box for donations!

 

 

One last note: this event has no set course. The teams will get their maps the morning of the event and each will create their own route. They take their chances with each challenge location and can adjust their strategy along the way. This event is made for participation!

 

Call, text, or email if you have questions!

taylorsvilleiditarod@gmail.com or

Rhetta at 801-915-9519

(I likely won't hear my phone very well Sat. am....just so you know!)

Mayhem, Trickery, Sabotage, and all out Fun!

Participating in an Iditarod is already fun, but add in some friendly sabotage and it's even better! However...there are rules to sabotage. 

Teams can delay other teams for a few minutes with their tricks, but you cannot put a team out of commission or cause them to lose 5 or more minutes. You cannot cause them injury. You cannot make them frustrated to the point of crying. You cannot shoot them with squirt guns full of hot sauce. If these things happen we reserve the right to apply the "cone of shame" to all your "dogs". We found some at the pet store and tried them on...we looked pretty weird!

We had a good game of "capture the flag" going on during last years race which was OK until the cart decorations started taking the brunt of some of the fun. Some teams put a lot of work into their carts so try not to damage their creations and they won't damage yours!

We did hear about (and have some photo proof) of wonderful sabotage! We had a fake Security team last year that did cart inspections. AWESOME! We had a group out taking extensive surveys. SWEET! We had belly-crawling past parked cars to zip-tie some carts to posts, and we had gold W's showing up in the strangest places! It was a delightful display of creativity and enthusiasm!

We had a question this year about spectators doing sabotage. Here is our reply:  

We want teams to be comfortable in the event and not worried at every corner or while stopped at every challenge. Teams can sabotage teams, and spectators can spectate (is that a word?). If you want in on all the fun get a team together and come play! 

If you have a question about sabotage please comment or send us an email. It certainly is not required or expected, but if well done and friendly it is entertaining to all!

Scoring and Awards :)

When teams race away from the start line the fun begins....

Team Warrior's bribed the mayor for an early start! Tricky!

We position Ham Radio operators around the course and at the challenge locations. As each team competes and gets their scores the Ham Radio frequencies start to buzz with numbers, call signs, and fun chatter. Scores are relayed back to the start/finish line and are being recorded through the whole event.

This also helps if we notice a team has not competed in a bit...so we start tracking them to make sure they aren't lost, or napping, or stopping for burgers somewhere!

The numbers come in to our "data dog" who compares them against the score cards that are brought back to the finish line from all the challenges.

The awards this year are:

Best Cart / Costume - This award is voted on by all at the start line at 9:45 AM. We hand out papers and everyone writes their favorite cart # on it. We tally those results while teams are racing.

Most Points - This awards is a culmination of the totals from all the challenge locations.

Most Enthusiastic - There is an "enthusiasm" category at each challenge, so this is the highest scoring team for that category.

Fastest Time - The first team to come through the finish line...pretty straight forward!

Dead Last - This goes to the team that is last across the finish line!

Each award has it's own strategy...


The point of the game is to HAVE FUN!!

See you in one week!

We love our Sponsors!

We love to promote businesses in this event and we love having businesses promote us!

The City of Taylorsville trusted us when we brought this event to them. For that we are grateful! They have jumped on board each year to make sure we have the support we need, and they come out and join in the fun on race day. We love this city!

Back for the 3rd year is 'Bout Time Pub and Grub! This crowd knows how to have fun and they are awesome supporters of this event. If you get hungry swing past the Taylorsville location and try the garlic burger (or the scotch eggs, or the Irish nachos)...YUM!

We are thrilled to receive support again from Crown Trophy! Our shopping cart trophies are AWESOME! Nate and Gayle are wonderful supporters of community events and they make gorgeous trophies and awards.

Our local YMCA is an amazing place for kids AND families! They help us and we help them! The YMCA staff sponsors a challenge location each year and they put 1-2 teams in to the event, and we donate our proceeds to their Healthy Kids Day. Pretty sweet combo if you ask us!


We are excited to welcome some new sponsors to the fun this year:

Scotch Rental Properties, LLC

All Occasion Photobooths

The Drum Bus

and more are coming..... :)

If you want to add your business to this list send us an email at taylorsvilleiditarod@gmail.com

For those who are new to this event...

(this is a repost to explain the event!)


You've seen these posts and wondered....

You've lurked (we do love lurkers!)

Your curiosity gets the best of you.

Well, this is how it works -
 

1 - You gather 4 buddies (5 people to a team) and sign up on the registration page

2 - Figure out some awesome costume and cart decoration ideas

3 - Find a shopping cart that is lost and needs an adventure. Bring it home with you to try out some decorating ideas, lube it's wheels and get it ready for an amazing event!

4 - Watch your email for the starting location which will be sent out 1-2 days before the event

5 - Notify all your fans and families. We will have a map for spectators to know where to go this year. All good teams need a loud cheering section!

6 - Show up before 10 AM on March 2nd to sign in and get your map. Your team will be given a number to secure to your cart. Keep track of your map!

7 - Go find the challenge locations, compete, commit random acts of sabotage, have fun, be enthusiastic, and CROSS ALL MAJOR ROADS ON THE CROSSWALKS! Dance, laugh, be crazy and have fun!

8 - Once you have hit all 5 challenge locations, return to the finish line with your 25 lbs of donated food and join us for a party! We'll announce the winners and hand out prizes. They rock!

Bribery of the judges is accepted. It likely will not change your score - but we reserve the right to be totally impressed with your efforts! We just may make an award for the best bribes!

We're 3 1/2 weeks away from an unforgettable event! Sign up!

The proceeds from this event go towards a Healthy Kids Day at the YMCA, and the food goes to our Taylorsville Food Pantry. Help us help others!

Required: 25 lbs of awesomeness.

Urban Iditarods are not new...but they each seem to have their own purpose in existing. It makes the event unique to each city and community and gives it some flair!

We like flair. Oh, do we ever!

We also like flattery, bribes (anything peanut butter), and laughter.

Pure laughter makes our day.

In organizing this event we decided to donate the proceeds to organizations that we believe in and that fit with our focus of this event -

Our first focus is to promote physical activity, so we figured it was natural to donate proceeds to our local YMCA's Healthy Kids Day. Our YMCA is amazing already, but to host a kids day to promote fun activities and try new snacks is a very worthwhile event! We are delighted to support kids and their families in health!

Second, our community food pantry shelves are bare. Food pantries are generally stocked from the central Food Bank but it's not the only way to fill the shelves! Communities can take donations directly to the pantry which can be much easier!

Our community gardens donate fresh produce through the summer to our food pantry - when it's open - which it has not been because there is not enough food.

See the problem?

 

This year we are adopting a practice from Chicago's Chiditarod event.

Each team is required to cross the finish line with 25 lbs of food. 

(Chiditarod teams have a 55 lb requirement - WOW!

They also had over 150 teams in their event last year. Again - WOW!) 

How you get the food into your cart is up to you. Collect it along the way? Pull it out of your trunk just before the finish line? Have your cheering section bring it to you? It's up to you. Be creative! We can recommend that canned goods will be easier than glass items or bags of flour that may get a hole.

 

Cans = good. Holes = not good.

(Glad we got that settled)

Any questions? Email us. If you are wondering, it's likely someone else is, too!

ONE Month to go!

It's 28 days (and a few random hours and minutes) to race day.

We have settled on our start/finish line - and we're not telling you where! As usual, we will email that TOP SECRET info to you the day before the event. Make sure you're getting the Facebook feeds so you get all updates for the event. We don't want you to miss a single detail!

If you're looking for awesome costume and cart ideas check out the Chiditarod Facebook page! Their teams are creative and wild but make sure you check our site for our rules before you show up on race day.

We have heard that Portland cancelled their event this year. Sad dogs. It takes a lot of planning to pull off this event and we hope any Oregon pups that want to play will consider joining us.

As a quick suggestion - If you can convince your boss to sponsor this event ($100 or more) you can get a team in FOR FREE! Call it Corporate Team Building? Count it as work hours? Promote your business on a shopping cart so drivers and residents can see how cool you are? Make it fun and make it memorable!

One last note...we updated our domain name so you can find us at

www.TaylorsvilleUrbanIditarod.com
OR
www.TaylorsvilleUrbanIditarod.blogspot.com

If you have questions send us an email at TaylorsvilleIditarod@gmail.com

SEE YOU SOON!