Thirty-nine teams of five raced around downtown Phoenix Saturday with shopping carts, making various stops to perform challenges like tightrope walking and bobbing for sardines. The teams were competing in the fourth annual Phoenix “Idiotarod,” a tradition practiced in cities like San Francisco and New York. The teams were given a list of places and at each destination had to complete a challenge or make a pit stop, usually involving drinking.
Several teams were made up of ASU students and alumni and all teams were themed.
STARTING LINE:
Bikini Lounge
Teams arrived, checked in and received “Idiotarod” maps and airplane-sized bottles of alcohol. One team was dressed in 18th-century gear, including intermedia arts senior Kyle McMorris who wore burgundy tights.
“We’re just here to have fun and we really don’t expect to win,” he said. “It should just be a fun day.”
Organizer Chris Lykins said the event was mostly underground and participants found out by word of mouth.
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CHALLENGE ONE:
Shop Devious
Chaos ensued when teams were told they could start. Only the teams closest to the volunteers were able to hear instructions, while the other teams were left behind before realizing the race had begun.
The first challenge was to drink warm, cheap beer, which was supplied in front of Shop Devious.
PIT STOP ONE:
Oaxaca
Teams reached the Oaxaca Restaurante y Cantina parking lot and began taking shots that were handed out from a van. At pit stops, each team had to keep track of when they arrived and could not leave until 20 minutes later.
A team called “Jamaican Me Crazy” sustained an injury between stops one and two.
“Our bobsled rider has already suffered a bruised nose,” sustainability junior Joe Reyes said.
Reyes said his team’s cart hit a rut causing their teammate, Stefanie Puglin, to hit her face against the cart.
“There’s no crying in bobsledding and she’s tough as nails,” he said, while Puglin stood behind him touching her nose tentatively.
Phoenix police Lt. Patrick Tortorici also showed up at the pit stop, saying the department received phone calls from concerned citizens who saw teams running in the street.
“We didn’t know this was going on, but now that we do, we just want everyone to be safe,” he said. “My sole concern is safety.”
CHALLENGE TWO:
Mystery Spot
The Mystery Spot was a vacant lot on North Third Avenue. Teams were told to pick one member to walk across a tightrope with numbers marked on the ground. Whichever number was closest to where the team landed was the number of beers the team had to “chug.”
“Right now we’re having some serious competition with the team dressed like chickens,” said Heidi Durden, a member of Jamaican Me Crazy. “Those chickens have seriously been a thorn in our side.”
Another member of Jamaican Me Crazy had lost his driver’s license between the first two stops and couldn’t drink the rest of the event.
PIT STOP THREE:
Turf Accountant
Many teams abandoned their carts to go inside the bar to drink; other teams took the opportunity to sabotage the competition.
Last year, one team used dog feces to sabotage other teams’ carts, but the members of Jamaican Me Crazy said that wasn’t the worst possibility.
“One team is using expanding foam for insulation, which is not eco-friendly, by the way,” said sustainability junior Chris Black. “Luckily one of the teams duct-taped the wheels of the cart that belongs to the chickens, so I think they are going to be here a while.”
FINISH LINE
ASU graduate Christina Mesiti said she will participate again next year and is planning more sabotage.
“[One team member] said no one would bother with us because we weren’t really competitive and we looked too proper,” she said. “Clearly that was the wrong attitude. Next year we’re coming back with weapons.”
One organizer, Chris Lykins, announced the overall winner was a team of ninjas.
“But really, they cheated,” he said. “There were 10 of them dressed alike and they split up the list of stops.”
The best part was that the police were so cooperative and even found a wallet of a participant and drove to the finish line to return it, he said.
“It was really great that everyone seemed to have the same goal, which was to have fun and not get hurt,” he said.
Reach the reporter at sheydt@asu.edu
