Famous navigational blunders led Columbus to land in uncharted territory, the Vikings to land in Greenland, and astronauts to land on Space Mountain. Chart the proper course to fun with today’s Groupon to Astound High Speed City Search on Saturday, June 18 from noon–5 p.m. Participants should arrive at least 10 minutes early for check-in. Choose from the following options:
• For $20, you get a race entry for one person (a $40 value).
• For $40, you get a race entry for a team of two (an $80 value).
• For $60, you get a race entry for a team of three (a $120 value).
The Astound High Speed City Search sends teams of 2–3 people across the Walnut Creek and Concord area in a competition that’s part scavenger hunt, part trivia game, part footrace, and all of five hours long. Racers take off at noon from the Pyramid Alehouse in Walnut Creek with a to-do list that requires them to work together to find clues, navigate routes, and solve puzzles that demand knowledge of anything from pop culture factoids to Justin Beiber's math homework. To advance, teammates must complete challenges such as bowling a strike or building a house of cards, all the while uncovering the city's hidden gems and heretofore-undiscovered sidewalk cracks. Maps and a round-trip BART pass to Concord are provided, but racers should bring comfortable clothes and water, carry up to $8 in cash for any small purchases they may need to make during the adventure (no purchases more than $3 are required), and bring a digital camera to complete any dares that require photo documentation.
At the end of the competition, first place winners collect a $300 cash prize, second place takes home $200, and the top 25 teams become eligible to participate in the CitySolve National Championship Race in Las Vegas for a chance to compete against the nation’s top cluehounds for a grand prize of $5,000. All participants get a T-shirt, swag bag, and karma as warm and fuzzy as a freshly incubated baby chick, since 30% of all proceeds from the race will go to the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.
Participants must compete in teams of 2–3 people and pick up an information packet at the Astound retail store in Concord on Thursday, June 16 or Friday, June 17 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Groupon Says
The Groupon Guide to: School Skills
Before children can advance to the next grade in school, they must possess certain skills necessary for increasing academic success. Here are the skills your child needs before beginning the next level of their K–12 education:
Kindergarten: Familiarity with the alphabet's first (or "beginner's") half
First Grade: Ability to fake an understanding nod when difficult concepts arise
Second Grade: Readiness for spelling bees and their more dangerous cousins, spelling wasps
Third Grade: Can design and carve their own multiplication table
Fourth Grade: No longer satisfied by anecdotal evidence of cooties, demands to see empirical proof
Fifth Grade: Can judge a book by its cover
Sixth Grade: Feels an adult-like superiority over younger elementary students, derived mainly from shoebox-diorama proficiency
Seventh Grade: Recognizes that rest-of-life coolness is determined on the first day of middle school
Eighth Grade: Expertise in Hollywood-caliber makeup effects to simulate outward signs of puberty
Ninth Grade: Total rejection of parents, society, sellouts, poseurs, un-raged-against machines, traditional values, book learning, mall curfews, capitalism, know-it-alls, know-a-bits, know-nothings, playing a full game of Mousetrap instead of just building the mousetrap and watching that, anyone who hasn't seen The Matrix, anyone who has seen The Matrix, and most of their friends from middle school
10th Grade: Should be able to read by now
11th Grade: Prepares for prom by holding hundreds of practice proms in the backyard, starring dozens of neighborhood dogs in tuxedos
12th Grade: Must be a complete and functioning adult
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