bondage and discipline

The date draws near and in order to maximise your (currently rather low) chances of whipping the asses of last year's champions you will need to pay close attention to the following:

The race will commence at 2 pm this Saturday in Darling Harbour (the place where frocks meet woks or some such...) on the corner of the harbour outside the Exhibition Centre. Please arrive at least 10 minutes before 2pm so that you can have the benefit of the briefing. If you would like to meet us at our place and walk down with us, we will be leaving our house at 1.30pm (please email me (Chris) directly if this is your preference).

Even if you think we already have your mobile number, please send a text message to both Paul (0412 220 165) and Chris (0410 400 202) with your name in it immediately after you have read this blog entry - it would be horrible if we didn't have a means of texting you clues!

Things to note:

*While this year we have attempted to correct the balance between brawn and brains, we still advise that you wear clothes you can run in and DO NOT wear thongs.

*Similarly to last year, you will need at least one mobile phone and one digital camera per team (please email me directly if you need me to chase one down for you).

*We expect the race to take about 3 - 4 hours.

And now the rules....

*You must wear your allocated team colours.
*At the briefing you will be issued with a map detailing the parameters of the race and you must stay within these confines when finding the answers to the clues.
*Spending money per team is $50. You must not spend more than $50 to complete the race. The race has been set up so that it is possible to complete within this limit.
*You must not use weekly passes, travel 10s, student cards (this means you IVAN!!!) or other discount cards to get around. You may, however, bargain etc but you are not permitted to use external benefits to compete.
*You must not use your mobiles to contact friends/family outside the race for the assistance.
*Blackberries and other wireless internet devices (Jamie this includes your phone) are banned from functioning in anything other than phone mode. Obviously this is an honesty system so if you or we think you can't be trusted we will confiscate your device (and your mobile phone as well).
*At times during the race you will be asked to photograph your answers to clues as proof you have been there. Please ensure that at least one team member is visible in the photo (unless specified in the clue). Photos will be audited by us.
*If a method of transport is specified in a clue, you must use that transport.
*You must keep receipts for all expenditures during the race (where humanly possible). Ticket stubs do count as receipts.
*Access to internet through sneaky corporate lawyer access cards (or similar) is banned. But you may use the internet by alternative means.

Helpful hints
You will not be asked to do anything illegal. As was the case last year, you can use your surroundings for assistance - forget all you learnt in stranger danger! You can also spend money outside the $50 for food and beverages if you want but not for taxies or other luxuries.

Each team will also have "helping hand" which basically means that once during the race if you get stuck you can choose to call Paul or me for help and you will suffer no penalty.

A fast forward will be available at some point during the race.

You should be on the look out for subtle clues from us over the next few days, use these as practice and to get used to our (brillliant) thinking - we will not respond to questions asking us to elaborate on said clues (Josh, you welk, this means you!).

Basically, you will be asked to think laterally and to use your resources and most of all to have fun!!!!

Please email me (Chris) if you have any questions and I will circulate answers.

Thank you for reading to the bottom of this post!
We're looking forward to seeing you on Saturday!

It will help if you're in the mood to take a gamble.