If you haven’t heard of CBS’s show “The Amazing Race,” you can experience CWU’s own version of it up close and personal. On May 10, teams of two will compete against each other to be CWU’s amazing race champions. With 20 challenges on and off campus, the duos will have to work together to be efficient and gain the most points by completing the challenges. Registration for the race begins at the beginning of spring quarter.

Joanne Perez, assistant director of the Center for Leadership and Community Engagement (CLCE), led the event from 2010-2018. She explains they got their inspiration from the Amazing Race TV show and that it helps students practice their leadership skills. The teams need to work together to solve riddles that will get them to their destination to complete a challenge and acquire the next clue. With 10 challenges on campus and 10 off, it will likely take the participants to parts of Ellensburg they haven’t been.

“It’s a way to bridge the gap between our Central community from our downtown community,” Perez said.

Even though half of the challenges are off campus, teams are not allowed to use wheeled vehicles.

Gaining points by completing challenges is the way to win, but the efficiency with which teams complete the challenges can be the game changer. At the end of the day, if the top two teams come back with the same amount of points, the winner will be decided by who got back first. Teams need to be cautious of not flying through the challenges though. If a team doesn’t complete a challenge correctly or skips a challenge, then they do not get full points. If one team has more points than everyone else, it doesn’t matter how long it takes them. Each team is allowed only one skip for the day.

Ramsey Fruean, student program leader of the event from CLCE, explained some of the ideas for challenges.

A popular challenge that was done in past years was a wing challenge at Ellensburg’s Wing Central. Teams were challenged to eat the “hell wing,” the hottest wing on the menu. If participants struggle with that obstacle, they have the option to use their skip.

Another challenge would be ROTC’s challenge course. This would test participants’ athletic ability by making them weave their way through a ropes course at an elevated height.

A new pit stop Fruean would like to test out is a singing challenge, possibly a duet like karaoke or a high-note challenge between partners.

The CLCE’s goal is to provide a wide variety of obstacles for the teams to become more familiar with and explore new parts of Ellensburg they haven’t experienced.

“There are so many things we could possibly do, I want to do a preview of what teams would think about it,” Fruean said.

Teams will be competing for a trophy and bragging rights. In previous years, the prize was a $500 waiver provided by the enrollment management department. After new leadership came in, the waiver was removed and used for other purposes.

Participants and volunteers are expected to get event t-shirts while the winners get a trophy, and the runner-ups will get ribbons. Contact CLCE in SURC 256 to register.