Faces and Places July 8: Langley race an amazingly fun for teams

Langley’s own Amazing Race style adventure this spring proved a challenge for the participants.

Langley resident Lora-Lynne Hanley organized the event just for fun, taking contestants to all corners of Langley.

Teams started out at the historic Five Corners in Murrayville.

“I hid their first clue in their cars,” she explained.

It didn’t take long for them to find their clues and off they went (no speeding allowed) to Langley Centennial Museum.

It took a few tries for teams to find all the answers to the 10 questions they were given, and some people got a little frustrated. But they all got through it, with team Limey finishing well ahead of the others.

Next stop – Trinity Western University, were teams found it very challenging to climb all the way to the top of the vertical playground. This course is about 75 feet in the air and is made up of ropes, long boards, suspended tires and a platform to sit on at the very top.

“Because it is only attached with ropes and wires, it moves around a lot,” she said.

Everyone wanted to give up about half way, but they all managed to make it to the top.

Here, team Frenemies which was in last place managed to pull ahead to second place. But team Limey was still ahead.

Challenge number three was at the Greater Vancouver Zoo. Here teams had to find the station where they were to make a meal for a baboon. There was grain, fruits and vegetables to chop up to the correct size and weight amount.

When they thought they had the right amount, they could put the food on the scale and were either told if they were correct or not. No one knew if they had too much or too little. Team Frenemies managed to take the lead and off they went.

Backyard Vineyards was the next stop where teams were given the names, sweetness rating and description of five wines. They had to match the information to the correct wine.

“It was very good wine. Some teams even took a little extra time to buy a bottle for later,” Hanley said.

The next stop represented the Langley Good Times Cruise-In. Lordco is one the main sponsors for that event, and they were willing to let teams use their store. Here teams had to find five car-related items for approval. It’s harder to find the correct light bulb when there is a whole wall of them to go through.

After that contest Frenemies remained in the lead.

The next challenge was new for some contestants.

“Some people had never been on a horse before, so this was very fun for them,” she said.

One team even stayed a little longer then they needed just for the experience.

Once teams got their horse through the course, one person had to get into a wheel-barrel while the other had to put on a blindfold and push the wheelbarrel through another course. The person in the wheelbarrel had to give good directions or else they might end up in a ditch.

Teams next arrived at the North Valley Entrance to Campbell Valley Park to find someone who would give them hints as to where the finish line was hidden in the park.

On the clues that teams were given, there was the crest for either the Township of Langley, or the City of Langley, showing where the challenge was that they were about to accomplish. The three questions they were asked were based on these. How many questions they got right would be how many clues they would get.

Frenemies was the winning team. Limey had a good lead at first but they came in second with Beauty and the Beast coming in third.

Steve Ferguson, a council member for the Township, was at the finish line to congratulate the teams as they arrived. Old Spaghetti Factory donated a $40 gift card, the Greater Vancouver Zoo donated a family pass and Backyard Vineyard donated a wine tour package for the first place prize. Hanley put in movie passes, bringing the prize to over $225 in value.

“Everyone fully enjoyed their tour of Langley, and all agred that if I did this again, they would definitely be there,” Hanley said. “A few people who were not able to participate were so jealous and said they would make sure they were available for next time. The best part for everyone was getting to do things that they either had never done before, or things that you would normally not be able to do.”