City Chase World Championship 2008 - Marrakech

CITY CHASE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008 Morocco Marrakech

Place Jama El Fna - Marrakech

Where it all began This was a phone call that took me much further than I could have ever dreamt of. Juggling in between planes, deadlines, meetings and presentations, 5 days before the 2008 City Chase Hong Kong, I wasn’t even supposed to be in town. So, when I confirmed with Damien that I would be back on time for the Chase, we still had no idea that this race will change our lives! Indeed, Damien and I are not especially great athletes nor competitors and had only registered for City Chase for the blazing fun of it! Amongst the 320 teams gathered on top of Victoria Peak on this bright morning we looked rather anonymous. It is an exhilarating moment to be at the starting line of a race, meeting so many competitors, and feeling the adrenaline kick in. The idea was to have some good old fun running around like madmen in the streets of the phenomenal city that is HK. Yet, at the back of our minds we wanted to achieve a good result. Having participated in the previous and first City Chase Hong Kong we knew what to expect. Hum, Sorry, let me re-phrase, we had NO idea what to expect, but for sure it would be fun, daring, exhausting and memorable…

Hong Kong Rules Let me run you through the basic rules of City Chase, which is after all, the largest treasure hunt in the world! The City Chase is a unique urban adventure that requires participants to exhibit teamwork, resourcefulness, determination and the ability to make decisions on the go as they search for Chase Point challenges scattered in unknown locations throughout the city. The challenges are designed to test mind, body and spirit. To conquer this urban event, teams of two will run, walk and use public transport to navigate their way through the city. At the “go” you are given a list of 25 clues leading to locations in Hong Kong. Once you arrive at a Chase Point you are to complete a challenge that could consist of anything that went through the heads of the crazy organizers the day they decided to put this race together. The first team to come back at the top of Victoria Peak with 10 completed check points wins.

The Hong Kong Race Are you ready? GO! Clearly all the teams had the same idea in mind, get as fast as possible to the Peak Tram to enjoy a quick ride down town. Packed like sardines in a box we now had the single most important task of the day in front of us: Deciphering the clues during the ride. Having lived in Hong Kong for the past 3 or 4 years we had a pretty good grip over the city and were confident to work out most of the enigmas in no time. But it proved to be trickier than it looked as many times we were misled to incorrect locations. However by the time we reached the city centre we had worked out our route plan and we started running through the streets of Central, Tsim Sha Tsui, Wanchai, Causeway Bay then back to Central and finally to Victoria Peak. The run was intense and the 10 challenges all took us by surprise. In no particular order, we had to dance with strangers, play with snakes and worms, collect money for charity, get waxed (it still hurts!), go down to the gym and drink-up a few shots, write a poem in Chinese, ask a stranger to eat a red hot chili, scale a 30m rock climbing wall and abseil it down and much more! There’s a strange feeling of unknown in the race. First of all there is no defined race course, secondly we felt slightly above the law and the crowd, thirdly you have to make split second decisions all the time and keep pushing further your limits without ever knowing if you’re in the lead, smack bang in the middle or last in the pack. During City Chase each participants experience is unique but every one surely enjoyed the day!

Team Tag Heuer – EyeWear Winner of the City Chase Hong Kong - 2008 2 tickets to Marrakech In a time of 3h15m we were back at the finish line! Exhausted we couldn’t see any other pink jerseys around … did it mean that we won?? Did it mean that we were in the CITYCHASE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS …? No! Another team had crossed the line before us, they beat us by just a few short minutes. They were none other than last years City Chase Hong Kong winners and were ranked 4th in the previous world championships. We were satisfied, but a sour taste of disappointment lingered. “They can’t make it” someone announced to us. “They are not sure yet, they have until Monday to confirm” someone else mentioned. So were we to represent HK at the finals? The answer would only come in the late hours of the following Tuesday. It came as deliverance after 3 long and stressful days. Office life was overwhelming and we tried to avoid distracting ourselves with thoughts of Marrakesh, yet that proved extremely difficult,… our minds continued to flutter between dreams and reality. But finally THE call came through..and YES we were to represent Hong Kong at the world championship! The pride of a life time!

Salaam Alaykum On a journey that was long enough to take us to the ends of the earth we safely landed in the charming and magical country of Morocco, in the mystic and beautiful city of Marrakech. The next morning when we proudly and shyly walked into the conference room we started to realize that something wasn’t right. We must be dreaming … How come, Damien and I were sitting in a conference room next to 22 great athletes including Lahcen Ahansal, the 10 time winner of the ‘Marathon des Sables’, also known as the hardest of all races! Well the reason came later in a very clear way, City Chase is more than a race, it’s an adventure. It’s more than a destination, it is a journey. It’s not only physical, it is intellectual, daring and challenging. On top of all that you have to add fun, disappointments, pain, drama, friendship, accidents, nerves, unforgettable moments … …and Unforgettable encounters. Obviously the people of Morocco hold the first place in everyone’s hearts for their smiles, hospitality, kindness and their very confusing sense of orientation. Next to them come our fellow competitors, whom we can now call friends. Unfortunately the following few lines will not properly give justice to their amazing personality, but I will try to let you see them as I, we, had the privilege to discover them. Natural, fun, competitive, sad, angry, hungry, comical, tired, cheeky, beautiful, all different, all unique and yet all scared in the few hours preceding the start. At 6pm, all teams sat in to listen to the rules and regulations of the race. To be honest, at this moment very few of us knew what was going to happen and some of us, including me, weren’t even sure how the game was played. Simple questions such as how to win, how time was recorded and how the event would run was a blur for most of us. Nick, the race organizer smiled and replied that in due time the answers would come by themselves but that for the time being he had only 5 min to finish the briefing. 5 minutes before the beginning of the race! I looked at Damien: Why were we the only team still wearing our flipflops. Having a quick glance at the other teams, we could see their hearts beating, their hands fidgeting, their legs shaking. The Chase was almost on and we were petrified and furious at ourselves for not being ready. From the mass of questions that were shot in from every direction, one caught Nick’s attention: Damien & Adrien – Team Hong Kong Will some teams be eliminated? Indeed the race was not going to be a walk in the park, but it was clear now that it would become a live and die race between every Chase Point. Nick stood up and started to count down. We were still there, all looking at each other, not even knowing where to run to by the time he would reach 0. Drops of sweat were running down our foreheads while sitting in the acclimatized meeting room of the hotel. Eventually Nick broke it to us: “I am playing with you!” “Be in your rooms no later than 11.30pm” was the last sentence that came out of his twisted smirk.

Tannerie It was by then that we fell asleep. Hitting the deep-sleep hours we could barely distinguish the sound of a bell … it can’t be it, not now, not at 1.30am, not with just 2 hours of sleep and 8hours of jetlag. “Go back to sleep” Damien said. I switched off the lights but couldn’t sleep, I wasn’t sure. I decided to go and have a look outside, to see if this was just a bad dream or the tough reality … It was in the middle. Adrenaline ran all through my body when I saw the race organizer giving out what seemed to be the first clue! Luckily for all of us, it wasn’t. But none of us went back to sleep properly after that, everyone’s heart beat approaching 120bpm lying in their beds. So it all started the next morning in “Garden La Menara”. And it all started fast and furiously with the first team elimination just around the corner… Nick, proudly dominating the crowd on top of his camel, unleashed the beasts when he threw at us the basket containing the first clue. James of Team Canada, being

the double City Chase world championship title holder, had anticipated Nick’s move and was the first on the clue and very fairly, read it out-load finishing with a simple: ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Luck’. All teams ran side by side towards “La Medina” (the traditional city) and “Place Jama El Fna” (Marrakech central place) from where the “Souk” starts. Marrakech’s Souks are world famous for being an amazement for everyone venturing inside. It probably is one of the largest labyrinths existing on the planet. Smack bang in the middle of it, we ran down every alleyway we could see, one after the other… With no idea where it would lead us… Focusing only on the clue given so far: “La Tannerie”. Indeed the first clue mentioned this simple name. I believe all teams arrived within minutes of each other and started what would for long remain in our memories as one of the least enjoyable challenges. The challenge consisted on plunging knees and shoulders deep into a sea of pigeon shit! You would have never thought that bird shit would have some leather treating virtues, would you? But it stopped no-one digging deeper and deeper for the 10 goat skins that were resting at the bottom of the pools and eventually the second clue. Then it took us all by surprise, as a shock to see that the local Moroccan team could not find the clue. It has to be there! However, after 15 long minutes of birdshit digging they had to come to a stinking truth… they were the first team to be eliminated. Leaving 11 teams warned and stressed: wondering when and who would be next?

The blue door I suppose, somehow, this little bit of added pressure helped us survive our own suffocating stench. Less than 1 hour into the race, we already smelled terribly bad! For that reason the Hamman was most welcomed by all and helped us to relax, refresh and experience hands-on a little bit more of traditional Moroccan culture. At this moment we were all pretty convinced that the Moroccan way of life was enjoyable having developed a real ‘savoir-vivre’. Oh, boy, that thought was going to receive a fierce challenge at our next Chase Point. We first had to find it, which also proved to be difficult for many reasons. Firstly, we only had the picture of a blue door, no name, no address, nothing! Secondly, we HAD nothing. No money, no map, no drinks, no food, no compass … nothing. I guess I have forgotten to mention that we were stripped of anything that could possibly come in handy in during the race. What we were left with was 1 backpack per team to carry the clothes that we may possibly need over the next 3 days and that was it. So, where were we, oh, right… we had the picture of a door in the middle of a labyrinth. You should have seen the 11 teams running in every possible direction, confident and always convinced that they knew where to go. Ideally, the scene should be fast forwarded and seen from the sky for your enjoyment. Teams teaming up together running in one direction, then coming back to their initial position, then teaming up with another team, and then another one, then again back to the Hamman, then going to the left, coming back from the right, running forward, racing backward, the Americans thought they knew where it was, so did the Italians, but they both ran in opposite directions!?! Team Asia was created with the alliance of HK and Singapore only to last until Singapore decided to follow Portugal leaving HK to trust England to have the right lead. Team Spain was the fastest to go to one place and return on their feet. Team France, in all the confusion tried to bargain for a flying carpet to get to the mysterious door. Then randomly we asked a local shopkeeper, and immediately we understood from the sparkle in his eyes that he knew exactly which restaurant the door belonged to and miraculously we got there first. As predicted, the rest of the teams, arrived within minutes of each other from every possible direction. I believe Team Ireland even came in using the back door! Seated and hungry in anticipation in the homey restaurant, We would have been satisfied to be refueled with the simplest of Moroccan cuisine. Yet we had the privilege to be served first and the biggest portion of the most anticipated Moroccan delicacy. A goat head! A GOAT HEAD!!!

A goat head I would like to use Nicky’s words on this one: “the single most difficult Chase Point ever!” and Nicky’s done 12 races and the 2 previous World Championships… Awful! It’s all about open-mindedness. I wanted to respect that this is feast very much appreciated by some, but … Close your eyes, imagine you’re walking on a nice Sunday afternoon out in the countryside. The sun is shining, you are even singing alone, you see a cow and a horse on a side, there is bird flying around and a group of sheep joyfully eating grass … you get closer, you touch the sheep’s wool, you look at him straight in the eyes. I close my eyes, and I swallowed… the left eye, his left eye… I don’t remember chewing but all I can remember, and all that I will always remember is that my insides were inside out, that my stomach was refusing the globe, I was about to puke! And I still had an ear and half of the tongue to go through, without mentioning the skin, the fat, more skin, more fat… It was becoming physiologically difficult to eat anymore! Hands deep we broke the skull in two in order to make sure that Damien and I would equally share the burden. Damien still had his eye to eat, lick, chew and swallow. The cartilage of the ears didn’t help my stomach and if it weren’t for all the water I guzzled down, I would have simply vomited on my self. I was pale, feeling dizzy and the skull was still to be licking cleaned. Having seen the Spanish team fly away after devouring their feast, we bravely finished off our Everest and gladly received our next clue: a foot long palm-tree.

Palm trees, snakes and belly dancing It was a long and painful 45min run to “La Palmeraie”. Not so much the mid-day heat and having to carry a small palm-tree, or even finding our way around… but having to run with sheep’s eyes bouncing around in our stomachs, that was definitely not part of our holiday fantasy! Again Team Asia partnered up to follow from a distance teams Spain and Portugal. At our destination we had the pleasant surprise to become a gardener and plant our own palm-tree. An unusual task that was appreciated until the next clue was givenout: Place Jama El Fna! Another 45min run backward. This time we were chasing team Ireland and team Canada until we all hopped on the same public transport. We had great hopes that the charming smiles of Ian and Diarmaid or the diplomatic approach of James would convince the bus driver to let us go free of charge. Gentlemen we failed! The good fortune wasn’t with us but this would soon change because our next challenge was to show-off our street performing skills to dazzle locals and tourist with our talents. Juggling, belly dancing and miming were on the menu. So we found ourselves exchanging our clothes for those of belly dancers, only to exhibit our lack of talent to a crowd that wasn’t sure if they had to laugh or pity us. Once our basket was filled with 100 dinars it was time to spice up the day and discover another Moroccan specialty, snake charming. I guided Damien blindfolded to reach our next clue at the bottom of a snake filled aquarium. He wouldn’t believe me when I promised that they were all small and cute… and he was damn right! With 11 teams of 2 and 5 taxis of 4 we quickly worked out that the last one would no longer enjoy the ride… and it was a close one! Team England, as true gentlemen, helped the lovely team France to their taxi just before Eric and Martin, Team USA arrived at the taxi stand! Gutted! The 2 hour ride to the coastal city of Essaouira followed by a night spent under the renowned Moroccan hospitality was a perfect way to conclude day 1. It was also a great way to get to know Team Australia, Chris and Dave, and to remember, Lahcen, Hafida, Eric and Martin that had been cut out of the chase.

Essaouira La Belle 6am, all teams on the old fortification of the harbor, dominating the city were ready to start the flag hunt! Flags were hidden on the roof tops of marvelous Essaouira and we had to find them. It was a beautiful and sensational feeling to run in the early morning in the empty streets of the traditional city. Another long-lasting memory! Rappelling down from the hotel roof top or cutting a fish was nothing compared to the following blindfolded chariot race… that was some hot fun! Left, right, 2 meters straight, stop, left/no right, turn 90*/no 180*, STOP!! Boom one wall, Boom a second wall… Suddenly we started to hear Nuno screaming words of motivation to Paulo of team Portugal. They were right behind us. The adrenaline was catching up, I started accelerating. It was exciting and the voice of Nuno motivated me as much as it put pressure on Paulo. Out of nowhere Damien asked to stop for we had arrived at the next Chase Point. From the painful screamed that followed and the Portuguese rant thrown in the air by Paulo, we understood that Nuno didn’t stop in time and drove Paulo straight into our chariot at full speed! If you asked Nadia, Clemantine, Ian or Diarmaid the reasons of their elimination, they would arguably answer that the reason was threefold. For when you have 10 teams embarking on a camel race, followed by a quad race, ending up with an 8 goat hunt, one can very easily calculate that there will not be enough goats for all… Pressure? Did any one say pressure … On your mark, ready, YALLAH!

The 3 legged race Camel racing in the desert is an art. An art that none of us was mastering. Big and small Davide from Italy and Ben and James from England were clearly enjoying the ride while Clemantine’s camel decided to joined his friends at the front and started to gain speed. Inevitably, what had to happen happened and Clemantine ended the dream of Team France, 4 meters lower, on her back, winded. She lay on the sand, far away from the goat that would have saved her! Fortunately, it was just a bad fall and she would recover in the following days. The camel ridding race was touching towards the end when we had in sight the 4 wheeled quads. But surprisingly enough not a single team arrived together and for some reasons we all left for the second leg of the race at the same time. The sand dunes of the Moroccan desert were up to the test and didn’t fail. The engines were pushed to their limits. However nature has its own way and Team Ireland suffered the consequences of it full wrath. Not having chosen the easiest way around, they found themselves unable to drive up a monster sand dune. Slowly their quad died on them at the bottom of a sand dune… tough luck! But Irishmen, know that you acted as gentlemen and that we all appreciated you for that!

The killing of a goat So we are down to 8 teams at the back of a pick-up truck with our goats and the strange feeling that we may very well have to taste the second Moroccan delicacy: Goat’s balls! Surely enough we were heading to a local cooperative where families lived together with their harvest and animals. Team Singapore joined team Canada, team England partnered with team Italy, team Spain and Portugal were together when the race organizer decided to offer the axe to the 4 of us, Chris, Dave, Damien and I. This is for real … we have to kill the goat to stay in the Chase. Yes, we know that the local traditions respect the killing of a goat. That all parts would be used (and we mean it: head to balls…!). But this was pushing our comfort zones way past our personal limits. A mans got to do what a mans got to do … A mans got to do what a mans got to do … I knew, for I had it seen done before, that it is part of their culture and I decided to volunteer for the team. The axe in my hand, I was feeling all the weight of it. It was heavier than I thought it could have been or was it that I had no more power left? Damien would have to make sure the goats throat lay neatly on the piece of wood. Dave or Chris would have to take the goat by its horns and hold it down it firmly and I would just have to chop it strong and fast. Just snap the back bone… Millions of images were going through my head: What about the blood? What about the scream? What if I don’t kill it the first time? What if the goat runs away half dead? What if I miss the throat and chop Damiens or Chris’s fingers off… What if… But the clock was ticking and I had to get my act together. I was now holding the axe firmly. I could feel the look of all the other teams turning towards me. Tension was in the air and yet that poor little thing looked completely innocent, unaware that in the next minute it will be beheaded. Never the throat of a goat seemed so small. All I could see was Damien’s and Chris’ fingers. I needed to regain control over myself, breathe calmly and just give it one clear hit. Nick was starting to count down. Now was the time. I had to do it, I was getting ready, Damien and Chris were holding the goat down. They had closed their eyes praying that I wouldn’t do the same. Now was the time, I was going to have to do it, I am going to do, to snape that back bone… Until… Until the last minute… Until… “I am messing with you mate” Nick bursting into laughter… It was just to push ourselves to our limits! Thank God we didn’t have to go through with it. Thank God I didn’t have to do it!

Where is my babouch? It was just 12.30pm and we all had done more things in that single morning than most people would do in a year. 50cl of water and a sandwich was all we had on our 2 hour ride back to Marrakech. But the chase was never off. We had barely arrived when we had to run to our next Chase Point: direction the new train station. Once we got there we had the chance to realize every boy’s dream: Climb up a fireman’s ladder and come down off a zip line! One more time the Chase offered us a moment of brilliant fun and unique experiences. The next 2 stages gave us another precious look into the local culture, trade and ‘art-de-vivre’. From a Marrakech tourist book we had to spot 2 tiny City Chase logos and thus, find the locations they were marking. Back to “La Medina” and the souk we were face to face with a giant memory game. What turned out to be a piece of cake for some teams turned into a nightmare for others. The same goes for the second stage where teams had to test their skills in a local trade. With no hesitation I started to learn the subtlety of babouch (Moroccan shoe) making and under the witty eyes and smiling face of my local artisan I slowly but surely created my work of art. The dark night was welcoming us as we approached the Club Med and our jeep to the mountains. We knew that one team would be eliminated and we were all expecting it to be team Italia. Surely enough when the 2 Davides arrived they knew they had been too slow. They knew the adventure was over. They opened their arms and started to hug everyone around them, thanking them for the ride, the experience, the best adventure of their lives. They were talking so much and so fast that Nick did not have the chance to say a word. They were sad, but with no regrets, just happy to have come so far! But when Nick finally managed to edge a word in sideways, they realized that this was not the end for them. They would have to go much further and they had the biggest smiles one could imagine for they had arrived in 7th position just a few minutes before team Portugal… Team Portugal whom ran to the wrong Club Med a few kilometers outside the city and back! Team Portugal that was exhausted, extenuated, sad, gutted, angry… Team Portugal that could do nothing other than cry, slowly, alone on the side of the road… Davide and Davide’s smiles were touching but Nuno and Paulo tears were heartbreaking!

The lost jersey Cameron and Greg of Team Singapore shared our traditional Berber tent for a night in the Moroccan mountain. It was a cold night that followed a chilly shower. Luckily for us all, this was all under a friendly atmosphere and teams were encouraging each other even during their free shower time: “If team Australia can do it – So should we” Ben was screaming naked in his ice cold shower to James who wasn’t too sure the shower was such a good idea afterall… We love the spirit team England! Pablo and Raoul were all excited over dinner that evening and told the gang all kinds of stories until all the soup, the tea and the water was consumed. They were far from expecting that that was to be their last laugh of the adventure… At 5am sharp someone screamed: “in 15min the jeep will depart – with or without you”. Good morning to you too replied someone else, half laughing half grumpy! But the smell of hot tea convinced the heavy sleeper to get out of bed and liven up to all the adventures of the last day of the race. The last day of the race that could have very well started with the strangest team elimination ever… Cameron could not put his hands on his team jersey (without which you can’t compete!). He was sure he had left it next to him before falling asleep. No one would have taken it… It must still be in the tent. Team HK could not find it in their bags… Team Singapore were turning the tent upside down, running all over the place trying to find the missing jersey. 13min had passed, 2 to go… 14 min had passed, 1 to go… Greg and Cameron were going crazy! Where the hell did the jersey go? It was just not funny, the worst feeling of unfairness and uselessness. They could not believe that they are going to be eliminated, just like that, at 5.15am because they couldn’t find the bloody team jersey! When suddenly the 2 teammates exchanged the weirdest look – probably a look that only 2 very old and close friends could have ever exchanged, understood, forgave, and then moved on… Greg was simply wearing the 2 jerseys. He, without thinking, put on Cameron’s top when we woke up in the rush of the race. At 5’14”59am the jeep left with everyone on board!

Spanish canoe The Ourika River was the stage of our next adventure. We now have to canoe down the rapids, strong currents and freezing water of the Ourika for the next 5km. Doesn’t it all seem too easy for you too? That’s what the organization believed! Hence, the slowest team would not see Marrakech again! On your mark, ready, PADDLE! The river was nuts. Rocks everywhere, a strong current, rapids, limited water… all the ingredients to make one go mad on ones partner and for the first time of the race we thought that it was over for us… We were having great difficulties going down the mighty Ourika river! The beginning of our course was a disaster. We couldn’t hold for the shortest instant a correct direction and like a magnet or bullet, your pick, we were hitting every single rock of the river. The icy water was already seizing our fingers and it became hard to paddle properly. Suffering all the endeavourer of the Ourika we saw team Australia overtake us halfway down the course. This was a blow and could pretty much mean that we would fail to qualify. We had to do something, now! The first thing we did wasn’t quite right as it involved me falling over board. But at the same time Damien started to be happy about our performance as he alone was closing down on team Australia. He just hadn’t noticed that I had fallen out of the canoe. Kindly enough Chris and Dave let him know that he had forgotten me in the middle of the furious river. After a good fight against the current and a good team effort we managed to reach the bank by the finish line ahead of team Australia. We now had to reach for the flag. We could see it up in the mountain. We headed there without noticing a road to the top 50m behind us. What was ahead of us wasn’t a piece of cake and was completely unexpected to all. However faced with the urge of staying alive we just cut though the trees, rocks and steep side of the mountain to slowly and painfully close down on the flag. Luckily for us and unfortunately for them, team Australia followed us in our nightmare. When we finally arrived at the flag and counted the remaining canoes we couldn’t help but notice that 1 canoe was missing… team England and team Italia that had struggled down the river were also surprised… who was we missing? More embarrassingly the race organizer had no idea where team Spain had gone? Finally, they had found team Spain 10km below us taking on some of the most difficult canoe sections in Morocco thinking that the race was still on! They had missed the finish line, mis-understood the guard that pointed them to the top of the mountain… They had gone on with the race and couldn’t accept the fact that it was over for them now. Pablo and Raoul, the team that was by large the fastest runners, the team that would have probably have claimed the title… But no!

The jump Only 6 teams had the chance to travel down a zip line from a 80m dam all the way to the ground. Vertigo! Scream and laugh for this instant of pure magical fun! But let me draw you in more detail the feelings you experience when you are on top of the dam, facing the void, seconds before jumping. Terrifying, petrifying, shocking. This is probably the last word that best describe the feeling. In shock. 80m high. The 5 seconds preceding the jump are by a distance the worth: 5. You don’t move, you barely dare to look down. 4. You hold onto the rope so hard you can feel the pressure in your fingers. 80m… 25 stories… 80m. 3. You have moved down by the slightest millimeter but your brain is well aware of what’s to come! 2. You jump… you start to feel the void… you can’t stop, it’s too late to go back… 1. You give the last push before feeling your weight carrying you down the zip line… You are flying like a bird gaining speed. You’re literally in mid air, not in control, just going down faster and faster! You are now getting closer to the ground but you don’t seem to go any slower, the trees are clearly growing now. You can see details on the floor… Why do I not slow down…? Why is the ground so close…? Then you feel it, the zip line becomes less steep and you slow down just in time to land in nicely on the hard ground. Your legs can still carry you but just about. 80m… 25 stories… 80m.

The flat tire But without further ado it was time for the real race to begin with the final stage. 40km of mountain bike to Marrakech followed by an Urbanathalon. Teams left with a 5minute gap in between them according to their canoe performance. The first team to cross the City Chase finish line would be WORLD CHAMPION. Singapore went first followed by team Canada. James and Nicky were somehow everyone’s favorite. James was the double World Champion and Nicky was the most experienced chaser of the lot… The shot at the title was clearly between these two teams. Australia went 3rd and HK 4th. England and Italy were the last 2 teams to go. Davide was caught saying to James that they were the only 4 human left in this race, the first 4 teams being superhuman. Surely some of them were gifted! Without being exceptional bikers we knew that throughout the 40km ride we had a chance to catch up with time on the leading teams. But a sad turn of events led us to see the end line way before the finish line. A flat tire. 10km into the race, on a perfectly normal road Damien’s wheel exploded, dead flat tire. We couldn’t just give up without a fight so we continued to pedal as hard and as fast as we could. We couldn’t accept defeat so we fought on, going stronger and stronger.

Then, we saw the light, an old Moroccan slowly riding a bike as old as himself coming from the opposite direction. We stopped him, borrowed his bike pump and… and… It didn’t match! Our morale was low, very low… But we continued. Then it became really hard when both team Italy and England overtook us. We were last in the race, with a flat tire and still 20km to go… But we couldn’t just give up. We just couldn’t blow up this fantastic adventure because of a stupid flat tire. We couldn’t accept to lose just like that. Maybe because of our willingness to keep on going, maybe out of pure coincidence, we don’t know why, or how, but a fruit shopkeeper on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, had a brand new matching spare tube and the tools to change the wheel… All that for free… All that in less than 10min. A miracle or just a little bit of good luck, definitely the biggest boost of energy possible. All was still possible and surely enough we arrived at the first Chase Point in Marrakech with all the teams but Singapore in sight. Nothing could have stopped us now… We believed in our chances more than ever! The next challenge was to organize a catwalk with a model. I just sat there and let Damien work his bit of magic. After all he works for one of the most prestigious haute couture maison in the world and it paid off. The jury appreciated his creative ideas for make-up, dress, music, catwalk animations and awarded us with 40dinars. The money was to be used to take a cab to our next clue… The tricky part was that we were in an area with barely any cabs. But where other teams struggled, we had an extra bit of good fortune and found a cab in no time reaching the next clue before team England and at the same time as team Italia and Australia.

Last run “Le Jardin Majorelle”! We were now back in 3rd place on our way to the famous Yves Saint Laurent’s garden in the middle of the new city of Marrakech. We were almost there when we saw from a distance team Canada, and they saw us… And that made them think that they weren’t safe… We had to run back to “Garden La Menara” and then all the way to La Medina and place Jama El Fna. There was enough time to beat them… We wanted to believe so as much as possible. We pushed hard, ran all over the streets of Marrakech but James and Nicky were nowhere to be seen again. The straight line from La Menara to Jama El Fna was splendid. The run was exceptional… the arrival extremely emotional, the crowd was amazing and crossing the finish line, Damien and I, together, in Marrakech in 3rd place was a moment that we will never forget. The congratulations and warm hugs of Cameron and Greg from team Singapore the well deserved World Champion and of Nicky and James from team Canada was the best reward that we could have hoped for… We did it! We made it… “Just” said team England as they crossed the line in 6th place. We all made it, just, but we made it. All together as a great team made of strangers, made of competitors, made of friends. Adrien and Damien came 3rd in the City Chase World Championships 2008 Marrakech.

Greg & Cameron Team Singapore City Chase World Champions

Congratulations to all, many thanks to the people of Morocco and a special round of applause for the race organizers and crew … All my best wishes to Cameron and Greg on their upcoming mission trip to Africa, please let all the kids know that we are all with them! Wishing you all the best of luck until we meet again, in Rio maybe ;-)

Adrien Choux Hong Kong – 08.12.2008

City Chase has been made into a 4 hour TV program running from March 2009 world wide on National Geographic Adventure.