“Come on, burn,” Allison Stoffman pleaded as the flames crept slowly higher towards a taut string.
She even yelled at the fire, as if she were an irate coach trying to motivate a sluggish and underachieving player.
“Just be patient,” said her partner Leah Milgram.
It was just a small, isolated moment during one of the final challenges on day one of the Southern Ontario Amazing Race, but the excitement displayed by the Guelph pair on June 6 was infectious.
Judges and organizers watched in anticipation as the flames crept up and then back down again, seemingly enjoying the torture they were inflicting on Stoffman.
Finally the string broke, raising a flag and sending the pair in hot pursuit of race leaders Mike Pinkney and Jay Hahn.
“Yes!” Stoffman shrieked, almost jumping out of her running shoes, which were still soaked from a trek across the Conestogo River during the previous challenge.
Pinkney, of Fergus, and Hahn, of Milton, had considerably more trouble starting a fire of their own, but before they left, took time out to briefly explain to Stoffman and Milgram the finer points of igniting toilet paper with flint.
It might seem an odd thing to do – particularly for fans of the award-winning reality TV show Amazing Race, where the winners claim a coveted $1-million prize – but the theme for the weekend seemed to be teamwork.
“There was a great camaraderie between the teams,” said organizer Matt Steffler. “It was a really friendly group.”
In fact, the teams of Stoffman-Milgram and Pinkney-Hahn worked together from about noon on Saturday – through stops in Alma and Drayton – and by the end of the event on Sunday afternoon, would refer to each other as great friends.
Stoffman and Milgram allowed Pinkney and Hahn to cross the finish line at John McCrae House in Guelph first, but Steffler said all four considered the two teams co-winners. Pinkney and Hahn also competed last year and led the event for some time before getting lost and finishing almost dead last.
But regardless of this year’s finish, the biggest winner of all was the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington, which will receive every cent of the $64,000 raised by competitors – bringing the event’s six-year total to over $250,000.
“It was awesome,” Steffler said of the 2009 event, during which 20 teams competed in challenges like launching catapults, zip-lining the Elora Gorge, eating chicken feet and reading braille.
“It really went off without a hitch and everyone had a great time.”
Steffler, who helped found the event in 2004, said preparations will begin in January for the 2010 event. More information and application forms are available at www.therace.ca.
