Anxiously, Alex returned to his desk. It seemed as if he'd been waiting months for this moment to arrive! After one last look, checking spelling and grammar, Alex scheduled his email. This mass mailing would be delivered into 85 thousand in-boxes, just moments away from this dream project of Alex's to become a reality.
A team was in place, ready to receive the entry forms from possible contestants. There were a few minor requirements including: being in good health, having a valid passport and being at least 18 years old. Entrants also needed to indicate their preferred method of transportation; plane, train, or car. As far as entry forms went, Alex did his best to make this process as easy as possible.
Five minutes to go before the email would go out. As Alex sat at his desk, excited about this whole project, his phone rang. Without looking at the phone display, he answered. The voice on the other end of the phone was one that Alex had not heard from in a few weeks.
It was his good friend and colleague, Nate.
Nate and Alex met in the company several years ago and they really clicked with each other. Though sharing total opposite opinions on most subjects, they had a common understanding and great deal of respect for each other. Nate had recently undergone surgery for his cancer, things were looking up for him, a few more treatments and the doctors hoped they'd be able to classify him as being in remission.
"How have you been buddy? It's been a few weeks" Alex asked.
Alex was pretty good at deciphering tones and attitudes in people. There was a bit of a pause in Nate's reply. Alex was now sensing that something was not okay.
"I'm okay, you know, tired from the treatments and counting the days until i'm done with all of this" Nate responded.
The two exchanged some idle chit-chat. Alex was telling Nate about his new project and the progress so far. He informed Nate that the email to announce the contest to the public was going out in just a few minutes.
Nate was amazed to hear about the whole race. He couldn't believe how much attention the event was getting from the industry.
"Well, in a few moments, we'll find out the reaction to the idea from the public too!" Alex said.
Quickly wrapping up their call, Alex and Nate said their goodbyes. Alex watched the screen. The email was being delivered at record speed. He watched the mailbox that had been setup to receive the entry forms. Keeping an eye on the delivery rate, he waited for the first entry.
Alex is known to be quite the impatient person so waiting for the first entry was pretty painful for him! He was starting to think that he'd rather be sitting in traffic or waiting for the elevator as opposed to waiting for the entries to start pouring in. His thoughts were interrupted with the arrival of the first email.
With much enthusiasm, Alex opened the email. The entry was from Ms. Ainsley Farlowe. She was a 23 year old student in Boston. Included in her entry was a brief explanation as to why she wanted to be chosen, she wanted to participate in memory of her father who had passed away ten years ago after a long battle with colon cancer.
Alex wasn't sure how many of the entries he'd be able to read. Each one had a story, a memory, a heart-felt reason for wanting so badly to be a part of this race. It was going to be very difficult to narrow the entries down to twelve.
To make it easier for his team of helpers, Alex set up three folders to sort the entries. One for Air, one for car and the last for rail.
It had been 25 minutes that the email had been out, there were already 2,789 entries. It was a relief, to Alex, to see this kind of reaction. At the same time, taking into consideration what the majority of these emails said, it was sad. Actually making contact with that many people affected by Cancer was a bit of a downer. Nonetheless, this race was for a good cause that would, hopefully, be helping everyone.
After five days, the entry box was flooded. 34,623 entries in total were sorted and reviewed. Finally, twelve individuals were chosen and contacted. Alex now had his three teams ready to go.
In the information provided to each contestant was a phone number and pass code. Alex had arranged a video conference call with each member of each team. This would give the teams a chance to interact with each other prior to departure.
The teams were also provided with their own link to their team Blog. They would need to communicate to build up teamwork and trust in each other. Their first task was to choose a team name. Each team was advised of the rules and it was then revealed to them, which mode of transportation they would be using to complete the race.
Each team member chosen seemed happy with their team, no one dropped out after hearing all of the terms and conditions, which Alex was thankful for!
After choosing their team names, each group of four needed to choose their team captain. This person would need to step into the leadership role. It was thought to be a better idea to have the team vote on their captain rather then just putting someone in that position.
After a week, Alex was pleased with the progress. Three teams were ready to go with names and captains!
The Air team called themselves "Wings to Win". This team included Joyce Kiernan, a 41 year-old Asian woman who worked as a speech therapist for children. Next was Jack Love. Jack was a 28 year-old guy living in Ohio. He has his masters' degree in International Business and was thrilled to be chosen. Then there was Tara Caine. Tara was 21 and attending community college in Houston. The last member of Wings to Win was Lloyd Meyer, a 30 year-old business man.
Drive to Survive was the car team. Members included: Patrick Faith, 19 year-old student in South Dakota. Next, Elaine Rosendale, a 51 year-old accountant in Detroit. Andrew Parker, a 33 year old guidance counselor from Boise was pleased to be part of the car team. And finally was Jenna Reynolds. She was a 36 year-old hair dresser from Miami.
The last team called themselves "Railroad Warriors". Its members were, Ainsley Farlowe, the very first entrant to the race! She was a 23 year-old from Boston. Jeffrey Hope was next up, a 37 year-old from New York. He worked for an ad agency in Manhattan. Pelagia Masters, a 29 year-old woman from Seattle. And lastly was Sebastian Wexler. He was born in New Delhi and moved to America at the age of 5. Now 42, he lives in New Orleans with his wife and two kids.
With each team all set up and ready to go, the only thing left to do was, go! They would each arrive in Dublin in exactly five days. On the flight to Dublin they would receive their first clue. Upon arrival, the race would begin, each would need to figure out how to get to their destination and get there as quick as possible to receive the next clue.
Things were well in motion now, the race was on!
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