Austin’s in for a lost weekend, but don’t load up on the Kentucky Deluxe just yet – it’s actually more of a found weekend. This Saturday, Oct. 1, teams from across the city participate in Austin Found, a race across the city’s central grid, which unearths education and community as the city’s true treasure.
At 9am, teams of up to four individuals gather at Saltillo Plaza, where they receive the first of 12 clues. These cryptic messages point them to a clue at the next location, an Austin landmark within the boundaries of 45th to Ben White, and from MoPac to an imaginary line running parallel to I-35, 1.5 miles east of the interstate. Clues may seem obtuse at first, using anagrams, analogies, and lists, but only by deciphering them can teams hope to win; if a group can’t crack the code within 45 minutes, its members must return to a central location and wait for their next clue.
Once on the hunt, scavengers use Capital Metro and their feet, but no other forms of transportation. The first team to return to the Plaza with a timecard signed by witnesses at each landmark wins $1,000, along with hundreds more in gift certificates. Aside from the grand prize, treasure also awaits the top high school and college teams, and the second and third place teams in the open category. A post-race party at the plaza will feature music from Heybale! and New Orleans’ Mardi Gras Indians.
Developed by neighbors in Travis Heights, Saturday is Austin Found’s inaugural challenge. They created it after learning the nationwide Urban Challenge scavenger race wasn’t including River City this year. Instead of mourning its passing, the prevailing mood was “Hey, we can be creative about this, put it together, and give it as a gift to the city,” said AF volunteer Kapil Sabharwal. Assembling a gift of this magnitude hasn’t been easy, however. “We had only four months to organize this,” said Sabharwal, noting the 89-plus volunteers the newly formed nonprofit coordinates.
Proceeds from the race benefit charity, with 70% going to the Austin Community Foundation, which is focused on education, and 20% to Travis Heights Elementary School. The remaining 10% was to be set aside as seed money for future races, but will instead go to the educational needs of Hurricane Katrina evacuees. “Our main goal in this whole thing is education,” said Sabharwal, who also described the neighbor-building benefits of the race. “We have 280 communities in Austin, and we need them to communicate to each other. … This event allows the community to come really close together.”
Registration is $75 per team. For more info, visit www.austinfound.info.
This article appears in September 30 • 2005.