Tricadecathlonomania
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Tricadecathlonomania (abbr. Tricadecathlon or Trica) is a large-scale scavenger hunt marked by a considerably large list and 24-hour runtime. It was originally created and judged by Alex Robins and Tad Johnson in Northfield, Minnesota in 2001. First located only at Northfield High School, it has quickly grown in popularity and spread to towns and colleges around the United States. Unlike a traditional scavenger hunt, things to find comprise only approximately a quarter of the list along with feats to perform, things to make, and trivia to know.
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[edit] List and competition
Tricadecathlonomania takes place in the spring, traditionally in mid-April and as close to the 13th as possible on a Saturday. Each annually unique list is 288 items long, meaning one would have to complete one item every five minutes for 24 hours to complete them all. As this is obviously impossible, every item is worth a certain point value along with bonuses, and the team with the most points at the end of the day is declared the winner. Checkpoints throughout the day are used to tabulate teams' progress. Towards the end of the day photographic and/or video evidence of their accomplishments is submitted and reviewed. Absurdity is of the utmost importance from the microcosm of one list item to the macrocosm of the whole event. Sample list items from past years include:
- Over 4 pounds of uncooked Ramen noodles [80 pts].
- Go through a fast food drive-thru speaking only a dead language. [100 pts]
- How many bottles of Mike's Hard Lemonade would it take to get the average 640 lb (290 kg) man legally drunk in 3 hours? [30 pts]
- Make a fortress of solitude then write up, and loudly announce your formal declaration of war on the rest of the world [10-300 depending on coolness (bonus if located in town square, +40)]
The rules of Tricadecathlonomania are simple and in place mainly to protect the public and shield judges from legal action. They are: do not break the law, and do not involve anyone from outside the competition without their consent. Otherwise bribery, subterfuge, and all-around shadiness are strongly encouraged. Judges are usually the authors of the list, and have ultimate and indisputable authority on all point and other rulings.
Since 2001, Tricadecathlonomania has grown exponentially in popularity, and in the most recent competition, Tricadecathlonomania 2006, Over 40 teams of 4-5 individuals each competed.
There are no official prizes for participating in Tricadecathlonomania, though the top teams are usually given some sort of arbitrary award by the judges. The winning team originally become the next year's judges, but in 2004 the winning team was comprised partially of highschool seniors moving to college the following year, and part of the second place team also became judges in 2005 to fill the gap.
In 2005, the top two teams at each location become judges at that location the next year due to an increase in participation. This was changed the following year to "the top 10 finishing participants in the Trica that will be able to judge in the same location the following year become the judges for that location the following year". This is expected to continue indefinitely.
[edit] Themes
In 2005, the facilitators of the Trica decided to experiment with the element of themes. The competition in 2005 used the theme of Pirates vs. Ninjas. This changed the event substantially, because several items on the list had to do with the theme, and some events at check-ins were based on the theme. There was also an added competition, in that at the start of the event each team chose to either give their points to the pirate or ninja side of the conflict. After the day was done, points were added up and averaged, and in the end, Ninjas were the winners of the theme's event.
After much deliberation from the facilitators and Trica participants on the website's forum, it was decided that Tricadecathlonomania 2006 would not be themed. After that year's competition, the judges decided to alternate theme and not themed years meaning that 2007's Trica will have a theme.
Trica's facilitator's decided on the theme Trica: The Movie for the 2007 competition. Posters for the event were mostly modified movie posters, and teams were given bonus points for completing items in certain movie genres.
[edit] Past Competition
Tricadecathlonomania has been an annual event taking place in various cities around the United States since 2001. However, the winners and point totals have only been kept on record since 2004. The records are kept for the nationwide winners, as well as the winners of the Trica in Northfield, since it is the city of Tricadecathlonomania's origin and generally has the largest number of participating teams.
In Tricadecathlonomania 2004 (April 17), the winning team nationwide and in Northfield was Oto's Team, with 6,860 points.
In Tricadecathlonomania 2005 (April 23), the winning team nationwide was Russell Anderson, with 12,237 points. The winning team in Northfield was Cheever The Weasel with 7,716.5 points.
In Tricadecathlonomania 2006 (April 15), the winning team nationwide was Richmond Lucha Libre presents Powerteam of the Apocalypse: The Musical, with 8,034.5 points. The winning team in Northfield was Pandamonium, with 7,263.3 points.
[edit] Locations
Current locations include:
- United States
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Evanston, Illinois/Chicago, Illinois - Northwestern University
- Richmond, Indiana - Earlham College
- Northfield, Minnesota - St. Olaf and Carleton Colleges and Northfield High School
- St. Paul, Minnesota
- Winona, Minnesota
- Harrisonburg, Virginia
- Richmond, Virginia
- Japan
- Okinawa - Okinawa Hash House Harriers (Unconfirmed)
[edit] Documentary
Currently there is a Tricadecatholonomania Documentary in the making. In February 2007, a trailer for the film was released, revealing that the documentary will be released an hour before the start of Trica 2007 on April 7th.
[edit] External links
- http://trica.clockworkdistractions.com -- Home of the centralized arm of Tricadecathlonomania. Most, though not all, of the current locations are associated with it.
