Worms are not supposed to have legs.

Sarah warming up

 Today, my friend Sarah and I participated in the Mitsubishi City Chase, which is described as "part scavenger hunt, part obstacle course".  550 teams of two spent 6 hours charging around the city, following a list of clues to chase points where they had to complete a task.  Our team "SHUTTHATDOWN" travelled from Metro Hall, to Liberty Village, UofT, Ryerson, Yorkville and Queen Street West, going through a number of chase points including tandem kayaking, merengue, boxing, pole dancing (yes, I got to do that one, did it with a boa and got it on the first try - take that Marisa Tomei!) among other things.

And then we got to Scadding Community Centre, which, people, believe or not, has turned their indoor swimming pool indoor a fully stocked trout pond.  2 - 3 foot long TROUT.  A fully stocked indoor trout pond at Bathurst and Dundas - people from the neighbourhood come and fish there.    SO bizarre. 

Here fishy fishy..

Our task?  One teammate had to put a worm on the line and then catch a fish, within a limit of 3 casts.  And if they didn't catch the fish? Well, then the other teammate had to eat three worms. (Shudder).

Sarah quickly claimed the rod with, "I've done some fishing" and then fumbled around the mechanics of the rod (which admittedly, was old).  I wouldn't call what she did casting - more like letting the line go and and letting it sag into the water.  Sadly, the one fish that was near the worm seemed to be dead.  Some hard core trolling (ok, more like dragging the line back and forth two or three times) resulted in a few other fish ambling over, but no dice.  After watching our limp worm drop to the bottom of the pool for the third time, I knew I was in trouble.

Over to the worm box.  Now, when I think of worms, I think garden worms.  Not so in the City Chase. These things were some kind of mutant worm/grub-like creature with hard backs and squirmy little legs.  I could barely pick them up, never mind imagine their little legs wriggling a death dance in my mouth.  So I slid one of the box and wham! slammed it with my water bottle.  Worm guts everywhere.  2 more slams and I had 3 limp, gut smeared worms in my hand.  After a few false starts and some dancing around, I finally threw them in my mouth and swallowed.  Followed by water.  Lots and lots of water.

Sarah, killing herself laughing while alternatively cheering me on, videoed the whole thing (see below).  She's promised me dinner, which I think, is the least she can do.  And now I've proved my worth and am primed and ready for my debut on the Amazing Race.

All in all - the City Chase was a great day - really well organized, friendly people (even the TTC drivers were helpful!) and tons of good laughs.  See you next year Chasers!