Worldwide Flight Race - Game Over

[pablito]

The 8 remaining players left Coney Island 12 hrs after a mandatory rest period. First to leave were ShadowLurker and chavo who left before midnight. They started off in their marked cars toward Atlantic City's Borgata casino. Once at the casino, they must search the large casino floor playing various table games for one of the specially marked cards with the Worldwide Flight Race logo. chavo chose to start at the back in the Pow Gai Poker section and was lucky enough to spot one of the cards quickly and set off back to New York. ShadowLurker took a bit more time and decided to carefully peruse the deck rather than jumping table to table.

In the meanwhile, Rhinox, pickemgenius, Haylen and PHANTOM had arrived at the Borgata and were starting to look around the tables as wel. ShadowLurker finally found a card in the Baccarat tables and headed back to JFK airport. Soon after, Haylen and pickemgenius found their lucky cards followed later by PHANTOM and Rhinox. farside22 arrived a little behind the others but put in a lot of effort and quickly made her way back to NYC to try to get there before the sun rose.

Over at the airport, a few of the players were working the airport counters real hard to get the first flight out of the city in the morning. pickemgenius, ShadowLurker and chavo managed to board the same flight to London Heathrow after a very exhausting morning going from counter to counter. Rhinox managed to secure an early flight as well. farside22 made it to the airport just as some flights were heading out and quickly boarded the first flight she could take out of NYC with lots of connections and layovers to London Gatwick.

animorpherv1 finally started up his section of the race and made his way to Atlantic City and back in due time and caught up with the other players still at the airport. Everyone else decided to take one of the evening overnight flights that would arrive in the morning. animorpherv1 had a quick sigh of relief that he caught up with the other players and was no longer 12 hrs behind.

Back at London, the players were heading onward to Wembley Stadium to play a little football game against a local goalkeeper. Everyone was a bit disappointed to see that the stadium was not open when they arrived and they had to wait until midnight until they could start up again. They all left the Stadium at the same time and headed back to London Heathrow to find their way to Madrid-Barajas. All four boarded the same flight to Madrid and left London before any of the other players even arrived in London.

The other four players made it within due time to Wembley Stadium, all except farside22 who had a much harder time coming from London Gatwick airport. However, farside22 quickly got her goals in a row from all the college soccer she played. Luckily she managed to get to the airport just a minute after Haylen so she wouldn't be so alone in last place. However, these players did not have as much luck with their flights and each took a different flight to Madrid.

Back at Madrid, the front-runners quickly got to Toledo and all got on buses within half hour of each other. But it wasn't until they got to the Faro de Moncloa when exhaustion really separated them from each other. Rhinox was well-rested and got to the top first in record time. A few hrs later ShadowLurker, pickemgenius and chavo finally arrived.

The final four players landed and PHANTOM landed first and quickly got to the pitstop. farside22 and Haylen were fighting for next position because their planes landed within an hour of each other. And both were a bit tired from all the maneuvering from earlier. It was foolish of them to count out animorpherv1 though who made up a huge time deficit from earlier. But in the end it was...

farside22 that managed to arrive at the pitstop first. Then Haylen managed to arrive shortly thereafter. farside thanked the soccer gods and ripped off her soccer jersey a la Brandi Chastain. animorpherv1 thought he was going along nicely, but he didn't realise that he boarded a flight from London Heathrow to New York City and then back to Madrid. He actually didn't arrive until the following morning. He didn't check into the pitstop until after everyone had left for the next leg of the race. Unfortunately, this is an elimination leg and animorpherv1 is eliminated after making up so much time earlier.

Pit Stop Times

12:50 Rhinox
14:58 ShadowLurker
15:12 pickemgenius
15:55 chavo
17:40 PHANTOM
19:04 farside22
20:17 Haylen
11:17 (+1) animorpherv1

[animorpherv1]

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ShadowLurker]

OH MY GOD

ROFL.

[ShadowLurker]

So far I've taken my #1 airline once, my #2 twice, unaffiliated once, and my #3 twice :'(

[farside22]

I'm feeling really lucky right about now.

[pablito]

Leg #4 begins. Sat + Sun will count as a 24 hr period in total.

[Haylen]

Lol. I should've chosen a different airline. Only chose the one I did because it looked simple and quick to use.

[Rhinox]

yay first! my strategy succeeded!

[ShadowLurker]

ugh going to get 2nd or 3rd this leg

[Rhinox]

anyone else at the next pitstop yet?

[ShadowLurker]

i arrived around 20:00

[Rhinox]

I arrived at 19:15.

[pablito]

One person remaining.

[farside22]

I think I got screwed do to misreading some directions.

[pablito]

This was an intense leg as each minute from the beginning counted toward the final standings - no real bunching points.

Results to be posted soon and next leg may begin later tonight (or tomorrow)

[pablito]

The 7 remaining players set off from El Faro de Moncloa in Madrid, Spain after a mandatory 12 hr rest period. First to leave is Rhinox at 0:20. When he arrived at Parque del Buen Retiro he got into his assigned boat and pushed off from the ledge to try to get his boat in the assigned target area. Since Rhinox was all alone for the first part in the morning, he tried to meticulously arrive in the exact spot but kept pushing too slowly so he never arrived at the spot, so he kept having to try again. Eventually shortly after ShadowLurker and pickemgenius, Rhinox landed in the target area and finally got to leave. ShadowLurker and pickemgenius decided to take the same strategy and not push too hard so that they don´t pull a muscle. Eventually everyone except Haylen and farside22 arrived at the lagoon.

ShadowLurker, pickemgenius, chavo and PHANTOM made it out in due time and managed to leave for the airport before the two made it out there. As such, they were all able to catch one of the early morning flights to Paris and everyone was on one of two flights, both which arrived around the same time.

Meanwhile at the lagoon, farside22 overexerted herself at the lagoon and kept over shooting her boat and it took her a long time to figure out the task. Haylen, however, got through the task in one of her first tries. farside22 kept trying harder and harder but knowing she was in last was tough for her and she kept trying too hard. Eventually she made it out and headed off to the airport. Lucky for her, however, Haylen was still at the airport as well! Both boarded the same flight to Paris, which was still a few hours behind the others.

In Paris, all the players were assembling their bikes to complete the Champs des Elysees portion of the Tour de France trail, except landing at la grand arch de la defense. Contending with cars on the road was difficult for most players, but many players decided to work harder during this part of the leg and the early players all ended within an hour of each other anyway and met up at the airport once again. A few hours behind though were farside22 and Haylen who kept passing each other up along the road but it was farside22 who finished the race first and got to the airport in time to catch her flight.

Unfortunately for farside22, Haylen caught up on the same flight once again. In Berlin, ShadowLurker landed first, but was a bit exhausted from working the airport counters earlier on. This allowed chavo, pickemgenius and Rhinox to catch up some time, but ShadowLurker finished up at the zoo first and was on his way to Checkpoint Charlie first. PHANTOM fell behind the leading pack, as he was conserving energy for the final cab ride to Checkpoint Charlie. It was a close race to the finish line. The leading pack of five were very tight and were always within an hour of each other during this entire leg.

In the end

it seemed that pickemgenius had the most energy remaining even though he finished the Paris race last! pickemgenius passed everyone up by yelling at his cab to go faster and he landed at the pitstop first! He was shortly followed by ShadowLurker and chavo.

The other two from the leading pack fell behind by a few extra minutes. It seemed that the Paris race was the deciding factor in who had the most energy left for the final push.

Haylen and farside22's plane finally arrived just as some of the others were starting to check-in at the pitstop.

farside22 tried to give all her effort, but from the paris race and her overexertion in Madrid, she knew that the result was inevitable. The refreshed Haylen arrived at the pitstop with a clear lead. Lucky for farside22 was remembering that there has not been a non-elimination leg for a long time. When farside22 arrived at the pitstop she was told that Unfortunately....
.
.
.
.
she was eliminated from the race. farside22 has fallen too far behind. Six remain!

Pit Stop Times

19:47 pickemgenius
19:59 ShadowLurker
20:06 chavo
20:49 Rhinox
21:35 PHANTOM
23:20 Haylen
23:56 farside22

[farside22]

Damn I knew misreading the first clue would put me in last.

[Rhinox]

oops read the wrong time in my last PM haha.

[pablito]

Sorry for delay, I'm in process of starting to move now. Leg 5 begins.

[Rhinox]

announcing that I will be V/LA and unable to look up flight unformation from 1/21 to 1/26. If it is ok, I should be able to finish up the berlin leg before I leave, and then catch up with the next leg(s) after I return rather than being replaced or eliminated.

[pablito]

Honestly, I kinda like taking a break after the Berlin leg finishes up. I'm in the process of moving and I'd like the extra time. Next leg won't start until the 26th or later then.

[ShadowLurker]

i arrived at ~4am

[pablito]

The 6 remaining players set off from Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, Germany. First to leave was pickemgenius at 7:47 am, shortly followed by ShadowLurker and chavo. They all grabbed taxis from Checkpoint Charlie to either Tegel-International or Schoenfeld Berlin Airport. pickemgenius opted to head off to Schoenfeld, but both chavo and ShadowLurker fled off to Tegel. On the taxicab ride over, pickemgenius had a sharp pain in his stomach as he started thinking that he should've headed off to Tegel instead. And perhaps that feeling was right, as chavo and ShadowLurker arrived at an airport quicker, because of the shorter distance. Once pickemgenius arrived at Schoenfeld, he saw that there were no good flights for him so he headed off to Tegel in the end.

However, even though chavo and ShadowLurker arrived at the same time at Tegel, their airline priorities meant that they picked two very different flights, and pickemgenius picked his own as well once he arrived at Tegel. Back in Berlin, Rhinox and PHANTOM moved off toward Tegel and Schoenfeld respectively. Rhinox was lucky enough to catch up and get on the same flight as pickemgenius. However, PHANTOM's choice led to him just arriving at the exact minute to catch his flight to Rome before it closed out.

All the players were on their way to Rome, and ShadowLurker was the first to land and made his way to the Coliseum quickly. He made quick use of his saved energy and got to Fiumicino Airport to catch an early flight to Moscow. Rhinox, chavo and pickemgenius landed at the same time in Rome and Rhinox was working the hardest and got to the airport minutes after ShadowLurker had. However, Rhinox barely missed the flight ShadowLurker was on and instead had to wait for the next flight out to Moscow. This meant that both chavo and pickemgenius were allowed to catch up to Rhinox while the rest began to fall back even further.

In Moscow, ShadowLurker had clear reign as no one was within hours because of that one lucky flight. He counted the nesting dolls well and didn't have to spend much time at the task there. He then breezed through the coal shoveling and got to the pitstop first!

chavo and pickemgenius landed around the same time, but it was evident that pickemgenius would take second because chavo was exhausted from working the airport counters earlier in the leg. Meanwhile, PHANTOM and Rhinox both landed on the same flight an hour later and were surprised to have caught up to chavo and pickemgenius. This motivated chavo to work a bit faster and he left the task at the same time as PHANTOM. pickemgenius on the other hand got even more frustated and kept messing up. Turns out that pickemgenius worked too hard and his nerves were getting the best of him. But within 20 minutes the others caught up and got to Lenin's Funeral train at the same time.

But at the coal shovelling task, it was Rhinox who really was in the best physical shape and got through the task quickest and got to the pitstop second. pickemgenius recomposed himself and got their third. PHANTOM took fourth and chavo fifth. And Haylen didn't even leave Berlin, as she was caught up at Checkpoint Charlie trying to work the soldiers over for a marriage proposal. Haylen is eliminated.

Pit Stop Times

3:55 ShadowLurker
7:35 Rhinox
8:32 pickemgenius
8:38 PHANTOM
9:22 chavo

[Rhinox]

wooo... another close leg. I was worried when I missed that one flight literally by like 4 minutes.

[pablito]

I finished everything up early so next leg begins tonight.