2021 Street Scramble Alki – Canceled

05/22/2021

90 minutes or 3 hours.

On foot or bike.

We’re planning to host our first Street Scramble event of 2021 in one of our favorite Seattle locations! Alki is especially lovely on a typical spring day. Enjoy a fun morning of exploring this Seattle community for hidden gems at Street Scramble Alki. Cruise along the waterfront promenade, or head up the bluff and take in great views from the hills above! Discover fun shops and restaurants, community murals, and funky neighborhood quirks as you find as many checkpoints as you can before the time runs out!

We’ll have COVID-19 safety measures in place to keep you and the community safe.

Registration Closed
COVID-19 Safety Measures
What is it?
What to Wear & Bring
Event Schedule
Results
Directions & Parking
Safety

Registration Closed

-Event Canceled-

We’re getting the message that our Street Scramble community is having a busy month of May! We expected the registrations for Street Scramble Alki to be rolling in, but we’re sorry to tell you that there have been so few people signing up that it is not feasible for us to go ahead with the event, so we are canceling.

We greatly appreciate your interest in Street Scramble, and we look forward to seeing you at an event later this year.

We will give you your choice of a full refund or a full credit of your registration fee toward another of our events. Email us with your choice: events@mergeo.com

We apologize for any inconvenience this causes and thank you for your understanding.

COVID-19 Safety Measures

Part of our duty as event organizers is to plan carefully for safety. We take this responsibility seriously, and we appreciate the trust you place in us by coming to our events. The COVID-19 pandemic meant a pause for our events during which we did a lot of extra work to understand expert health guidance and adapt our events to mitigate the new risks of the pandemic.

Because confusing and often conflicting or politicized information has created doubt and uncertainty about safety and relative risk, we want to briefly address the basic safety of trail running: The consensus opinion of the infectious disease experts is that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is far less likely to transmit from person to person outdoors, primarily due to the movement of air dispersing virus-bearing droplets to a low concentration that is unlikely to result in infection. Outdoor transmission is still possible, but studies of the origin of cases seem to suggest that it is roughly 100 times less likely that any given case will have resulted from outdoor transmission.

It is also the case that brief contact with a contagious person is far less likely to result in viral transmission than sustained close proximity. Taken together with the relative safety of being outdoors, this means that if you briefly pass close by an infected person on the trail, there is only a vanishingly small chance of you catching the virus from them and getting infected. Of course we still want to take precautions to mitigate small risks, but with reasonable modifications, we believe that active outdoor events can be one of the safest and most health-promoting things you can do during the pandemic.

Our staff has been looking toward expert guidance—including from health and labor departments at the State of Washington (via the guidance from the Governor’s office) and numerous email bulletins and web resources from the Centers for Disease Control—as we implement extensive safety protocols to eliminate unnecessary risks. The list of steps we are taking is long and growing in detail, so we won’t include it here, but the general areas we are emphasizing are physical distancing, PPE/masks/hygiene, sanitizing, screening, staffing for safety, communications & training.

You have an important role to play in facilitating a safe event, and we ask that you follow #RecreateResponsibly guidelines and adhere to the guidelines below to help us keep you and our broader community safe:

Maintain Physical Distancing

Avoid gathering around others, and keep at least a six-foot interpersonal distance from anyone not in your household whenever possible
Travel to and from the event only with people in your household. Normally we encourage carpooling, but this is not the time for it.
Plan ahead so that you don’t need to make any extra stops on your way to or from the event. This is to eliminate unnecessary contact with others.
Arrive at the event site no earlier than you need to in order to comfortably check in before you plan your route and prepare to start. If you arrive with extra time, please stay in your car or take a walk away from the event area in order to facilitate distancing for yourself and others.
Depart the event site promptly after you finish the course and complete your post-exercise routine
Please keep a wide berth when passing others while out on the course, and wear a mask when you must pass close to others or in areas of heavy pedestrian or bike traffic.

Wear a Mask & Practice Good Hygiene

Wear a mask or face covering at the event, only taking it off when you are about to start or are eating or drinking. You may want to bring a small plastic bag for your mask, so that you can put it in an easily accessible pocket when you aren’t wearing it.
Wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer frequently, plus immediately after contact with respiratory fluids or possibly contaminated objects, like portable toilet doors and other commonly-touched surfaces.
If you need to cough or sneeze please cover it with a tissue (which you should then throw away as soon as possible) or with your elbow.
Avoid touching your mouth, nose, and eyes.
When taking your map, question sheet, drinks, snacks, or any other items, please use care to touch only the item(s) you are taking. Drinks and snacks will be served in individual portions only, and common water and snack containers are to be touched by staff only.

Stay Home if You’re Sick or Vulnerable

Do not attend the event if you have a temperature of 100.4F or greater, feel sick, or believe you may have recently been exposed to the COVID-19 virus
Please consider your personal risk when deciding whether to attend the event if you are a member of a high-risk group, or if you are in close contact with one or more people in a high-risk group (per CDC: 65+, immune compromised, having another health condition that exacerbates COVID-19)
If you begin to experience the flu-like symptoms of COVID-19 while you are at the event, please immediately notify a staff person (at a safe distance) and self-quarantine away from others until you are able to safely depart the event

We will ask you to affirmatively agree to abide by this code of conduct before you participate in the event. We also ask that we be allowed to contact you after the event if we discover that someone at the event was sick and have reason to believe you may have been exposed. If you become sick soon after attending the event, we would appreciate you letting us know, so that we can track potential risk to our staff and other participants.

What is it?

What is Street Scramble? It’s an urban adventure that’s fun for runners, walkers, and families! Dozens of checkpoints are marked on a special map and your goal is to find as many as you can within the time limit. Whether you sprint or stroll is up to you! You can participate solo or in teams of 2-5.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Maps are handed out 30 minutes before the race start. Use this time to strategize! Plan which checkpoints you want to find and the route you’ll take to get there. Use highlighters, pens, or pencils to mark your route on the map.
Checkpoints have varying point values; this can affect your strategy!
Checkpoints are worth the tens place of the checkpoint number. (For example, checkpoints #38 is worth 30 points.)
After the race briefing, everyone starts at the same time when the start is announced!
To prove that you visited a checkpoint, you’ll answer a multiple-choice question on an answer sheet. (No guessing. This isn’t a trivia contest and incorrect answers receive a point penalty!)
Do your best to return to the finish on-time and turn in your answer sheet, or risk losing 10 points per minute (or fraction of a minute) that you’re late! This makes for an exciting dash to the finish.

To learn more about how it works, including some strategy tips, visit the First Time? page.

What to Wear & Bring

Wear whatever feels appropriate for the weather and the exertion level you plan. Some participants adventure in their street clothes while others wear breathable running apparel. Whatever you choose to wear, comfortable footwear is essential if you are going out on foot.

Everyone should bring the following:

A watch, so you’ll know when to dash back to the finish
Highlighters or other writing utensils for planning your route and marking it on the map

You may wish to bring the following:

A compass. This can be handy but is not necessary if you are good at keeping track of directions.
Water and/or snacks
Additional maps of the area (on Street Scramble maps, most street names are not shown)
A magnifier, to make it easier to read fine details on the map
A fun team name and/or team costume!

Event Schedule

SATURDAY, MAY 22*
8:00am – On-site check-in and registration opens
8:15am – First map handout
8:45am – First start
10:00am – Last 3-hour Start
10:45am – Last map handout
11:15am – Last 90-minute Start
12:45pm – Last 90-minute Finish
1:00pm – Last 3-hour Finish

* The schedule is tentative and may be adjusted. We will be using a staggered start schedule in order to maintain distancing among participants. Each team will be given a start time no later than 30 minutes after the team is issued maps, and the finish time will be determined by adding the time limit to the start time. Teams that may wish to participate in the 3-hour event are asked to start by 10:00am.

Results

2019 Results & Photos

Directions & Parking

START/FINISH
Alki Beach, next to the Statue of Liberty monument.

Google Map

PARKING
Park in the nearby street parking.

Safety

TRAFFIC
The only significant hazard in Street Scramble is vehicular traffic. This is a serious concern if you are trying to be competitive. It is extremely easy to run into the street with your nose in your map. Look before you leap!

SAFETY VESTS
Orange mesh safety vests with the Street Scramble logo are provided on loan for all Street Scramble events. They are lightweight and breathable. All participants, especially those who are competitive, are strongly encouraged to wear one.

HYDRATE
If you are exerting yourself in warm or hot weather, remember to stay hydrated. You may wish to carry water with you.

CYCLISTS
Cyclists, be extra cautious. You will be tempted to take chances. To minimize the distraction of map reading, you may wish to affix your map to your handlebars. Avoid making navigational decisions while moving. Instead, stop and plan as much of your coming route as you can keep in memory, then ride without consulting the map. If riding as a team, occupy a full lane of traffic rather than riding single file down the road. This is your legal right, and it will enable you to more easily communicate with your teammates. It will also reduce the danger of being sideswiped or doored.

Cyclists, remember that our rules stipulate you follow all traffic rules at all times. This includes riding in the direction of traffic and stopping at red lights.