MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Sixteen families participated in the Amazing Race Family Edition, beginning and ending at the parade deck here Saturday.
The Amazing Race, a race around the station finding locations based on clues given, was hosted by Marine Corps Community Services.
The Amazing Race is based off the TV show, so each family had a passport and raced around the air station to different locations.
Once they reached those locations, they had to complete different activities to get the next clue.
The 16 families that signed up to compete had to go through and complete nine pit stops before returning to the parade deck.
The stops included: Crossfire Paintball Range, library, Youth and Teen Center, Matthew C. Perry High School, M.C. Perry soccer fields, the basketball court by the skate park, Yujo Hall, Sakura Theater and the 1st Marine Air Wing Vietnam Memorial.
At each location, families had to complete challenging activities before they could continue on.
At the paintball range station, all competitors needed to go through a bounce house obstacle course.
When the competitors arrived at the library, they were told their family must arrange books in order using the Dewey Decimal System.
The Youth and Teen Center had worksheets for each family to complete; answers were found on the MCCS website.
At M.C. Perry High School, competitors had to tell what the acronym SAMURAI stands for, skip around a light pole singing “Yankee Doodle” and complete jumping jacks while repeating five times, “Susie won a gold medal.”
On the M.C. Perry soccer fields, children directed their blindfolded parents through an obstacle course.
At the basketball court near the skate park, participants took gigantic basketballs and tried to make a basket in the oversized hoops. Once all members of the family made a basket, they had to identify their chain of command.
At Yujo Hall, they had to roll a die, find the corresponding room and answer questions regarding the Marine Corps, family and teen building, and family readiness. The children also had to complete a word search.
At the Sakura Theater, an egg, easily breakable, was to be packed with materials to make it unbreakable and then tossed.
Finally, at the 1st MAW Vietnam Memorial, each competitor needed to answer questions related to the Marine Corps.
Once all stations had been completed, families had to run back to the parade deck for their times.
The first place winner of the Amazing Race event was the Apple family with a time of 49 minutes and five seconds.
The Apple family only included the mother and children, and they were happy they were able to represent their family name and win the prize, said Mandy Apple, a competitor in the Amazing Race Family Edition.
The Clark family came in second place with a time of 53 minutes and 34 seconds.
The Saunders family came in third place with a time of 53 minutes and 40 seconds.
All teams enjoyed themselves, but there were a few activities the participants would have liked to see at stations. Tug-of-war and something to do with golf were two suggestions.
“I’d like to see something like hit a golf ball in a hole or eat (strange food),” said June Herritt, a competitor.
As the competition ended, the families left the parade deck with smiles on their faces.
Another Amazing Race open to all station residents aged 18 and older is scheduled for May 20.