About The Quest

First, let me say CONGRATULATIONS to Chris and Tami, winners of GothamQuest I! After 9 destinations and 7 hours of intense competition, these two emerged victorious and took home the coveted prize. They edged out the two upstarts from Minnesota and Memphis (the injured Molly and her ferocious soldier Kevin) by seconds. Not a bad showing at all for the latest of race entrants. What a great way to start a new friendship.

Now for some personal comments…I wanted to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for such an incredible day – a day Dan and I will remember for the rest of our lives.

My personal perspective of the “race” was quite unusual but most amazing. From my vantage point, there were so many beautiful and lasting images (even better than “the ricardo’s” profile picture), among them:

My brother, Krishna and me sprawled out on our apartment floor (for HOURS the night before), surrounded by over 300 laminated and disorganized clue-cards.

The first sight of a miraculous morning (while walking “Destination #9"), a morning that I had anticipated over and over again for weeks…and the faces of my fellow organizers, when they arose (after an hour and a half of shut-eye) to obsessive clapping and yelling.

The arrival of the players and the bizarre airport-security-like lineup outside my apartment when we “frisked” you and the decidedly personal things that emerged…

The smiles, enthusiasm and youthful expectation reflecting back at me at the start of the race, under Farragut’s now-infamous monument.

The scampering bodies of all of the contestants as you ran for the first time to your color-coded teammates.

Picturing all of you in my head running ON the Brooklyn Bridge and not under it. What were you thinking?? Actually, I think the Pink team might still be up there… (just kidding)

Solana, Steve, Kevin and Molly walking breathlessly by me as I was seated outside Cleopatra’s Needle on the phone with my brother. I mean, literally three feet away. In truth, they passed me three times before seeing me.

My mother’s red and sweaty face at Cleopatra’s Needle, trumped only by what could best be described as gritty, unbridled determination.

Josh and Mary’s profound disappointment to hear at Destination #4 that their partnership with Mom and Dad DeGiralamo was done. Josh, Mary – my parents ADORE you.

All of your faces (truthfully) when you learned about the “team switch”.

Hearing about my (almost 70-year old) father checking Jason into a tree on the way to a rest stop, matched by my mother checking Eric into the archway in Central Park.

The look of total confidence in James’ face when he found me seated across from the Chrysler Building. You, my friend, are the fiercest of competitors. I respect you greatly. Marcie certainly chose wisely.

Ali’s face – he has NEVER looked so serious.

Uzma directing traffic vigorously on 42nd Street, while racing to “check in”, only to find that her team had been eliminated.

Will – collapsed on the floor of the apartment.

Molly screaming for Kevin and jumping on her swollen ankle at the final team stop at Worth Square. With his arrival, the winning team of four was crowned, and it marked the end of the race for Andy, Sara and my parents. Yes, Sara, my new petite friend, you brought your milkshake to the yard.

The faces of Kevin, Molly, Chris and Tami when I slammed the final clues on the pavement of 23rd Street.

Chris’ slide into Barley in the lobby of our apartment building as Greek flags everywhere flew with even more fervor.

And standing within earshot of all of you at Courtney’s after-party, listening to hear your thoughts about the race and the great experiences you had with one another. In particular, I enjoyed Rashmi’s excellent (but sadly incorrect) deciphering of our clues. No one thought harder and more conspiratorially than she did. After, talking to her about it, perhaps we SHOULD have been at her destinations. I’m convinced that, had she spent just a bit more time on them, she might have found a nefarious ancestral chant in the rhymes, as well.

And finally my mother’s stern warning to me not to ask her to do this again. This was the first and last time for her, she said unabashedly and resolutely. Rest assured…she’ll be the very first entrant in GQII.

And these were just MY lasting images. I’m certain that you had your own…

I also wanted to thank in particular a number of people. To Dan, my partner in everything (from the serious to the silly to the extreme). You are the quiet hero of the two of us, and we could not have done this without your sense of calmness and your tireless work on “everything else”.

To my brother, Pete, and Krishna…you no doubt will seek to downplay your roles, but you both were the ROCKS of this race. You manned your positions flawlessly, and it was a pleasure working together with you throughout the day. I love you, guys.

Thanks to Courtney for offering up his loft to us. Everyone has a friend that LITERALLY would do anything for them. And he’s mine.

Thanks to my friend, Carolyn Oliner, who worked behind-the-scenes and, in truth, was the first entrant in this race. She read the clues weeks ago in the comfort of her home office and provided just the right feedback to make the clues as good as they could be.

Finally, thanks to all of you who entered and participated in this race. It was a simply beautiful experience. You all managed to be fiercely competitive yet gracious in defeat when your team was eliminated.

To old friends and to new ones, my sincere thanks to you for making this such a spectacular day. At the risk of being terribly and irrevocably sappy, I don’t know what more anyone could ask for than to have such incredible friends and family.

I’m sure that we will see you all many times…before GothamQuest II… ;)