UNI students were faced with numerous physical and mental challenges scattered across campus on the evening of Oct. 4.

Twenty-one teams, of around five students each, gathered at the Maucker Union rooftop, the starting and finishing line of the Amazing Race Traditions Challenge, to receive their first activity challenge. Each challenge successfully completed would count towards the student’s UNI traditions checklist.

Ellie Rossmann, one of the directors of the event and also a senior elementary education major at UNI, explained what the Amazing Race would entail.

“First of all, we have the Traditions Challenge, and that is to complete as many challenges that you can before you graduate. Before you graduate, you should complete 45 traditions, and then you receive a medallion,” Rossmann said. “The point of the Amazing Race is to get you out and is a fun way to cross off a bunch of traditions all in a row.”

According to Rossmann, there are a total of nine traditions that can be completed in the Amazing Race. Rossmann also mentioned that the challenges in the Amazing Race change each year, which gives students the chance to come back and complete a new set of traditions.

Each team was dressed in their own unique uniforms, which included tutus, face paint, and Star Wars Stormtrooper costumes, just to list a few.

After the race began, teams were spread out all over campus to find clues at different locations such as the Campanile, Rialto dining center, Rod Library and the Alumni Plaza. At some locations, there were race officials who were giving out clues.

One official was Siraj Acharya, a junior sociology major at UNI. Acharya said that he had participated in the Amazing Race Traditions challenge when he was a freshman.

“It’s definitely a little challenging, but I think this also helps them get to know the places around campus, as well as get to know other people because they have to form a group,” Acharya said. “It’s a big team builder because your whole group has to work together. If one is the fastest runner, it doesn’t help. Your group has to run fast. It is a team effort.”

The team that completed all of the challenges and made it back to the Maucker Union first was team Purple Panthers. The team members included Mandy Rawson, Lanna Whitlock, Cole Malcom, Ben Alrichs and Jacob Horn.

According to Horn, a sophomore biology major, his team was surprised to learn of their victory upon returning to Maucker Union.

“We thought, ‘Is it over? Are we the last ones, did everybody already leave?’ Our first clue was in Schindler, and we didn’t leave for a while, so we were surprised,” Horn said.

Rawson, a sophomore communication major, said that they worked as a team to figure out the picture clues for each challenge.

“For each picture, at least one of the team members knew where to go,” Rawson said about her team’s collaborative efforts.

Team Purple Panthers finished first with a time of one hour and 35 minutes. Team prePAIRed to Win came in second, and in third place was team Yoda Winners.

There was an award for the best dressed team, which went to team Chewbacca Awakens. The team was comprised of Anjanah Nair, Danusha Manohar, Manjunath Reddy, Baddah Alqahtani, and Tenzing Bajracharya.

With another Amazing Race Traditions Challenge event complete, students who missed out on the Homecoming event this year can prepare for next year’s Homecoming Amazing Race with different challenges that will help complete their list of UNI traditions.