KAMLOOPS – When racers line up for the annual TRU Amazing Race this Friday, they’ll be getting ready, set, go for much more than a run around town.
The race was created to give international students at the university an opportunity to meet Canadian students in a fun way, and to help them get acquainted with the city, explained co-organizer Kari Pavlovich.
“The Amazing Race gives international students a chance to meeting each other as well as Canadian students, and to realize that they’re studying at a special place,” she said. “The race also increases their awareness of local businesses, attractions and historical sites available in our community.”
Organizers have capped the race at 15 teams of two international and two domestic students each. So far, students from 16 countries, including Finland, The Netherlands, Japan, Norway, Russia, Austria, Germany, China, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Australia, Sweden and Brazil have signed up.
These student participants in the TRU version of the popular TV reality show, The Amazing Race, join forces with Canadian students to finish the wacky course through Kamloops, running, taxiing, and even riding tricycles to get from one destination to the next.
Guided by clues, racers go to local businesses, restaurants, and parks to complete such diverse challenges as bowling backwards, dancing, gobbling chicken wings, shooting hoops, and binding their legs together to hop awkwardly along.
“This event is part of the realization at TRU that internationalization of a campus is really about the people,” said Pavlovich. “Our university offers study abroad, international program content, and a huge diversity of cultures, but personal relationships and networks are really key.”
“We know, from direct student feedback, that our international students (800 on average per term) are here not only because of academic considerations, but social and cultural ones as well,” says Pavlovich. “They rate “making friends and meeting Canadians” as a top goal when they speak of what they want to get out of TRU. So we try to help them make that happen.”
Canadian students are often as eager to meet international students as the other way around, since they, too, are part of a world where cross-cultural ease and relationships are important assets, added Pavlovich.
New this year is an electronic timing system donated for the day by the Sage Orienteering Club.
“This year, the race will use a system called Sportident which is an electronic timing and punching system that identifies participants at different locations,” explained Pavlovich. “It will help us to easily identify teams and to manage the timekeeping, and the racers will be able to see which areas they did well and other areas that they didn’t do well in.”
Warm-up for the race begins at 2 pm Sept. 29, at TRU’s International Building, with the race beginning at 2:45 pm, and winding up back at the university around 6:30 pm with prizes for the top three finishing teams
For more information, please contact Kari Pavlovich at 320-5728 or by email.
Video Footage from last year’s event can be viewed here.
