Student teams balanced, bowled and sprinted across campus as they competed to win China Care Club’s Third Annual Amazing Race.

First place went to the Amaze Runners, Siu Lam Koo, a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience, and Victoria Tam, a junior majoring in biology, who beat out 14 other teams, including the E-Lemonaders and the Beijinghamtons, for a $50 Chipotle gift card. They sprinted from the Greenhouse to the finish at the Events Center to receive their prize and take a picture in front of the Bearcat statue.

“We started out not acting that competitively, but as we got into it, we just said ‘OK, we’re not just playing around,’ and we became determined to win,” Tam said.

According to Leon Tran, a member of China Care and a senior majoring in biology, the event raised about $150. The proceeds were donated to Half the Sky Foundation, an organization that seeks to improve the welfare of orphaned children in China by funding medical care and education programs.

“We’ve done this every year so far, and every year it’s been a lot of fun and a great way to give back to campus and help Chinese orphans,” Tran said.

This event had racers competing across the campus to find various stations and complete challenges in exchange for new clues. The first team to find all of the clues and reach the end of the race was the winner.

The 11 challenges included knocking down cans with rubber bands in Lecture Hall 8, balancing a ping-pong ball with chopsticks in Hinman College, finding a goldfish cracker in a bowl of flour with just the racer’s face and solving a jigsaw puzzle made of cereal boxes blindfolded with a teammate guiding their partner near the West Gym tennis courts.

“We were so determined when we came to the station where you had to get the goldfish out of the flour; I just dove right in and dug it out with my tongue,” Tam said. “Some other people tried to blow out the flour or whatever, but not me.”

The challenges were spread across campus everywhere from the Dickinson Community to the Fine Arts Building to the gazebo near the tennis courts. Frank Tiu, the vice president of China Care and a junior majoring in biology, sat on a bench in the Spine for participants to take a selfie with as part of a challenge.

“It’s really fun to see people this excited and enthusiastic, especially after weeks of planning.” Tiu said.

Imran Mahmood, a junior majoring in English, and Siu Ka Wong, a junior majoring in physics, won second place as the Beijinghamtons. They each received a $10 gift card to Cyber Cafe West.

“It was really tiring, but we never stopped and all the moving around kept us from noticing the cold,” Mahmood said.

Emily Sullivan, a member of China Care and an undeclared freshman, ran the Deep Goo Plunge which required students to dig through sticky foods for clues.

“It’s been a lot of fun and it’s good to be involved in something bigger than yourself,” Sullivan said. “The racers all had different reactions when they did the challenge, and it’s cool to watch them act so enthusiastically.”