Never in my life, in any city I have lived in, have I heard of anything like Danger Run. It is a Halloween game that you play in your car. You are given a book of rhyming clues and you need to decode each limerick to know where to drive next. The objective is to get the exact mileage (not the shortest or the quickest!) that it would take if no mistakes were made en-route. In the event of a tie, the tie breakers are to count the number of stop signs, traffic lights, and sponsors locations (Dairy Queen, Lowe's, Domino's Pizza, and Speedway) along the way.
It costs $15.95 per person. This includes the entry to two brand new Haunted Houses positioned along the route, a free cheeseburger from Dairy Queen, and if you have 4 or more people in your car, a $10 gift card from Speedway to cover your gas. The one Haunt we made it to (more on that in a bit) was $17 for 1 ticket, so you are obviously getting a good deal.
I am dying to tell about our Danger Run experience this past Friday so here we go: I went with my husband and another couple in their mid 20's; none of us are originally from Louisville and we all moved here within the last year. We met in the Lowe's parking lot on Hurstbourne at 8pm and piled into my husband's car. We had all come from our various day jobs, but I had literally come straight from conducting a wedding rehearsal. After getting all our instructions and quieting down enough to understand them, we were off around 8:30pm.
It took us at least 4 clues (5 lines each) to get our bearings. We are all competitive people and there was a lot of brake-slamming and pausing by the side of the road so as not to accumulate more than the exact mileage. It was obvious when we'd see other "Danger Runners" because we were all driving 15 mph and had our interior lights on so we could read the clues. I had no idea how far we'd actually be driving. By the time we reached Page 5 of the clues we had not yet arrived at our first Haunt and had no idea where we were. We came to this clue:
The next turn for you's not the same as your last,
on the first road beyond where they drive over fast.
Then you'll turn left again,
but not 'til I say "when",
and that will be after the Bullitt line's passed
We were stumped until we saw the sign for "Bullitt County" and there was a universal "Home Alone"-style scream from everyone in the car. We were in Bullitt County! Backwoods Kentucky is terrifying to Northerners!
We finally reached our first Haunt at 10pm with very few mistake made. I was excited, but not properly dressed (remember I came from a wedding rehearsal). We stood in line for a good while and then were led through "Wolf Creek Haunted Forest". I was scared for sure, but I am the wrong person to ask considering I haven't been to a haunted house since a traumatic bladder control issue I had at a haunted maze at age 11. By 11pm we were on our way to the 2nd Haunt.
We had to make a DQ run because we were starving at this point and we had a giggle-fest as we put in our fake vampire's teeth for the drive-thru lady. We were definitely having the most fun you can have in a car until something went drastically wrong...we got tired! The clues stopped making sense and we started making wrong turns. After a flawless first 2/3's we were all the sudden a mess! At one point, we were pulled over trying to figure out the next clue (which didn't make sense since we had unknowingly messed up on the prior clue) and all the sudden we saw flashing blue lights behind us. A cop! We were being pulled over when we were already pulled over (ever seen Super Troopers?!). We started to freak out though we were doing nothing wrong; did I mention we are all goody-goodies too. The police officer approached the window and as we were getting ready to frantically explain ourselves he said, "So what clue are we on?"
Unfortunately, at that point not even the law could help us. We had driven over 50 miles in 4 hours, and we were screwed. It was 12:30am and my husband and I had to work the next day. We had to wave the white flag and just give up. The disappointment in the car was intense. We were seriously into winning, but we had made too many wrong turns to go back now. We went home shamed and exhausted and grumpily threw ourselves into bed.
No joke, I woke up the next morning and shook my husband awake...I had figured it out in my sleep! I figured out exactly which clue we had read wrong and what we should've done. We were obsessed. Even though I worked the whole next day, my husband went back to the spot that we had messed up and reworked the route; texting me along the way. Pathetic? Maybe, but very satisfying. Don't judge until you try it.
Tips and Tricks:
-wear warm comfortable clothes and shoes.
-pack snacks and drinks (candy is a must).
-go early! It starts at 7pm...start as early as possible (remember, we didn't finish and it took us 4 hours without the 2nd Haunt!
-read "POTS" backwards!
-read all five lines of each clue before you try to figure it out...that's where our fatal mistake was!
Find more information about locations and dates on Dangerrun.com
Photo courtesy of facebook.com/dangerrun
Maggie moved to Louisville from Buffalo, NY in Dec. 2009. She has also lived in London, Chicago, and Louisiana. Find out more about her business Weekend Wedding Warrior, LLC and her private counseling practice.
