MAD FIGS Digest #13-2: 5/5/09
While many challenges arose up to and during the 11th Annual MAD FIGS Septathalon, the event was still a huge success! In fact, it was hailed by several people as "one of the top three Septathalons of all time." As usual, things started out slow with several late arrivals to the Frisbee Golf competition. By the time things officially kicked off a storm front had rolled in, bringing a light rain. The intensity of the weather conditions increased throughout the event, but it was agreed that the rain was better than the normal summer heat.The first major change to the Septathalon came during the Dam Diner Dash. Several competitors felt that running alongside Friant Road in low-visibility conditions would be a pretty bad idea, so instead the race was held to the Lost Lake tollbooth and back. This brought back fond memories of the Robinson Cup Run in the minds of many. The Dam Diner was almost empty due to the weather, so the MAD FIGS were able to take the place over for a unique private dining experience. Also possibly for the first time, everyone was not coughing throughout the dinner!
The next schedule change was the swapping of bowling and miniature golf in hopes that the weather would be clearer on Saturday. Certain factions campaigned hard against the change (using questionably legal methods in some cases) but the popular vote won out. Bowling was held at Fresno State during Cosmic Disco night, which may have caused temporary lack of focus and judgment in some competitors.
While skies were gray the next morning, a shocking number of people turned up on time for the Adventure Race. After the normal amount of cheating during the race, Ultimate Frisbee began on time and proceeded smoothly. Due to extreme sissification on behalf of the players, all the games were played 5 on 5 (rather than 2 on 2 and 3 on 3 pairings suggested by the patent-pending Silver Sombrero System). This meant that there was no "big game" to be had at the end, and thus no bonus points were available.
The new Nerd Shooting supplementary event was very popular among the spectators, with several techniques being used to varying degrees of success. After a short lunch break, the rest of the day's events proceeded smoothly and the Septathalon finished almost on schedule. The final results came as a shock to everyone, especially the winner who declared that he was worried about getting third place! A clutch victory in Miniature Golf was the secret to success, creating a last-minute 600 point gain that resulted in the win.
OVERALL 2009 RESULTS
1. Lito - 5850
2. Animal - 5650
3. Paulo - 4100
4. vinnardo - 4000
5. T-Bird - 3825
6. Matty - 3725
7. Ricardo - 3450
8. Jenny #3 - 3100
9. Scott Dogg - 2350
10. Lindsay - 2000
11. Danielle - 1400 (tiebreaker due to events completed)
12. Justin R. - 1400
13. Pookie - 1200
14. Jackie - 900
15. Iceman - 800
16. Heidi - 700
17. Mr. Lundbergh - 500
18. Maya - 400
One interesting idea proposed during the event was in regards to Septathalon 14 in 2012. The idea would be to replace the normal events with ALL the supplemental events from years past. This would include: Dam Diner Dash, Pen Twirling, Frisbee Golf (9 holes), Dancing Game, Underwater Swimming, Nugget Eating, Pull-Ups, Little Ceaser's Pizza Machine, Home Run Derby, Free-Throw Shooting, Nerds Shooting, and 2 more events to be determed in the future. Luckily there's still plenty of time to think this one over.
There were multiple photographers at each event, so hopefully some of these pictures will eventually surface. In the meantime, there is a special, previously unannounced project in the works to which you can also look forward. While there is still a lot of data entry required to move things along, you can get a small idea of what's to come by keeping an eye on http://www.madfigs.com Hopefully there will be new surprises on a regular basis, with a formal announcement to follow when the project is complete. One interesting fact I've learned so far: the total number of different participants in the 11 Septathalons has been approximately 100 people!
Thanks to everyone for making the event a success, and hopefully we'll see some of the new faces (and maybe even some old ones) back again next year!
Scott Dogg
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