This Years Socially Distanced Great Race Results and Reviews Are In

Students from the House of Sir Winston Churchill work together to solve a clue | Photo by: Lucas Drumond

Despite the ongoing pandemic and social distancing regulations in New York City, King’s found a way to host their annual Great Race this past weekend.

“My hope is that just doing the Great Race will help continue King’s tradition,” Great Race designer and Assistant Director of Student Life, Jonathan Sheaffer, said before the race. “Even if you’re not experiencing it together, afterward there is so much room for camaraderie.”

The event looked very different from past years, with four strategy teams and four corresponding roadblock teams. The strategy teams worked from remote locations on riddles while the roadblock teams were split in between groups at Prospect Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Central Park and Battery Park.

While the roadblock teams were not working on their specific roadblocks, they were searching to find objects that would help them obtain special time credits.

Students solve roadblocks in the Financial District | Photo by: Lucas Drumond

“This year, it was a lot more thinking involved to find the clues,” Brianna Jacobs, a sophomore in the House of Thatcher on the Central Park roadblock team, said. “It was a little frustrating at first because it felt like we weren’t getting anywhere, but then we came to the conclusion that one of them had to be at a major landmark (the Belvedere castle) and we found it! From then on, we found the rest and it was a great time!”

The House of Thatcher, according to Director of Residence Life, Leticia Mosqueda, was the only house to find all of the time credits at all of the parks. 

“We had a lot of fun ‘watching’ the race happen from behind the scenes,” Sheaffer said. “At times, it was hard for us to tell how teams were progressing, but by the end it was clear that everyone had a lot of fun. I always love being a part of this community, and yet again, the Great Race ended up being one of my favorite days.”

The House of Susan B. Anthony placed first, followed by The House of Margaret Thatcher in second and The House of C.S. Lewis in third place. 

Photo by: Lucas Drumond

Each of the top three houses provided a representative to comment on the race. 

“It wasn’t even about winning—my team didn’t know how well we were doing or anything,” Kaleigh Webb, House of Susan B. Anthony Helmsman, said. “We just had so much fun and kept encouraging everyone and I think that’s what makes winning this year so special.”

“I’m so proud,” Rachel Williamson, President of the House of Margaret Thatcher, said. “Huge shoutout to our competitions associate Rachel Freeman, who was so prepared, and to the upperclassmen, who were really enthusiastic and invested. Our first years also killed it! It was such a fun day that set the tone for a great year!”

“We are really excited to have placed third,” Ben Ashley, Chamberlain of the House of C.S. Lewis, said. “Congratulations to all the other houses and we can’t wait to win the House cup.”