Know that it would be such a thrill

[austin_dern]

Going on down at Ngee Ann City -- at least last time I checked -- was a Subaru endurance contest. The challenge, a repeat of last year's, is to stay standing up with your hand on a car, and outlast all the other contestants. The winner receives a fondled Subaru. (I don't know if there's one or multiple winners this year.)

On the surface a competition of standing in the sun and humidity all day, and the dark and humidity all night, trying to keep limbs from falling asleep may sound ridiculous. Deep down it is, too, although this year more women joined the group that, apparently, started at over 200 people. One of the hosts mentioned that none of the women had bowed out lately; only men had. I wandered by at a fortunate moment, just after one of the five-minute breaks people get every six hours. Someone was a few seconds late getting back from stretching and running to the bathroom, and thus we had the excitement both of getting back into position and of somebody getting disqualified, to the tune, of course, of ``Another One Bites The Dust.''

On stage behind the contestants was an LCD screen showing what I presume were SMS messages to the contest. Some messages were meant to rally exhausted spirits: ``Car 3 Keep It Up -- From Your Fallen Teammate''. Others were less inspirational: ``HAHAHAHAHA''. One probably meant to be inspirational but kind of menacing went: ``Guys You Are Great And You Can Be Greater,'' like they weren't standing and touching the Subarus enough? And another person, apparently with no limits on SMS service, wrote ``1ST U R lucky to win the call thru [ I guess the first round of screening ] and then picking the lucky ping pong ball [ I guess another round of screening ] ...'' It went on quite some while, based on the theme that everybody there was doing a great job and even if they didn't win the car they were winners. I learned watching the evening news that one person had to give up when he started hallucinating wood growing out of his fingernails. Someone else was taken away to hospital.

I don't know whether the winner gets the rather expensive Certificate of Entitlement (required to own a car in Singapore, with a fee typically hovering around S$10,000 for ten years) paid for. Last year's winner held on for about 74 hours.

Trivia: Mercury's transiting the Sun was first observed in November 1631. Source: Measuring the Universe, Kitty Ferguson.

Currently Reading: Quiz Craze: America's Infatuation with Game Shows, Thomas A DeLong.

Comments

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

That's a nicely ludicrous contest indeed. I expect keys to winning it are #1 An ability to push through sleep deprivation #2 limber arms #3 a good starting position.

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

A good starting point seems essential. Contestants have designated white-hand outlines they have to stay within. The ones on the hood seem a lot easier than those on the side, particularly the ones closer to the ground. If I had to be on my knees I'd be gone in maybe ten minutes.

Sleep deprivation and fatigue seem like the biggest threats, although I notice disqualified contestants get pushed into a chair and hydrated quickly.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

I'd imagine getting them the chance to sit down and rest, and get some liquids, is good. The 5-minute break every six hours I expect most people spend on restroom visit, with food/water the secondary priority.

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Yeah; at the risk of sharing more information than anyone wants to know, I can easily spend five minutes on a restroom visit even when I haven't been particularly holding things in. (Of course, my mild obsessive-compulsive disorder makes me feel distinctly uncomfortable if I don't wash up enough, which eats up the time.)

I have to suppose they had prearranged meals, too, since there's no way you'd get any kind of meal at all in five minutes at Ngee Ann City, never mind taking the time to eat it too.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

I'm quick with restroom visits, even with a very thorough handwashing; it's work-trained due to the necessity of cooking demands. During my shift, there's one half-hour break where I eat, visit the restroom, and such.. a busy enough time. Anything else has to be performed with a quick "Keep an eye on things" to a co-worker at a slow moment, a dis-aproning, a hustle down roughly 120 meters of hallway, then all the restroom things, then hustling back, re-aproning, and hoping that there haven't been more than one or two tickets popped up in the interim.

I'd expect pre-arranged meals, energy bars, and the like, as well as beverages to be provided. one-handed-consumable food.

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I'd be mighty surprised if there weren't energy bars or things like that for snacking; honestly, it'd be brutal going without water and food through a couple of days. And there's abundant stuff that can be conveniently eaten one-handed around, from hot dogs through to crab on a stick, without even leaving sight of the contest location. On the other hand, you did have people rushed to hospital and others who have to break off because of hallucinations. Not only have I not got the particular sort of determination for an endurance contest like this, but I don't have the determination to find out exactly how the logistics of such a contest are run.