The Race

Starting from the 9th floor, one team member is given two dollar bills when boarding the elevator. Once in the basement, one of the dollars is used to purchase a soda from a specified machine. The soda is then used as the baton in a relay race up the stairs. Nine people will be positioned for the race on the landings from the basement to the 8th floor. After the soda is delivered to the 9th floor, it is opened by the person who bought the soda (who has returned to the 9th floor either by the elevator) and the shaken soda fizzes out into a container. The soda remaining in the can after it stops overflowing will be measured.

Results

Team	Fastest Time	Slowest Time	Participants	ml Soda
Naked Mole Rats	1:34:28	1:38:03	4	757
Lion Tamers	2:17:08	2:26:06	10	674
Topiary Gardeners	2:19:29	2:46:39	4	741
Crazed Roboticists	2:50:23	3:13:99	6	514

Given the scoring algorithm below, the Naked Mole Rats were in first place with 19 points (5+5+4+5), the Lion Tamers placed second (3+3+10+2), the Topiary Gardeners were third (2+2+4+3), and the Crazed Roboticists were last (1+1+6+1).

Through the miracle of science, some cans actually contained more than the advertised 355ml.

Time

Sunday, 25 January, High noon

Location

9th Floor, Southern staircase

Rules

Each team will run the course twice.

Teams with fewer than 10 people available to run the race will have their team members positioned for the relay by the commissioner.

Team members may run in both races only if there are not enough people to complete two full slates of racers.

Every person must participate in some leg of the race to be counted.

Additional rules may be added at the discretion of the commissioner.

Scoring

The score will be computed based on three criteria: time taken, amount of soda left after fizzing and participation.

Time: The best run for each team will be ranked in Tier A; the worst run for each team will be ranken in Tier B. For each tier, the scoring will be 5-3-2-1.

Amount: The amount of soda left in the cans after both runs will be totalled, resulting in one ranking of teams. Scoring for this portion will be 5-3-2-1.

Participation: Each team will receive one point per person, up to a total of 20 for the two races. In the fine tradition of Charles' "suck up points," additional participation points can be gained by assisting the commissioner.

Commissioner

Holly Yanco
holly@ai.mit.edu