I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I was invited by a friend (who ended up not showing). I knew where I had to be and that I should wear my running shoes, but that was pretty much all. Luckily, my fiance decided at the last minute to accompany me. (Best. Date. Ever.) We headed for the event, not knowing what to expect.

I'm not overly familiar with the city and my sense of direction is terrible. I got turned around on my way to the start point, so the idea of wandering around the city while being chased was a bit eerie.

At the beginning, we decided there was safety in numbers. We picked a big group of runners, and stayed toward the center. There was no way the chasers on bikes could tag us all. When a chaser came toward us, the whole group surged into a train station. I tripped, but managed to catch myself- it would have been just my luck if I'd twisted my ankle less than five minutes into the game. When the chaser had passed, we all streamed out of the station, and the group split up. My fiance and I headed directly for the first check point, and made it there with no major problems.

The crowd split up a bunch more after the first check point. There was a chaser on a bike at the corner, and we waited for him to go after another group before running across the street. We swung by 7-11 on the way to the second check point to pick up some water, and I was tasked with watching the door in case a chaser came in. After leaving 7-11, I managed to go the wrong way three times before finally finding my way to the second check point.

After the second check point we decided to take the side streets. Since we didn't know our way around and I seemed determined to get us lost, we picked a set of players who seemed to know where they were going and followed them. We were about a block and a half behind them, and there was a small group of players about the same distance behind us. We kept an eye on both groups so we could duck down an alley if either started running. The players in front of us turned to head toward the check point, and we turned a block before them, keeping an eye on them between buildings whenever we could. I saw one of them tying on a pink ribbon, and we turned to run back the other way, but another chaser had circled back behind us. He caught my fiance, and I started to run, but hesitated when I realized that I had no idea where I was, and the chaser caught me.

After we handed over our ribbons, we decided to skip ahead to a later check point. There were chasers as far as the eye could see around check point 3, and we thought there might be less later on. That might have been a mistake. All we saw for the next couple hours was more chasers. Some of them were pretty clever. We walked past what I took to be a couple. The girl was eating pizza and the guy was walking a dog. I didn't even notice that the guy had a pink ribbon until my fiance pointed it out - I was too distracted by the adorable dog. Well played, dog walking guy.

After a couple hours of fruitless (but fun) wandering, we decided to head to the red line. I think there was a closer station, but I was so lost by that point that I just wanted someplace familiar. (Note to self - buy map and compass.)

We hardly saw anyone on our way - the streets were pretty deserted. Right outside the Sox station we saw a bus stop and pick somebody up. I happened to glance up as the bus went by, and I saw that the guy who had just boarded had a blue ribbon. I was cursing myself for being so slow and unstealthy - I totally could have caught that guy! We considered hanging out by the station in case other players came out, but it was getting late, and we didn't want to lurk suspiciously in an unfamiliar neighborhood, so we headed home.

Lessons I learned:
1- If I'm ever being hunted, I hope that it's in my home town. Knowing the territory is an incalculable advantage.
2- I'm not cut out for a life of crime. I'm terrible at acting nonchalant.