Every month, local high school students scramble over fences, sneak through backyards and prowl for prisoners of war. A game of the fittest erupted into a universal experience that crowns one person as the winner. This game tests player’s agility, skill and intelligence in a five mile run using only help from their feet. No skateboard. No bike. No car. Thus, leaving the unanswerable question, what exactly is Man Hunt?
“It’s a pretty competitive game,” Sophomore Rainer Sherwood said. “People find their own crazy routes and go to extreme lengths to win.”
Without arguments, competitors know Man Hunt as one of the most epic games ever created. Yet, many people wonder if everyone can participate. Of course, everybody can join the chaos. Before the game begins, players must answer the ultimate question: runner or chaser?
Runners, like the foxes in fox hunting, run from start to finish in approximately three hours. The runners use only their feet. They can hide in trees and take whatever route they want, just as long as they get to finish line in the allotted time. Once tagged by a chaser, the runner must give up his pride and hand over his arm band, then join the chasers in the hunt.
“The thrill of being a runner in Man Hunt is to escape from the chasers and win,” Junior Lucas Melendez said. “The fun is out smarting the chasers and beating them out physically.”
Chasers, like the hounds in fox hunting, must give the runners a ten minute head start before they begin their pursuit. Unlike the runners, the chasers can use any form of transportation, like roller blades, Segways, unicycles or their little brother’s Heeleys.
Man Hunt requires strategy to play. Runners must be creative with the routes they take and the places they hide because, if exposed, a chaser will tag them.
“I’ve been through sewers and a golf course during the LPGA golf tournament,” Melendez said. “For my first win, I hid in a tree for thirty minutes then pounced out and won.”
Man Hunt, an exhilarating game, tests player’s strengths and weaknesses. If participants are not prepared for a five mile sprint, then they are better off just staying at home.
“It’s really hard so if you don’t play any sports then you shouldn’t do it because you will die…literally,” Junior Monica Dornick said. “But, its fun to run around and meet new people.”
