Techrace 2019, held on October 13, was an engaging, exciting and energetic event providing a powerpacked kick-off to the build up of Oculus. This event provided the perfect platform to amalgamate brain power with wanderlust thus decoding the clues and reaching the encoded destination in the least amount of time to gain the maximum points.
The prelude to the event were enthralling beatboxing, dance and rap performances with light refreshments that geared up the audience for the exhilarating day ahead. As an added twist, some fun pre-event competitions were held, the winners of which were awarded either a head-start or exciting prizes.
The participants,herded in the quadrangle, were briefed about the rules and the details of Techrace by the organizing team, after which the race commenced.
The initial locations were common to all, after which the participants diverged into separate paths, on an edge-of-the-seat journey encompassing much of Mumbai. Starting from Bhavans campus’ Mandir the race changed from ‘auto’ mode to ‘taxi’ mode with the penultimate clue directing towards CST station and finally leading the participants to Malabar hills’ Priyadarshani Park.
Though the path to the final destination was a long one, with a promise of awards for top 10 teams only, techrace 2k19 saw more than 30 of the 190 participating teams completing the journey and not giving up, ensuring the grand success of the event.
The race got more intense owing to the game-changing power cards, enabling players to freeze rivals at certain locations increasing their time of journey and lowering their rank from the leader-board, but the organizers made sure to not let anyone’s journey be dulled and made them play mini-games by the volunteers standing at those locations.
The activation of the wildcard entry during the race was a huge turning point as the leader board saw some drastic changes pumping up the participants to give their best.
Throughout the race, there were constant fluctuations on the leaderboard, which made for a pulsating finish. Manthan and Rahil bagged the top spot, Jeehan and Sanika the second, while the team of Meet and Krish finished third.
At the conclusion of the race, its top 10 teams were invited to Girgaon Chowpatty, for prize distribution ceremony and relaxing on the seashore after a hectic day. Prizes worth INR 1lakh were distributed among the top teams.
“It was a wonderful experience where we did have a lot of tense moments. But in the end, the rush and all the spendings on transportation proved to be worth it and rewarding as well. The other teams were also very close and that made the contest nerve-wracking.”
Manthan Juthani, FE Comps
The award ceremony saw a huge turn up of people to appreciate the efforts of the organizing team and congratulate the winners while basking in happy vibes of such a grand event. Everyone returned with the satisfaction of having solved some of the clues and being a part of this adrenaline pumping, stimulating journey. Even after such an enervate day, all headed back to their homes, with a triumphant smile on their faces and memories to last a lifetime which was highly rewarding for the organizers, proving that the true treasure was in the hunt itself!!
“Techrace has always been about bonding with your mates and exploring Mumbai. It is a matter of immense pride and joy to have organized such a large scale event. We would like to thank our sponsors, and the participants, for playing along enthusiastically right until the end. Hope to see you next year as well!”
-Darsh Mehta, Executive Head of Techrace 2k19
-Garima Gupta, Sumeet Haldipur, Vedant Gaonkar
Photography by Rounak Jaiswal and Vaibhav Raina