Campus recreation’s Valentine’s Day challenge draws couples

An ordinary basketball court transformed into the playground for an alternative Valentine’s Day celebration Sunday at the Rams Head Recreation Center.

The 2011 Valentine’s Day Couples Challenge, organized by the special events committee of campus recreation, drew 15 couples who participated in a variety of challenges.

Couples competed in a three-legged race, a hula-hooping contest, a Sudoku puzzle, a balloon cup challenge, a blindfolded minefield, a leap frog race and a pin-the-wings-on-the-Cupid challenge.

“Our expectations are it’s going to be a light and fun activity for couples who choose to participate,” said special events intern Aaron Stern.

Brad and Mandy Adkins, who won the event by one point, said the activities were “awesome.”

“I liked the Sudoku because we do them all the time at home,” said Mandy Adkins, a doctoral student in the School of Education.

The couple has been married since August. Brad Adkins is a 2009 graduate of UNC, and Mandy Adkins is working toward her doctorate.

“We met at the bus stop,” Brad Adkins said, before his wife added, “On my first day of grad school.”

Besides competing at the event, the couple will also continue their tradition of writing each other a love letter to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

The couple will receive two special events T-shirts for their win.

Participants Rachel Lewallen, a sophomore, and Meredith Carter, a freshman, said they enjoyed the hula-hoop contest, which they won with a time of five minutes.

“We did this to celebrate Valentine’s Day the right way, together,” Lewallen said.

Carter said they met at band camp and have been dating since August.

They said they would participate in something like this again in a heartbeat.

Senior Casey Holmes and her boyfriend, senior Russell Trigonis, also competed at the event after Holmes signed them up.

They agreed that the balloon cup challenge was their favorite.

The task, which was based on the show “Minute to Win It,” required couples to blow up balloons and push the air out to topple cups on a table within a minute.

All of the couples took less than a minute to knock over the cups, said organizer Makani Dollinger.

“I think we should have analyzed it and made it harder,” Dollinger said.

Some couples came to the activities with specific goals in mind.

Bryce Finger said his girlfriend, junior Mary Shen, wanted to participate because she has dreams of being on the show “The Amazing Race.” The couple met at a lecture on debt aid in Africa and have been dating for more than a year.

Stern was happy with the turnout of the event.

“We would definitely do it again next year.”

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