I can officially cross “we’re going to Vegas baby” off of the bucket list (though I’m not certain it was even there to begin with) by competing in the Great Urban Race National Championship this past weekend.

P and I are always looking for weekend adventures, and with fewer football games and more money saving post-college, when I saw a Tweet from Yelp Atlanta giving away tickets to the Great Urban Race’s Atlanta race in April, I jumped on the opportunity. We were lucky enough to win the race entries, went into the race knowing nothing and we somehow managed to qualify for the race’s National Championship in Vegas (you can read all about the Atlanta adventure here).

We aren’t quite Vegas people (and boy we confirmed that one this weekend) but couldn’t resist the opportunity to go and compete. More bucket list items, right?

To put it simply, The Great Urban Race is a local version of the Amazing Race (though not affiliated) and sends you across a city with 12 clues to figure out, a challenge at each location, four hours to finish and only public transportation to get you from point A to point B.

Saturday’s Vegas race took us to places like the Graceland Wedding Chapel where we had to memorize vows (and I proposed), decode combinations to remove handcuffs at the Mob Museum and determine real from fake at the famous Gold and Sliver Pawn Shop from Pawn Stars.

Over the course of the day, we ran more than eight miles, made our way around town on countless buses and trams and our social networks came to the rescue with Tweets, texts, phone calls and even Facebook posts to help us solve the clues. We worked as a team to finish in just over four hours, crossing the finish line in the top 20 (though a penalty or two might have set us back a few slots in the final results, but we’re not counting that).

If I don’t have to see a naked women card flicked at me or walk the strip from the MGM to the Venetian for a few years, I’ll be OK with that, but the experience was exciting, challenging and just the break we both needed from the day-to-day. We cannot wait for the adventures the Great Urban Race will bring again in 2013 and this time we hear the National Championship will make its way to New Orleans. Hurricanes, jazz and cobblestone streets? Update: the 2013 National Championship has been confirmed for San Juan, Puerto Rico. Even. Better. Count us in. 

Check out the Great Urban Race to see when it’s coming to your hometown, and sign up. I promise it’s worth every penny and maybe you’ll take home the grand $10,000 prize next fall.