Quicksand Fans

Tiffany and Triclopse head straight for the trunk and look for the best way to climb over and quickly. Michelle and Abigail however prefer to avoid the obstacle entirely and take the route around it. Abigail heads to the left side, while Michelle tries her luck to the right of the tree. They soon find that the mud is a little softer and deeper to either side, but decide not to let that stop them. Abigail reaches the base of the tree, but finds it difficult to move on, sinking knee-deep with every step. She grabs the tree's gnarly dead roots to gain some leverage and keep moving. Meanwhile Michelle has sunk even slightly deeper and finds herself stuck in the mud just past her knees. Both of them keep struggling to move on.

Triclopse is about to take the lead, reaching and quickly pulling himself up, when the branch he grabbed breaks and he manages just barely to hang on and not fall down in the mud. Tiffany is a little slower but more careful about which of the dead branches she trusts to support her weight. Eventually they both make it to the top and jump down on the other side, splashing each other with some more specks of mud. The mud almost perfectly matches Triclopse's grey t-shirt and thereby is hardly visible on it. This makes TIffany look a look muddier, as the grey mud clearly contrasts her skin and outfit. They both charge towards the reeds head-to-head.

Neither however, is as muddy as Abigail and Michelle, who both spend valuable minutes struggling against the mud's suction. Abigail manages to get out first, mostly thanks to the root's support. Michelle is a little less lucky, with the tree top providing no solid branches for her to hold on. The thick mud refuses to let her go of her legs for a while longer, but eventually she manages to break free as well.

Rank 1: Triclopse, Tiffany (10 minutes)
Rank 3: Abigail (13 minutes)
Rank 4: Michelle (14 minutes)

The runners all reach the tall reeds. There they lose sight of one another. Even Triclopse and Tiffany, who enter the vegetation simultaneously, cannot tell where exactly the other is. The reeds are easily pushed aside, but they are tall enough to block everyone's view and it's hard to tell what lies even 1 meter ahead, especially while moving quickly. The ground is soggy and black and the smell of peat hangs in the air.

If it was not for the sun, one might easily lose their sense of direction and get lost in this place. However they all know to keep heading West, away from the sun. The only question is, how quickly do they dare to keep going ahead.

Your choices this time:
A) Run
B) Walk
C) Walk slowly

Pushing through the reeds, Tiffany continues to run hoping to gain the lead from triclopse.

Michelle opts to walk through the reeds

Triclopse finds the reeds too thick even for his vision 3-fold to see through. After almost falling off the tree earlier he opts for caution this time, and moves at walking pace.

Abigail remembered she had been doing the race in just a bikini, and she had been carrying her chest waders in a backpack she forgot she was wearing. She takes a quick break to put the waders on. She walks slowly continuing on, using her footprints in the thick mud to do her best to stay on a straight path.

Tiffany keeps charging on ahead and fails to notice that all the others are slowing down. She forces her way through those reeds at top speed, intent on winning the race. Triclopse and Michelle choose a moderate walking speed to improve their chances of avoiding any bogs in their path. And Abigail has a very bad feeling about this area and reduces her speed to a slow crawl, watching each and every step.

For a moment Triclopse is pleased to find the reeds clearing up just before him. He thinks he may have already cleared this zone, but find that it is just a clearing and takes one step too many forward. His right leg immediately disappears to his upper thigh and he struggles to maintain balance. Forced to plant down the other leg in the dark brown peat as well, he finds himself stuff and slowly sinking, but not far from the edge of the bog. Quickly he turns around to grab some reeds to pull himself free.

Meanwhile Michelle, who entered the zone last, senses some movement to her right. She keeps walking as she looks that way and promptly stumbles into another bog. Her skirt dips into the morass as she settles into it past her knees. However she reacts quickly to fix her mistake and leans the other way to reach solid ground. With her fingers digging into the wet earth she extracts herself from the bog as quickly as she can, losing merely 1 minute.

Abigail notices some odd noises to her left. She is not sure whether it was some animal at first, but then makes out a figure partially covered in dark peat walking on ahead. Apparently Michelle. That confirmes her suspicions about the danger hidden between those reeds and she keeps to her slow and steady pace, easily spotting and evading a bog in her path.

Tiffany continues leading on far ahead and would have soon been clear of the reeds, if it was not for the bog straight ahead. She realizes her mistake much too late, bursting out into the clearing at top speed and splashing into the waiting morass. Her shorts immediately disappear in the bog and she finds herself stuck waist deep and sinking. She turns back to see if she can reach solid ground, but it is definitely too far away. Same problem in every other direction. Tiffany knows she is in serious trouble. She remains still for a moment, but keeps getting deeper, just at a somewhat slower pace. The dark wet peat reaches the petite girl's sports bra. Her chances of getting out of this bog by herself are slim to none.

Triclopse finally manages to escape the bog's clutches. He lost at about 2 minutes struggling against the mire, but then promptly goes on ahead - a little more alert than before.

It looks like everyone is making it, except possibly for Tiffany. Maybe one of the other runners will try to safe Tiffany, at the expense of some of their time.

The next zone, directly beyond those dense reeds, are the Moorlands. The smell of peat is much more intense here. Small hillocks are covered in spongy moss with patches of black moist ground in between. An unmarked trail can be seen. It winds its path from one hillock to the nextin a zigzag route across the moor. At least to the point were it vanishes into the thick fog ahead. One may attempt to walk past the fog bank on the left. There one could easily see the ground, but it would mean leaving the trail.

Your choices this time:
A) Run along the trail
B) Walk along the trail
C) Run off the trail and avoid the fog

In addition ONE runner may opt to help Tiffany. First one to say so will come to her rescue. Or she will be struggling on her own, if nobody volunteers. If anyone does, make sure to also pick your choice for the next zone. Tiffany should also pick an option just in case she does make it out of that quagmire... we shall yet see about that.

Preliminary ranking (without rescue option):
Rank 1: Triclopse (20 minutes)
Rank 2: Michelle (23 minutes)
Rank 3: Abigail (25 minutes)
?: Tiffany

"Someone HELP... please!" Tiffany screams hoping someone will safe her. (Option B if I'm rescued)

Abigail goes around the fog, heading off the trail for a little bit. Even though she's wearing chest waders, she remains careful.

If Tiffany doesn't call for help, Triclopse reaches the end of the reeds and notices she hasn't made it. Remembering the speed she was running, he calls to her and checks the nearby area, hoping he's built up enough of a lead.

After helping her out, he returns to the moorlands and walks along the trail.

Tiffany yells as the bog rises just over her sports bra.