Albert was in awe of his new environment.  His ears were full with the deafening roar of the crowds on the sidelines, and the other finalists beside him.  He was optimistic, his mind believing that he would take the gold.  Or would he?  Being on the city streets of Northern Vancouver had its ups and downs.
“Welcome to the Great Escape finals!”  boomed the owner of the race.  “You have all been through so much, and now it’s time we rewarded you with a final leg to the finish!  The rules are the same: Finish all of your given challenges to race your way to the finish line.”
The Great Escape was a worldwide competition for many great athletes to use their skills to get themselves to the finish line, while working through a series of extensive challenges.  Albert’s specialty was volleyball and was hand picked by his coach to participate in the games.  He used his quick feet  and hand eye coordination to race through most of his challenges. 
A large screen showed the shining exit at the end,  the people in the grassy park cheering on the contestants.  They looked chilly because of the weather outside.  Albert was incredibly confused.  How far was the actual race?  The faster, the better, he thought.  He needed to get out fast.
“You will each get a large briefcase, which has your final tip inside.  You can begin your sprint to the finish when you open the briefcase.”
Large, heavy briefcases were thrust into open arms.  Albert struggled under the weight of the package.  He channeled all his strength just to peel it off the ground, and his face broke into a heavy sweat.
“Carry your briefcases all the way to the end to win.  Get ready!”
Albert tucked in his chest, the strong sun propelling his beating heart.
“Set!”
He was revved up, ready to go, and expected to finish.  Little did he know how far the course truly was.
“GO!”
The few contestants left trampled the slower starters, impervious to the challenges waiting ahead.
Albert was one of the first out of the starting gates, his feet flying, the wind whipping his heels.  He soon ran out of breath, miles from the finish.  He took a minute to examine his environment.  The forest he was standing in was lush with foliage, the trees whispering their excitement through the wind.  The rocks that were scattered around the area looked sharp and unscathed.  Albert took a second to relax.  This green place, the soft, whooshing wind, the…
“Welcome to your first challenge!” the giant TV screen overhead exclaimed.
Albert nearly jumped out of his shoes.  What a wake up call!
  “In this challenge, you will be looking for one of these golden pipes, hidden somewhere in this forest.  Find one, and you can move to your next challenge.  Good luck to all!”
By now the amount of competition in the forest had amassed to a large number, and more and more people set out to find the golden pipes.  Albert was quickly overtaken by the competition, scrambling over the rocks and ferns to get a pipe.  Still struggling to walk, Albert made his way to a small pond.  Big enough for someone to lie in, the pond was murky and cloudy.  Albert saw a small glint of gold peering out under the dirty water.
“Hello.” he whispered.
He ran over to the pond to grab the pipe.  Not looking where he was running, he slipped on a nearby mud bank and tumbled into the pond with a giant splash.  He saw his briefcase tumble down into the water, but the pipe was within his reach.  He reached his wet fingers to the golden glint.   Suddenly, a large hand thrust into the water, and the pipe was gone.
Albert gurgled his foulest language up to the heavens and leaped out of the water after his attacker.  Taking a great leap, he tackled his competition and wrestled his opponent to the ground.  He had to fight back.  He wouldn’t let him get away with his pipe.
“Here, have it this way.  You can give me the pipe, or we can play hardball, Tom.” Albert sneered.  Albert recognized this boy as the one that just trampled him earlier in the race. Tom.  Dang, that name was ugly.
Tom rose up to his full 5 foot 3 height and towered over Albert.  His small pointy beard seemed a little bit sharper than it was now, and his pitch black eyes pierced deeper into Albert’s skin the longer he looked.  Respecting his instincts, Albert let out a primal yell.
“Reaaarrrrrrgh!” 
Albert leaped onto Tom, his legs sputtering and kicking as if he was a black belt, his arms spinning like wheels.  He took every opportunity to whack Tom as hard as he could.
Tom did not budge.
Albert lost all his energy, out of breath and panting.  Tom struck.  His bulky, hairy fists drilled into Albert’s face.  His shins were vitally burdened after Tom’s blast of kicks.  In between blasts, though, Albert found something.
The pipe!  How could he be so stupid as to not notice that Tom was using both hands to punch!  He also saw a fork in the road available for targeting.  Albert hoped to the heavens.  Then he kicked Tom where the sun fails to shine.
Tom’s yells gave way to baby whimpers, and Albert left him standing there in the dust.  He brushed himself off, picked up his briefcase and the pipe, and walked away.
The next few minutes composed of Albert walking out of the pipes challenge.  His briefcase actually opened with a space to stick his pipe in.  He then entered a monotonous, rainy space.  He was confused for a moment.  How could a single challenge be here?  He began to walk around the area.  Albert noticed something move in the distance.  He kept his eyes transfixed on the small moving thing.  However, Albert failed to notice the two guards stalking behind him.  They grabbed Albert and knocked him unconscious. 
“Uuuuugghhh.”
Albert struggled to stand up.  He couldn’t open his eyes.  He felt his way around the place he was in.  It was very cold, the metal stinging his fingertips.  He finally summoned all his strength to open his eyes and gasped.
He had just been thrown into the dullest, hardest jail cell ever.  Albert was shocked.  He must have been knocked out for a couple of hours.  On the bright side, there was a television.  He turned it on.
“Welcome to the locks challenge!  In this part of the race, you have been thrown into a jail cell.”
What a surprise.
“Your mission is to get out, by way of strength, tools, and exits available to you.  With your exit is a map to the finish line.  Go!”
Albert raced across the room, throwing out sheets, shaking out pillows, and feeling around the floor to look for a hole in the tile.  His search came to no results, so he searched again.  And again.  He finally noticed a lot of jail cells slamming.  He was in the bottom of the pack! He went into an uncontrollable rage, freaking out. 
“Why is this happening to me!”  he screamed at the wall.
Albert said a few other crude comments, then ran out of breath.  He slammed himself on the bed, exasperated.
“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”
Albert noticed a shaking noise coming from the bed.  The floor was starting to crack!  Albert froze.  If this was the exit, he was ready for a sweet ride.
“Aiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeee!”
Albert landed on cold grass.  He was clearly outside, which meant he had left the jail cell.  He was glad.  Nothing pleased Albert more than the sweet sun and all its warmth.  He looked up and saw a beautiful apple tree.  He admired the lush, shining apples, and a golden key.  A key?  He leaped up toward the branches and swung himself up.  He grabbed the key and landed back down.  Then he remembered.
“You will each get a large briefcase, which has your final tip inside.  You can begin your sprint to the finish when you open the briefcase.”
Albert grabbed the key and jammed it into the case.  He wasn’t done yet!  He could still go all the way!  The briefcase opened with a satisfying click.  Inside was a golden ticket that had a map to the finish on the back.  Albert jumped up and sprinted off, the victory clear in his mind. 
“Yes!”
Still running, he was reading the map, when someone bumped into his side, crashing Albert off course.  It was Tom, golden ticket in hand.
“Not again!”
Albert grunted his delight to see Tom again, after his feet had the unfortunate pleasure of getting to know Tom’s groin.  It was rather sweaty.  He bumped into Tom again, still running.  The two then concentrated on their race, each trying to defeat his rival.  Albert looked at his map.  He was getting close!  He picked up his pace, but Tom was right behind him.  Sprinting along the city streets, Albert and Tom were quite a sight, passing and falling behind each other, both having their sputters of speed.  Albert could now see the finish ahead of him, shining at the end of an open path.  Feet flying, breath heavy, he went full out, his legs cutting through the wind like a machete.  Just a few feet more,  and he would win.  Albert looked behind.  More people were sprinting to the finish, not just Tom.  Albert’s heart told him he was done.  His brain told him to give up.  He ignored both impulses and gave out all his energy.  He could hear feet pacing next to him, but his legs had moved on their own.  And he crossed the finish line.
Albert  lay on the ground, out of breath and out of energy.  It was freezing outside, but his body was immune.  He had given all his effort to finish.  But did it all pay off?  He could wait for an answer.  He had stopped moving, his arms spread out like jelly, his briefcase beside him.  Then the loudspeaker crackled to life.
“Sorry for the delay.  That was a very close race.  A great congratulations to all the racers today.  But in the end, the winner is Tom!”
There were cheers all around, Tom being lifted into the air, and Albert stood up to congratulate his foe. 
“IF,” the loudspeaker cut off, “he still has his case with his pipe inside it.”
There was a sudden silence. Had Tom forgotten to finish with his briefcase?  Tom scrambled, looking for his case, then slumped over in defeat.
“No?” the loudspeaker thundered.  “Then the winner will be Albert, as soon as he finds his briefcase.”
Albert struggled to lift his case after the brief announcement, but he hauled it up to the podium and handed the case to the man waiting.  The man took a key and opened Albert’s case.
Click!
A golden pipe tumbled to the grass.  Silence.
“Did I win?”  Albert questioned.
His response was an uproar of cheers, people storming in from the city to congratulate the new winner.  Albert was dumbstruck.  After all this time, he had won.  After so many challenges, so many failures, he had won the challenge that mattered most.  He knew he had it in him.  He just knew to work hard and never give up.  The crowd parted a moment later to reveal Tom, Albert’s greatest competition.  The two met and shook hands.
“Good job.  You deserved it.  I forgot my case.”
“But you had the win secure.  I’m sorry you didn’t win.  Is the gap feeling any better?”
Tom winced.  “I’d rather forget about that.  A pleasurable experience.”
They laughed for a while, then decided to leave and head out for a meal.
“Say.” Tom said.  “Wouldn’t it be fun to do something like this again?  And I’ll win this time, don’t you worry!”
“Sure,  we should race again.  I had so much fun doing it!”
But would Tom win?  Albert knew the answer already.
Fat chance.