Running of the (Inaugural) Balls

Bit of a different view of the Inauguration festivities, 2 Washington Post reporters compete to attend the most inaugural galas completing ridiculous and dignity-defying feats along the way.  Kind of like "The Amazing Race" where random objectives would win them points.  Whoever collected the most points by midnight would win! Hahaha...pretty friggin funny if you ask me. 

The only way they could move on to the next ball is:

1. We consumed a food item or beverage with a political name (a "Yes We Canape," for example).


Style writer Monica Hesse race from inaugural ball to ball (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)

2. We found any elected official, a person wearing a tiara or a celebrity of passable renown.
3. We participated in a group dance ("The Electric Slide," for example, or "The Wobble").
4. A song by Stevie Wonder was played.
5. An attendee delivered a speech.
6. We photographed an attendee who is wearing paraphernalia supporting a politician other than Barack Obama.
7. We spotted the other contestant and snapped a surreptitious photo of him or her; the spotter could then exit; the spotted had to remain in the exact location at which he or she was spotted for 15 minutes and write a self-critical diary entry.

If, after 45 minutes, none of these seven exit cues presented themselves, we could leave the ball -- but only by traveling to the next ball on foot. To avoid disqualification, we had to meet at the front steps of The Washington Post by midnight.