The inaugural Amazing Race, which combines the use of geographic information systems (GIS) mapping technology by the participating players, is a success after its organisers gave it the thumbs up.

It was hosted and organised by the SGRUG (Samoa GIS & RS User Group) on Saturday morning with the operations centre set up in front of the Samoa Tourism Authority (STA) Cultural Village.

The race combined the use of GIS mapping technology with "challenges" scattered across the Apia seawall stretching from Mulinuu to Matautu. There were 16 teams made up of five players totalled around 90 participants who competed in the race with the event starting at around 8am and finishing at 12pm. 

Inspired by the multi Emmy Award-winning reality series The Amazing Race, participating teams had to complete challenges for points along the seawall, without the use of any transport other than running or walking. The team that completed the most challenges and received the most points won the race.

With the use of personally-owned smartphones, each team used the mobile app to scan QR codes to upload footage onto the app to receive points. The race organisers are able to communicate and monitor each team’s activity and their challenges virtually – with the use of GIS mapping system technology – using a phone app sourced by SGRUG.

The SGRUG President, Tooa Brown, said the Samoan version of the Amazing Race is different from the others as it is run using an app that is GPS-enabled. 

“It’s different from other races; we conduct it on an app that is GPS enabled which is the focus of our SGRUG group which is the key essence to setting up this race," said the President. 

“We are celebrating Samoa’s 60^th anniversary so a lot of the challenges are history-based so teams will be getting clues and riddles based on historical sites based in the town area and the GPS on their phones will show that they are present there."

The SGRUG was formally established in 2021 and looks to promote spatial data management, GIS technology development and the upskilling of local data and spatial professionals. 

They also acknowledged their major sponsors who made it possible for this event, especially the STA which provided the venue to host the day's events.

The SGRUG membership hope to hold this event annually and encourage everyone to join in next time it is held. They are also open to hosting private race events for clients. They can also offer training for those interested in this area and want to create awareness about the GIS and GPS mapping technology in Samoa and its many possible uses.