Will County forest district’s Take it Outside Challenge winners announced

The Forest Preserve District of Will County’s inaugural Take it Outside Challenge ended Dec. 31 with multiple participants in a tie for first place.

Winners completed all 501 nature-themed missions throughout the year by using the free Goosechase app to earn 13,086 points and wind up at the top of the leaderboard.

Missions included trivia questions, check-ins within the preserves, selfies with specific backgrounds and hunts for various nature elements.

The challenge ended in a 12-way tie for first place. One first-place finisher was not eligible for a prize because he is a district employee, and two others – a married couple – will share one prize. The $900 prize money will be split 10 ways.

Take it Outside Challenge winners are Mike Slowik of Bolingbrook, Heather Linko of Crest Hill, Joanne Nott of Plainfield, Matthew Jaeger of Crest Hill, Nick and Stacey Scholtes of Shorewood, Linda and Ross Neumann of Manhattan, Amy and Zoey Bartling of Monee, Kathy Figuieras of Elwood, Ulises and Martha Coronel of Chicago and Melissa Warren of Homer Glen.

More than 1,200 people participated in the challenge, completing about 115,000 missions in total, which was a record for the largest-ever experience hosted on the Goosechase platform.