This week's Weekly Challenge will test how closely you've been following the latest goings-on in the Fredericksburg area.
Our contest this week is a current events quiz for April. Enter for free until 5 p.m. Friday: Fredericksburg.com/weeklychallenge.
We have prizes this week for the top-five finishers:
$30 gift certificate to Marquee Cinemas, courtesy of Germanna Community College (can be used for movie tickets and snacks).
$25 gift certificate to Hard Times Cafe.
One month family membership to YMCA.
Quarter-pound of fudge from Sweet Hannah's Fudge Shoppe.
Free dinner entree from Primavera Pizzeria & Grill.
Congratulations to Mark Huebner of Stafford County, who won last week's contest on the Great Train Race. Huebner was one of four people who got all 10 questions correct, and he was the first of the four to enter.
Huebner and the rest of the Top 10 all got prizes this past week. Here are the rest of the Top 10, in order: Deidre Walker, Becky Washington, Mark Williams, Laura Chewning, Tiffany Tumer, Brian Barnes, Elizabeth Heberlein, Matt Brooks and Bill Krainski.
Last week, 118 people got a point for correctly answering the bonus question in the Friday Free Lance-Star Life section. There will be another bonus question in the same place this Friday.
After 17 weeks of contests, we have a three-way tie for first place between Kenneth McKane, Kathleen Edwards and Ryan Crisp. Twenty-two people have now qualified for the year-end prize drawing.
The Weekly Challenge is a yearlong competition that tests your knowledge of a different topic every week. Everyone who gets 50 points in the standings qualifies for a year-end prize drawing.
1. Which of the following is closest to the number of feet that the 1-mile Great Train Race covers?
b. 5300
2. What will be the age of the fastest female runner in Sunday's Great Train Race?
c. 14 or 15 (see below)
3. What is the abbreviation for Fredericksburg's local running club, which is putting on this weekend's races?
c. FARC
4. What will be the age of the fastest male runner in Sunday's Great Train Race?
b. 16 or 17 (see below)
5. The Caboose Run, which is for children 5 and under, is 400 meters. That is how many times around a standard-size outdoor running track?
a. 1
6. Last year's top male finisher, Christopher Young, ran the Great Train Race in 4 minutes and 47 seconds. Will this year's top male finisher beat that?
a. Yes--Evan Parry, 17, of Fredericksburg ran it in 4:45.
7. The race course starts at Fredericksburg's train station, turns right toward the Chatham Bridge and then quickly takes a right toward the City Dock, where it finishes. Knowing that, which of the following roads is NOT included in the course?
c. Butler Road
8. Last year's top female finisher, Leah Schubel, ran the Great Train Race in 5 minutes and 33 seconds. Will this year's top female finisher beat that?
a. Yes--Colleen Wade, 14, of Stafford ran it in 5:27.
9. When the Great Train Race's first heat starts at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, what will be the local temperature listed at the top of the Fredericks burg.com homepage?
b. 60-69 degrees (It was 63)
10. Since 2000, the fastest time recorded in the Great Train Race came in 2002 when Mike Porter Jr. ran it in 4 minutes and 19 seconds. Will any runner beat that time this year?
b. No
Bonus Question (distance of Great Train Race): 1 mile
Enter at Fredericksburg.com/weeklychallenge. It's free.
1. John W. Scott Jr., a Fredericksburg civil rights pioneer, died last month at the age of 59. Scott served the area in what profession for the past nearly two decades?
a. Doctor
b. Teacher
c. Judge
d. Architect
2. Public hearings were held last month in front of Fredericksburg City Council on this water park.
a. Water Country USA
b. Busch Gardens
c. Kings Dominion
d. Kalahari
3. Last month marked the one-year anniversary of the tragedy that left 33 people dead at this Virginia university.
a. William & Mary
b. Virginia Tech
c. George Mason
d. James Madison
4. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held last month at the new State Fair of Virginia site in this county.
a. Caroline
b. King George
c. Spotsylvania
d. Stafford
5. Germanna Community College inaugurated its fifth president at a ceremony last month in Culpeper. What is the new president's name?
a. Frank Turnage
b. Jerry Hill
c. David Sam
d. Edd Houck
6. Which of the following people is running to be Fredericksburg's mayor?
a. B-J Huff
b. Debby Girvan
c. Kerry Devine
d. Mary Katherine Greenlaw
7. Dominion received approval last month to build what underground in Stafford County?
a. Tunnel
b. Power Line
c. Sewer Pipe
d. Irrigation System
8. The National Democratic chairman spoke last month at a fundraiser at the Culpeper Country Club. Who spoke?
a. Barack Obama
b. Howard Dean
c. Hillary Clinton
d. Al Gore
9. Justin Whitaker, an 18-year-old Stafford County resident and baseball player who lost a courageous battle with cancer last month, attended this high school.
a. Colonial Forge
b. Stafford High
c. North Stafford High
d. Mountain View
10. HCA broke ground last month on an 126-bed hospital in this county.
