For the first time since the Take It Outside Challenge debuted in 2023, one lone competitor gets to claim the first-place prize money. 

Sarah Goodin of Channahon completed all 212 Fall Frolic missions to win first place and a $500 Amazon gift card. 

Goodin said she was participating in the Forest Preserve’s Woods Walk hiking program when she heard about the Take It Outside contest and decided to give it a try. She was joined on many missions by her husband, Todd, and 10-year-old son, Callen.

“We enjoyed visiting all the preserves and seeing just how many amazing places there are,” she wrote in an email. “We’re also big fans of games and puzzles, so this seemed like a perfect combination of things we would enjoy.”

Goodin said she loved seeing her son’s excitement when he found the hidden upside-down picture of Willy Woodchuck, the Forest Preserve's mascot. And she was thrilled to snap a skunk photo when she just happened to drive home from work on a different route one day. Goodin said her toughest mission involved getting a cardinal in just the right lighting to show its colors. 

“We had so much fun during this experience,” she said. “We spent a lot of quality time together exploring new places, noticed things we hadn’t before and celebrated every time we completed another mission.” 

Goodin is a fifth-grade teacher at Minooka Intermediate School, and she said she shared her challenge successes with her students. 

“It was fun to see them get invested," she said. "(I would) tell them about new places and share some of the sillier things we had to do/look for."

One other person finished in first place, but that person is a Forest Preserve volunteer and was ineligible to win the prize money. 

Four participants will share the second- and third-place gift cards totaling $400. They are Frances Galdek of Minooka, Michael Twardak of Channahon, Roxy Summers of Lemont and Cynthia Abel of Oswego. 

The Fall Frolic began on Oct. 6 and ended Dec. 14. Six-hundred participants submitted 32,000 missions to earn points and win prizes via the free Goosechase app on their smartphones. 

This was the second year of the challenge, which consisted of one yearlong challenge last year and seasonal sessions this year. Missions submitted this year for all four seasonal challenges totaled 122,000. 

Each week, new missions were released that required participants to check in at specific GPS locations, take photos of flora and fauna, pose for selfies and answer trivia questions. Point totals were listed on a leaderboard in the Goosechase app so participants could see how they ranked. 

Prizes

Forty-five additional prizes, the most ever for a Take It Outside Challenge, were awarded randomly to competitors. These prizes included five prize packs provided by Wild Birds Unlimited Joliet and cookie card packs provided by Crumbl Cookies in Mokena as well as Forest Preserve gift cards for rentals and restaurant and retail gift cards.

The 2024 challenge had a great turnout with both returning participants from 2023 and new Goosechasers who hopped on board, said Chad Merda, the Forest Preserve’s head of digital marketing strategy/engagement.

Some of the changes that came in 2024 were based on feedback from 2023. Breaking the challenge into four seasonal sessions and grouping missions geographically were well received by the public, Merda said, and it led to more family participation, especially in the summer when kids were out of school. 

Overall, the Take It Outside Challenge has had a positive impact on people’s lives, Merda added. 

“They’ve used it as motivation to spend more time outdoors, hike more and improve their health,” he said. “In the process, they’ve learned more about nature, discovered new places to visit and overall gained a greater appreciation of the work the District does. We’re proud to be able to have such a meaningful impact through this initiative.”

Funding for the campaign was provided by The Nature Foundation of Will County.