The high school friends behind the longest game of tag EVER! The 40-somethings who fly across the world and break into each others' homes in quest to avoid being 'it'



A group of 40-something men have spent much of the past 30 years engaged in one of the longest running and most elaborate games of tag ever.



The idea of a bunch of grown men traveling the country attempting to tag each other may sound strange, but it has helped to foster an enduring friendship between the ten buddies.



The high jinks started back in high school when as teenagers they would entertain themselves by playing the schoolyard game during breaks at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Washington.

Who's it? High school buddies and hardcore tag fans (from left to right) Bill Akers, Patrick Schultheis, Sean Raftis and Mike Konesky

‘Back then we used to get up to some crazy things like running through the halls, but after we graduated we went our separate ways,’ says Mike Konesky, who has the dubious honor of currently being ‘It.’



The competition initially ended on the last day of high school in 1983 and for the next seven years, college and careers got in the way of childish pranks.



Then a school reunion in 1990 sparked an idea to reinstate the competition, partly as a way for everyone to keep in touch and partly because the guys missed the competitiveness of trying to outwit each other.

Ever since the men have competed in the friendly competition, although they limit the game to the month of February because more adult responsibilities such as jobs and families tend to get in the way.

The players have all signed 'The Tag Participation Agreement’ which outlines the spirit of the game and remains fundamentally the same as the schoolyard version they played all those years ago.



The rules include that one player is ‘It’ until they tag someone else and you are not allowed to tag a player who has just tagged you.

The long-running game of tag started back in the early 1980s at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Wash.

The rules may remain the same, but the game has certainly grown more elaborate over the years. Wives have been enlisted as spies, assistants at work are ordered to bar players from the office and sometimes players will travel the length of the country or even abroad in the hope that they can surprise and tag another player.

‘You're like a deer or elk in hunting season,’ Joe Tombari, a high-school teacher in Spokane, told the Wall Street Journal . He admits he sometimes locks the door of his classroom during off-periods and checks under his car before he gets near it during the month of February.



Back in the mid-1990s, Tombari and his wife, then living in California, got a knock on the door from a friend.



A neighbor invited them to inspect his new car, but w hat they didn't know was that Father Sean Raftis, then the current 'It,' had flown in from Seattle and was hiding in the trunk. He jumped out and tagged Tombari, whose wife was so shocked that she fell and tore a knee ligament.

T he most ambitious attempt at a tag ended in failure for Tombari when he traveled all the way to Munich, Germany to tag Konesky.

The tag ceased for several years after the boys left Gonzaga Preparatory School but it started up again in 1990 after they had a high school reunion

On that occasion Tombari managed to tag his rival, but it wasn't allowed to stand as it occurred on March 2nd. Tombari hadn't been able to get the time of work during February and as a result his trip didn’t count.

Another cross country trip involved Konesky traveling from his home in California to pay a visit on Chris Ammann who was living in Boston.



Konesky spent two days in the bushes outside Ammann's apartment, sitting in his friend's favorite bar and driving up and down his street, but with no success.



Ammann had gone out of town for the weekend and as a result, Konesky was 'It' for that year.



Konesky has plenty of experience of being 'It' and recalls many years ago that he even went as far as breaking into someone's house in an attempt to tag one of his rivals.

In the early hours of the morning Konesky tiptoed toward Brian Dennehy's bedroom, before flipping on the light and bursting through the door. Dennehy's wife screamed at him to run, but as Konesky recalls: 'There was nowhere for Brian to run.'



Another member of the group is Patrick Schultheis, who as a first-year lawyer drafted 'The Tag Participation Agreement' back in 1990. Every February he instructs the office manager at his work that he doesn't want to see his friends.



Tombari has admitted that he once tried to talk his way past her, but she refused to let him in. 'She knew it was tag time,' he says.

Unfortunately for Tombari he wasn't so lucky when another member of the gang, Mark, managed to convince the security guard at Joe's work to let him into the building.



None of the ten participants enjoys the prospect of being ridiculed for a year and ending up as 'It' come the end of February, but all are agreed that it is much more important that the tradition is maintained and their friendship is preserved for many years to come.







