DOWNTOWN -- Imagine an obstacle course where participants move from station to station, completing formidable feats in order to reach an eventual prize.

Only in this case, the feats involve engaging a perfect stranger in charming conversation for five minutes, and the eventual prize could be a date.

It's Pre-Dating, a dating service that's becoming a trend across the country. "It's a good way to meet 10 to 12 people in one night," said Pre-Dating Event Coordinator Julia Rabago. "Where else can you have 10 dates in one night?"

Rabago hosted a Pre-Dating event for local singles Wednesday night at Tony Roma's on Maryland Avenue. The function included two separate sessions: one for 36- to 46-year-old singles and one for 25 to 35 year old singles.

Participants showed up for the event, prepared to have 10 to 12 "mini-dates" in about 1 1/2 hours.

Each single woman was seated at a numbered table with a single man. After five minutes of conversation, Rabago rang a bell and each single man moved to the next numbered station for another mini-date until he'd visited each station.

"It's nice because it gives you a chance to be face-to-face with the person," said participant Matt Milne, 43. "On Web sites, a lot of women put their pictures up, and when you meet them, it's obviously the same woman as in the picture, but it's from like 10 years ago."

Participant Cassandra Ames, 44, also preferred Pre-Dating to the online services.

"In those five minutes, you see the look in their eyes or hear the tonality in their voice, and there's a comfort level to that," she said. "The Internet is just too remote."

After each mini-date, singles indicated on a sheet of paper whether they would go on a date with that person. Within 24 hours after the event, each participant was to receive an e-mail listing how many date matches they received.

The event is supposed to serve as a "pre-date" to a real date.

Many of the participants said the session was ideal for them because of their busy work schedules.

"It reached a crisis a couple of months ago when I didn't leave the office for five days," said 41-year-old Bob, a Pre-Dating participant who declined to give his last name. "I had sacrificed my social life, and I just wasn't prepared to do the normal ritual of meeting someone, then going for coffee and then going on a date. I don't have time for that, so the idea that you can meet 12 people in an hour is great."

Participant Jonathan Li, 41, said the event eliminated the hardest part of dating for him.

"It dispenses with actually having to come up to somebody," he said, adding that he'd had butterflies in his stomach all day. "I'm kind of a shy person, and I'm trying to break away from that."

Rabago, a Montrose resident, signed up as an event coordinator for the year-old Pre-Dating company about six months ago. The company was started in Florida.

"I was newly single, and I had a lot of friends that were single, and it sure seemed like they were having a hard time finding places to meet high quality, professional men," she said. "I was looking online, found this and thought it was a great idea."

Participant Mike Roubidoux, 45, said Pre-Dating was a doorway to opportunity.

"You never know where something wonderful and exciting might happen," he said. "And if you're not there, you won't know."

IF YOU JOIN

WHAT: Pre-Dating.

WHERE: Los Angeles area.

COST: $20 to $30 a session.

INFO: www.pre-dating.com.