Author Topic: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter  (Read 25655 times)

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Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #25 on: February 24, 2010, 09:07:53 AM »
Jody & Shannon ('The Amazing Race')
Monday, February 22 2010, 2:55pm EST

By Lara Martin, News Editor


CBS
Personal trainer Jody Kelly, 71, and granddaughter Shannon Foster entered The Amazing Race hoping that the experience would bring them closer and prove that age isn't important. Unfortunately, the duo were eliminated from the show last night after finishing last at the pit stop in Chile following a rather painful-looking incident with a cow. We gave them a call to chat about breaking boundaries, whether there was ever any concern about Jody's age and where they are planning to go on their next big adventure!

Whose idea was it to apply?
Shannon: "I think definitely grandma went all out for that as soon as she thought about it. She was like, 'We should definitely be on that show!' It took me a little longer to get my head wrapped around it just because I had just graduated from college and thought I should start a full-time job and be responsible, but after a little bit of convincing I was like, 'Yeah, life's all about adventure! Might as well go and do it!'"
Jody: "And here I am entering my second childhood, so the lark appealed to me!"

Were you surprised to be accepted?
Jody: "Oh, astonished. The average age of contestants in this season is only 36 so I was totally astonished to be cast."

What was the general reaction when you told people you were going on The Amazing Race?
Jody: "My children, including Shannon's mother, were very supportive and the training group I do triathlons with were extremely supportive. People were surprised of course, but those who know me know that I have an active lifestyle. One son-in-law even said, 'Well, you know it's a surprise, but not really a surprise!'"

How did the other contestants react? Do you think maybe they didn't view you as competition?
Jody: "Oh yes, that's certainly true. I think that Louie and Michael in the first episode said, 'Nana is kicking your butt!' They were very, very surprised that I could actually run faster than Louie!"

You said you went on the show partly to prove that age isn't a barrier – do you think you've achieved that?
Jody: "Judging by my Facebook friend requests that's certainly the case! I've been inundated with people who have said, 'You are such an inspiration, be my friend!' I think I've probably inspired a few people, and it would be lovely if that's the case."

Turning to this week, did you know you were falling behind?
Shannon: "Well, we knew we were slightly at a disadvantage because we were starting later than everybody else, but we were definitely still counting on a team making a mistake and we didn't know we would be eliminated. We suspected we were coming in last, but we were hoping for a non-elimination leg or that someone else was behind, especially with Dan and Jordan so close to us, and Mike and Louie."
Jody: "And we continued to do the race as if we weren't going to be eliminated. We never once gave up and thought, 'Oh well, we can't do this'. We just kept right on and did the best we could."

Even after being kicked by the cow?!
Jody: "I did have a bump on my head afterwards, no concussion though apparently, and I really truly did just turn right around and continue milking."
Shannon: "I'm sure that would make me a little frazzled if I got kicked in the head by a cow! I kind of feel like maybe that had something to do with it, it shook you up a little bit..."
Jody: "I'm not going to blame the cow or the kick... I have milked cows before and I knew they kicked and I had been as careful as possible and I knew it wasn't likely to kick again. It wasn't that bad, I was able to continue on, maybe a little more frazzled than usual, but the stress level was already high so what's one more little thing?!"

At the bus station, why did you not try what Jet and Cord and the others did by going indirectly to your destination?
Shannon: "We did ask a lot of people what bus to take and nobody was actually able to give us a route that would have been faster. I know our Spanish wasn't that good, and Brandy and Carol had an easier time because they spoke Spanish. I don't know what the cowboys did because as far as I know they didn't speak Spanish."
Jody: "They did get an English speaker to help them."
Shannon: "I know the Big Brother team actually had someone who recognized them and said, 'Take this bus, it's the best one'. They ended up missing it anyways, but that worked to their advantage."

Did you know who they were before the race?
Jody: "No, I had no clue. I thought they were very nice young people, it was nice to be associated with them, and good heavens they certainly have some experience on reality shows before."
Shannon: "We found out on the show. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with them."

How had the race affected your relationship?
Jody: "We were already pretty close, but I have more admiration now than before for Shannon. She is a really super person."
Shannon: "It showed us the best sides of each other and the worst sides of each other! We know each other way more now than we ever did before."
Jody: "I tell you what, I'll never go on a trip with you again unless we bring along coffee!"
Shannon: "Sounds good!"

Finally, at the end of the episode you mentioned another "big adventure" - any ideas on where that will be or what you'll be doing?!
Jody: "We'll probably go up to Alaska in July or August and do a bike ride from Anchorage to Seward."

Will you bring your other grandchildren this time?!
Jody: "If they want to come, absolutely!"
Shannon: "They probably won't - they're not really into that sort of thing!"
Jody: "How about I drive up to Denver and pick up some of those kids and go on up and make it a nice vacation?"
Shannon: "That sounds like a good plan but it might take you a really long time to drive up to Alaska!"

http://www.digitalspy.com/ustv/s66/the-amazing-race/interviews/a204538/jody--shannon-the-amazing-race.html
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Offline Coutzy

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #26 on: February 24, 2010, 09:25:42 AM »
Quote

Were you surprised to be accepted?
Jody: "Oh, astonished. The average age of contestants in this season is only 36 so I was totally astonished to be cast."


Considering they were recruited, I find that hard to believe. Great interview though, Jody sounds very genuine.


Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #27 on: February 24, 2010, 09:34:21 AM »
Two of our favorite ladies meet!

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Offline Coutzy

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #28 on: February 24, 2010, 09:35:13 AM »
Christy!  :hearts: I need your help over in the game thread!

Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #29 on: February 24, 2010, 05:09:36 PM »
Exclusive Interview: Jody and Shannon from 'The Amazing Race 16'
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
 Henrik Batallones
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
   
 It's pretty easy to choose Jody and Shannon as favorites off this season of The Amazing Race. Isn't it cool watching a 71-year-old run the race? But unlike most of the older contestants in previous seasons, Jody is an endurance athlete, having run triathlons and half-marathons. Her granddaughter Shannon also does the same, and with that, you have a team with some physical chops.

Alas, that wasn't to be the case. Luck had a hand in their late finishes in both legs. Their gamble en route to Puerto Varas--taking a bus that leaves later than everyone else but goes direct to the city--almost paid off, but they were eliminated after some difficulty in the Roadblock. In one snap, one of my favorite teams were gone. I had the chance to talk to Jody and Shannon earlier today, Where they talked about the cow that kicked Jody in the head, the triathlons they run together, and whether that kuchen tastes any good.

Jody, how did you get started with being an endurance athlete? I'm sure that prepared you for the race, being the oldest contestant on the show.

Jody: Although I had always thought I should become active, I remained a couch potato until one day when I tried to run up some stairs and nearly passed out. Shortly after that, I turned 69 and realized that 70 was coming next--if I made to that age. A friend had mentioned a triathlon training group, so before I could back down, I signed up for training. Doing an 800-meter swim, a 12-mile bike ride, and a three-mile run was the most audacious, death-defying, life-affirming thing I could think of. Getting fit made The Amazing Race possible.

How did your family react when you decided to go?

Jody: My four adult children and nine grandchildren, including my teammate Shannon, were very supportive and didn't think I was completely crazy. Or if they did, they kept it to themselves.

Shannon, you were born almost fifty years after your grandmother, and here you are, running the race together, stresses and all. Did the age gap affect your race at times, or was it smooth sailing all throughout?

Jody: There were certainly tense moments throughout the race. I don't think there is such a thing as smooth sailing when you're racing around the world. I did not notice a generation gap though. I think my grandma and I are a lot alike and we understand each other quite a bit--more so now after seeing the best and the worst in each other as went from plane to bus to funicular in our pursuit of each pit stop, with all the sleep deprivation and stresses that the race involves.

What was your favorite part of the race?

Shannon: There were a lot of surreal moments throughout the race where it would dawn on us that we were actually in Chile racing around the world. I think my favorite part of the race was finding out in the first leg that we had not been eliminated. But the high wire takes a close second! I kept thinking, "here I am, walking across a high wire in Chile in my race to a pit stop on The Amazing Race." And it was demanding enough physically that I could really feel proud of myself for accomplishing something that I had never done before.

Jody: I loved southern Chile and want to go there again to spend some time hiking the mountains. I also loved arriving at the first pit stop and realizing that we weren't being eliminated then and there.

You took the last bus to Puerto Varas, and despite knowing you were dead last, you were very optimistic of your chances. Was there a time during that second leg when you both thought, "this is it, we're going home after this leg"?

Jody: We never lost hope because luck is such a prominent factor for all the teams. We knew we were lagging, but there's no point in going negative. We continued racing just as if we might be the first team to reach the pit stop. We also remained totally supportive of each other.

Shannon: I guess that was always a possibility, but we knew enough about the race to know that teams make mistakes all the time, like Mike and Louie getting turned around.  We had seen several teams right ahead of us and we certainly hoped we were not last.

Jody, did getting kicked in the head by a cow really hurt? You seem to just take it in stride...

Jody: At the time, I was shaken up but didn't feel much pain. It wasn't until a little later that the bump on my noggin made itself known. Since I've milked cows before, I knew that one kick wasn't the end of the world. I got right back to it and completed the task.

Do you think you accomplished what you set out to do on the race, despite being there for only two legs?

Shannon: I think both of us got the taste of adventure and challenge that we were looking for and have now realized how much we both have the travel bug. So the race has changed our lives in that respect and we'll probably go on to have far more adventures than we would otherwise have had. Also, I feel like we really did get to know one another--the best and the worst of each other--and have grown much closer for that. I have considerable respect for my grandma and I think we'll take it upon ourselves to have more adventures together in the future as well.

Jody: I believe I proved that there's more to life than sitting on the sofa, that age is no barrier to having a good time, and that while being older may not be better than being young, it's just as valuable. I hope I've inspired at least one elderly person to roll off the recliner and become active.

What are you both up to now?

Jody: I'm back at my business, Strengthmobile, and working as a personal trainer with elderly and disabled people. I'm also training for my first half ironman triathlon and planning more trips that have an adventure component to them, such as a long bike ride in Alaska this summer.

Shannon: I am currently in Anchorage, Alaska getting some experience and prerequisites for a career in health care. I am signed up for my first full marathon in June and I am planning on doing a 100+ mile bike race from Anchorage to Seward in July. I am also trying out cross country skiing and rock climbing, which seem to be popular activities here in Alaska.

Finally, did the kuchen taste good?

Jody: The kuchen was delicious, though it was a lot more custard-like than the kind I make.

Shannon: The kuchen was absolutely delicious, especially after forgetting to eat in our mad rush from pit stop to detour to roadblock. And anything that you have to get kicked in the head by a cow to eat, as grandma did, has got to taste a little sweeter.

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-amazing-race/exclusive-interview-jody-and-s-34809.aspx
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Offline TexasLady

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #30 on: February 27, 2010, 10:52:25 PM »
A wonderful writeup in our local paper today. Congratulations Jody.

'Amazing Race' ends for local grandmother

By Pamela LeBlanc
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Updated: 1:40 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010
Published: 3:51 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010

In the end, a cake-baking challenge did them in.

Jody Kelly, a Round Rock grandmother and the oldest contestant ever to appear on "The Amazing Race," got kicked in the head while milking a cow, then couldn't find an outdoor pantry where butter and flour were kept.

And so, Kelly and her 22-year-old granddaughter, Shannon Foster, were eliminated Feb. 21 , the second team booted off the 16th season of the popular CBS television reality show in which teams race around the world, competing in physical and mental challenges as they vie for a $1 million prize.

Besides Kelly and Foster, this season's competition featured 10 other two-person teams, including a pair of police detectives from Rhode Island, a lesbian couple and former Miss Teen USA pageant contestant Caite Upton, who famously flubbed her answer when asked why a fifth of Americans can't locate the United States on a map.

Kelly, who was 71 at the time of filming late last fall, slept on her living room floor and in her car before the race to get used to being outside her comfort zone. She ran, walked carrying a weighted backpack, and toned up her gray matter, practicing Sudoku puzzles and brain twisters before the competition. She and Foster also participated in three local adventure races to hone their skills.

"I'm sure they didn't expect much (from us)," Kelly says.

Kelly's goals were to have fun (she did), not be the first team eliminated (they were not) and not scream at her granddaughter (she didn't, at least not on camera).

"It's amazing to be 50 years apart in age and able to communicate reasonably well," Kelly says.

The experience wasn't at all glamorous, she says, and involved a lot of sleeping on buses and mediocre airplane meals.

Read the rest here: http://www.austin360.com/television/amazing-race-ends-for-local-grandmother-285350.html?srcTrk=RTR_148928
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Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #31 on: February 28, 2010, 12:23:38 AM »
Thanks TL!! Great article! :jumpy:
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Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #32 on: July 24, 2010, 10:11:57 AM »
Jody is having another RACE adventure!!

She has been honored by being asked to represent Team USA at the Sprint Triathlon World Championships in September 2010, in Budapest!

On September 8, she'll race the aquathlon (run, swim, run) for Team USA and on the 11th, she'll race the sprint triathlon (swim, bike, run), competing in the women's 70-74 age group.

You can read more at her Facebook Page.

There are loads of expenses involved (hotel, plane ticket, bike shipment, TeamUSA uniforms, entry fees, and meals), so if you would like to donate a few $$ to help her accomplish this dream, you can lend a hand right here!

Go to paypal.com amd enter send $$ to strengthmobile@gmail.com

Best of luck to Jody!! :hearts:
« Last Edit: July 24, 2010, 12:57:45 PM by georgiapeach »
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Offline north09

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #33 on: July 24, 2010, 10:28:58 AM »
Go Jody!  :hearts:

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #34 on: October 22, 2012, 10:14:05 PM »
I loved Jody & Shannon in s16, definitely one of the best teams out there. Jody really did kick some butt on the Chilean legs, but I can't blame them for getting eliminated. It was basically a do or die RB when it came down to a drive race to the PS.

If they auditioned and got casted for season 15, I think they would've done better than Maria & Tiffany and kicked some serious butt out there.  ;)
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Countries "raced": Greece (2019), Italy (2017), Switzerland (2017), Taiwan (2016), U.S. (WA 2013, CA [S.F. 2014, L.A. 2023], TX 2021, IL all the time)


Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #35 on: September 09, 2023, 03:36:40 PM »
Just wanted to let you all know that Jody has died.

From her daughter:

<<Jody Kelly aka Dr. Josephine Moore was a teacher at ISB 1976-1978, USL (ULL), tech writer at IBM and Vignette, an Amazing Race contestant (TAR16), a triathlete, comedian, artist, author, student of Spanish, dragon boat paddler, mother, grandmother, grat-grandmother and liver of life to the fullest.
She was also my mom.
She passed suddenly but peacefully at Spanish camp on Tuesday 9/5 in the beautiful north woods of MN on a walk to show a friend a flock of wild turkeys. They didn’t find the turkeys, but that evening the turkeys walked directly through the middle of the camp. Perhaps they were looking for her.>>

One of my favorite racers...please hold her in your hearts!
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Offline Maanca

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #36 on: September 09, 2023, 03:49:52 PM »
RIP Jody. I loved her so much and wished they could have gone a little further in the race <3

At the time of filming, she also held the distinction of being the oldest racer ever - 71

Offline RachelLeVega

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Re: TAR 16: Jody Kelly and Shannon Foster--Grandmother/Granddaughter
« Reply #37 on: September 09, 2023, 10:22:53 PM »
Rest in peace, Jody, one of the most beloved racers! Sending love and thoughtful prayers to Shannon and Jody's family and friends. She brought such a delight to the screen for me during both Chile legs.
<3 Family, friends, food, freedom...FULFILLED <3
Countries "raced": Greece (2019), Italy (2017), Switzerland (2017), Taiwan (2016), U.S. (WA 2013, CA [S.F. 2014, L.A. 2023], TX 2021, IL all the time)