Ruth Myles: Eliminated team Nicole and Cormac even closer after time on Amazing Race Canada
A nation reached for its tissue box as mother-and-son team Nicole and Cormac Foster were eliminated from The Amazing Race Canada on Tuesday’s episode. I caught up with the pair Wednesday morning to chat about their time on the reality series.
Question: How is it watching the show?
Cormac: It’s actually so exciting. Being a super fan of the show, I wouldn’t want to ruin the show for anyone else. It’s so cool seeing my family and friends’ candid reaction to what we had to do on the Race.
Q: What did you learn about yourself or your mom from your time on the Race?
Cormac: I definitely learned, especially from the last leg in the Yukon, how resilient and how great a preserving spirit she has. We always said, ‘Never quit. We will run to the mat every time.’ And she proved that. (You’re making me cry, Cormac!) Oh yeah, we’ve cried a lot. A lot of tears have been shed.
Q: People can relate to different aspects of your relationship. As a mom, I really related when you told Cormac to take your hand in Hong Kong.
Nicole: ‘Take my hand, Cormac, take my hand!’ The streets are so busy. We were at an intersection where five streets. I was just, ‘Cormac give me your hand. We are crossing the street together.’ It was such a mom moment.
Q: But at the same time, you talked on last night’s episode on how you’ve come to see your son in a new light because of your time together on the Race.
Nicole: We’ve always been really close. Being on the Race, though, allowed me to see so many strengths of his that I don’t know if I would have seen if we weren’t on the Race together. He’s obviously strong; I knew that, but just his emotional and mental strength, his amazing encouraging spirit. Going around that biathlon track as many times as I did, there was no discouragement, all he kept saying was, ‘Mom, you can do it. I believe in you. Mom, you are going to do it.’ I thought, ‘Wow, I am beating myself up and he is just so encouraging.’
He didn’t have one doubt that I was going to get it done. I am so proud of him. When we were canoeing and knew we were last at this point, we knew we were going to be out, I am crying in the boat and he said, ‘Mom, look around: we are canoeing in the Yukon!’ In that moment, I thought, ‘Wow, look at the perspective he has for such a young age.’ It just made me really proud. (Nicole, now you’re making me cry!) I know, right? All day.
Nicole: It’s quite emotional, but I know from this experience, he is going to be great in life. I always thought that, but I got to see it in action. I realized, I actually like him. As a parent, of course you love your kids, but found out that I like him as person, too, just to hang around with. That was huge too. I said that to someone the other day, and they said, ‘Gee, I’ve never thought if I like my kids or not.’ Do some adventures with them!
Question: What were some of your favourite moments?
Cormac: For me it was definitely the bungee jumping in Macau. That bungee jump, the world’s highest commercial bungee jump — that was awesome. It’s probably one of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve ever had. That is 61 stories high, I believe, and I was terrified, but I knew I had to do it. It’s part of the Race, so it is a no-brainer. You go ahead and do it.
Nicole: The fact that I got through eating a snake. I was really proud of myself for doing that. And, of course, jumping out of that airplane. I’ve always wanted to skydive, but never thought I’d actually do it. . . . I am terrified of heights, so that was huge.
Q: How was your experience different than you thought it would be?
Cormac: I have dreamed about going on the race for years, since the show first started 13 years ago. It surpassed my expectation. It was just beyond all the dreams I had of the show. It was the best experience of the show.
Nicole: When you are at home watching the show on your couch, your nice comfortable couch, and you’re saying, ‘Oh, we wouldn’t do that!’ or ‘Why are they doing that?’ No. When you are on the Race and you are dealing with all the additional elements, the weather, bugs, you are not seeing that when you are watching the show, but there are all these elements that come into play, the adrenaline is going, you are rushing, your lack of sleep, it all comes together and it changes the whole dynamic of the Race. So never again will I sit on my couch and say, ‘Oh, I could do that.’ No. You don’t know what they’re all dealing with. We are just so blessed to have been part of this amazing, amazing show. We’d do it again in a heartbeat, even if they said the outcome would be the same. It was so much fun.
Q: Are you different because of your time on the show?
Cormac: I think I have a greater appreciation and respect for so many different professions because of the Race. So many different people in that line of work that I respect even more now because of what they do. And it’s definitely inspiring. It inspires you to get out and do something great with your life, to experience, to have adventures, to get out and explore.
Q: How challenging was it in China?
Cormac: It was tough. It was definitely a whole other level. I actually got a whole bunch of spider bites on my feet, so running those legs in Hong Kong and Macau was (tough). We had them taped up with electrical tape and they were sore. And there were all these elements, the amount of people, throngs of people, on the streets when you’re running through China. It was definitely different. It was hot, which you could see in that Macau episode. All of us were just wet with sweat. It was gross. But it was exciting.
Q: Hold up: spider bites on your feet?
Cormac: It was when we went up to the Tian Tan Buddha in Hong Kong. We were up there and I don’t know, that just happened. It happened overnight when we were sleeping waiting to go up at 8 a.m. to go up to the Buddha and be blessed by monks.
Q: What advice would you give to someone considering applying to be on the Race?
Cormac: Don’t doubt. Anyone can get on the show; you just need to have a story. Come with a story on the relationship between you and your partner and you can do it. Watch and study the show. You can get a lot of tips that can help you.
Q: How did you prepare?
Cormac: We have watched the show since I was seven, so we have 13 years of watching the show. We are avid studiers. We knew exactly what to pack. We knew how we would make decisions. We’ve watched it: ‘Oh, what Detour would we do?’ ‘Who would do this Road Block?’ So our decisions were always in synch.
Q: There was a wave of support on social media for you Tuesday night. How did that make you feel?
Cormac: The social media, it’s been wild. I honestly didn’t expect it to be that huge. The support has been awesome from all of Canada, but especially Winnipeg where we’re from.
Nicole: I was really surprised. I didn’t expect any of this from the very beginning. It’s just been such a blessing. I am just so surprised that so many people really latched on to us as a team. It has helped get us through it a lot better, I can tell you that.
Q: How tough was it to be eliminated just before the Race went to Winnipeg?
Cormac: Oh, that was tough. We were hoping we would get to race in our hometown in Winnipeg, and to know that the next leg, the next episode, was in Winnipeg? That was tough.
Nicole: Oh, I know! We were so looking forward to hopefully getting to Winnipeg. Just to be in the hometown and possibly having an advantage, it’s bittersweet for sure. We are glad the show went to Winnipeg; we just wish we had been part of it.
Q: How are people reacting when you’re out and about?
Nicole: Everywhere we go, it’s ‘Hi Nicole!’ and I’m ‘How do you know my name? Oh, you must watch the Race!’ Tons of people want pictures with us. There’s no such thing as autographs anymore. Everyone has their phone and wants pictures with you. We have gotten so much support from Winnipeg, and elsewhere, too. We were in the Toronto airport last night and people wanted to take pictures with us. One of the coolest experiences was one of our (Canadian) military gentleman stopped us and said, ‘Keep going. We love you guys.’ I was just in awe of that. And he said, ‘You are our heroes.’ And I as, ‘No, no, you are our heroes.’ That was a very touching moment.
Q: Can you take us through that biathlon challenge? It looked so tough, but you kept going.
Nicole: I have always taught Cormac to never give up. I’ve taught him to finish what he starts. I realized in that episode that this is my opportunity to live that out. You can say a lot of things, but this was the opportunity to really show him what that message means. We planned not to take a penalty. I was thinking I have to finish. At one point, I said to Cormac, ‘What happens if it gets dark and we’re still here?’ And he said, ‘They’ll turn on the lights.’ We were not going to quit. I knew I just had to keep going. I knew it would take us however long we were there and we’d finish.
Q: And you have another child?
Nicole: Yes, I have a four-year-old as well. He’s such a fan of the show. It’s a family event in our show. He also just loves the show. I didn’t get to watch it with him last night, but apparently he was crying when we got off. He was inconsolable. I want Mommy and Cormac on the show. When I see him I will give him a big hug and tell him, ‘Never give up. That was the message: never give up.’ He keeps telling me, ‘I want to run with you mommy when I am 19.” I am doing the math and saying, ‘Mmm, I don’t know, maybe with your brother.’
Source:http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2014/08/06/ruth-myles-eliminated-team-nicole-and-cormac-even-closer-after-time-on-amazing-race-canada/
