The seventh edition of THE AMAZING RACE began as eleven Teams flew to Lima, Peru. After spending a night on the beautiful beach, Teams flew to Cuzco, where lifelong friends Debbie & Bianca battled with mother and son Susan & Patrick and engaged couple Rob & Amber before claiming first place and $10,000 each. In a photo finish, roommates Megan & Heidi, former POW and beauty queen Ron & Kelly and best friends Ryan & Chuck all arrived at the Pit Stop at the same time, resulting in a footrace that Ryan & Chuck lost by mere seconds to become the first Team eliminated from THE AMAZING RACE.
LONGING FOR LIMA
Helicopters transported the eleven Teams of two to the historic harbor in Long Beach, California, where host Phil Keoghan welcomed them to the starting line of THE AMAZING RACE. After informing the Teams there would be eight elimination legs over the course of the Race, Phil signaled the start, and Teams raced to their bags, where they learned they would be flying to Lima, Peru on one of two flights. After landing, they must travel by bus to the Plaza de Armas to find their next clue. While most Teams had few difficulties en route to LAX, Megan & Heidi received a scare when Heidi nearly crashed on the freeway. Shaken up, Heidi pulled over so Megan could drive while Heidi tried to calm her nerves.
On the first shuttle from the parking lot to the airport, Susan & Patrick, Ron & Kelly and Ryan & Chuck opted to get off at the closer American Airlines terminal, while boyfriends Lynn & Alex took a chance and went to the United counter. The gamble proved disastrous for the boyfriends when they discovered the United flight landed in Lima almost one and a half hours after the American flight. Dashing madly to the American terminal, Lynn & Alex found themselves in line behind the Teams on the second shuttle and knew there would be no space on the earlier flight. Booking tickets on the first flight were Ron & Kelly, Susan & Patrick, Ryan & Chuck, Debbie & Bianca, on-and-off dating couple Ray & Deana, and Megan & Heidi. On the second flight were Lynn & Alex, Rob & Amber, retired married couple Meredith & Gretchen, brothers Brian & Greg, and married couple Uchenna & Joyce.
DIGGING IT
After landing in Lima, the five lead Teams, with a comfortable advantage, all rode the same bus to Plaza de Armas and opened their next clue, which instructed them to travel 30 miles by bus to the city of Ancon. Once there, they had to make their way by rickshaw to the beach known as Playa Hermosa and dig through one of three sand piles for airline tickets to their next destination, Cuzco, Peru. Each pile had a different departure time: 6 am, 7 am and 7:40 am. Once a Team claimed a set of tickets, they could not search another pile. Debbie & Bianca, with fluent Spanish speaking skills, disliked the burden of traveling with five other Teams and approached Susan & Patrick to break away from the pack with them. After talking to a local, the two Teams quickly boarded a bus to Ancon, leaving the other four Teams struggling to communicate in the streets of Lima.
As the four Teams searched in vain for the bus station, the second flight landed in Lima carrying Teams intent on making up ground. Rob & Amber caught a huge break when a man, recognizing the pair from SURVIVOR, helped them get on an express bus to the plaza ahead of the other Teams. After reaching the cluebox, Rob & Amber, again with the man’s help, quickly boarded a bus to Ancon, now in third place ahead of the four Teams from the earlier flight, who still could not find the bus station. Finally, after a street vendor pointed them in the right direction, Ron & Kelly, Ryan & Chuck, Ray & Deana and Megan & Heidi boarded the third bus to Ancon, while Brian & Greg took the fourth bus, Lynn & Alex the fifth bus, Meredith & Gretchen the sixth bus, with Uchenna & Joyce alone in last place on the seventh bus.
SANDBOX
Arriving in Ancon, Debbie & Bianca and Susan & Patrick took a rickshaw along the gorgeous coastline to Playa Hermosa and claimed tickets on the 6 am flight to Cuzco. Rob & Amber arrived at the beach in third place to the shock of other Teams, and began digging through the sand pile for the final 6 am flight when Ray & Deana showed up to battle the SURVIVOR couple for the remaining tickets. When Rob & Amber claimed the 6 am flight, Ray & Deana hurried to another pile and claimed the 7 am flight, while Megan & Heidi failed to look closely and took tickets on the 7:40 flight along with Ryan & Chuck and the annoyed Ron & Kelly, who were directed to the 7:40 pile by Debbie & Bianca. Arriving next, the shocked Brian & Greg claimed a spot on the 7 am flight along with Lynn & Alex and Uchenna & Joyce, while Meredith & Gretchen settled for the 7:40 flight.
After spending the night on the beach allowing Teams to mingle and bond, Debbie & Bianca, Susan & Patrick and Rob & Amber flew to Cuzco on the 6 am flight. The Teams on the 7 am flight received a scare when their flight was delayed by technical difficulties, but the matter was resolved when they joined the remaining Teams on the 7:40 flight.
FLYING LEAP
Landing in Cuzco, Debbie & Bianca, Susan & Patrick and Rob & Amber opened their next clue to discover they must take a marked taxi 22 miles to the small town of Huambutio and find a kiosk where the owner would hand them their next clue. Arriving first at the kiosk, Debbie & Bianca opened their clue instructing them to make their way two miles to the top of a gorge, take a zipline across it, then take a second zipline to get to the bottom.After admiring the incredible view leading up to the gorge, Debbie & Bianca set the pace by taking the thrilling ride across it to the ground below.
DETOUR
Opening their clue, Debbie & Bianca discovered the first Detour of the Race. In this Detour, Teams had to choose between Rope a Llama and Rope a Basket. For Rope A Llama, each Team had to rope two llamas and take them to a pen. Roping the llamas didn’t require strength, but getting them to cooperate and walk to the pens could be frustrating and time-consuming. Rope A Basket required each Team member to use a rope to tie a basket containing 35 pounds of alfalfa to their back and carry it two-thirds of a mile to a store. Carrying the heavy baskets required strength, but Teams with endurance could finish quickly. In the time it took Debbie & Bianca to make their choice, Susan & Patrick finished the zipline and opted to Rope a Llama with Debbie & Bianca, while Rob & Amber chose to Rope a Basket.
ROPING IT IN
As the second plane landed in Cuzco, Debbie & Bianca and Susan & Patrick squared off against the formidable llamas that stubbornly refused to be pulled in any direction. While Debbie begged Bianca to switch to Baskets, Patrick warned his mother, “He’s going to spit on you. Watch out.” Eventually, Debbie’s protests convinced Bianca of Llama’s futility, and the lifelong friends switched to Baskets in hopes of catching up to Rob & Amber, who delivered their alfalfa to the required store to earn their next clue instructing them to make their way to the Huambutio Police Station. Once there, Teams had to take a delivery truck, departing every 20 minutes, nearly 20 miles to the town of Pisac and search the marketplace for their next clue. Rob & Amber ran off, but Debbie & Bianca spotted the pair while making their delivery just after Susan & Patrick finally penned their obstinate llamas. Rob & Amber’s lead was short-lived, however, as Susan & Patrick made the first delivery truck with the SURVIVOR couple, while Debbie & Bianca settled for the second one.
As the lead Teams traveled to Pisac, the remaining eight Teams zipped across the gorge, trying to avoid elimination. Leading the way, Brian & Greg and Lynn & Alex chose Baskets, while Meredith & Gretchen opted for Llamas. The brothers and the boyfriends finished quickly to share the third delivery truck to Pisac, while Meredith & Gretchen settled for the fourth, which Ray & Deana narrowly missed after making up ground by carrying baskets. This allowed Uchenna & Joyce to join Ray & Deana on the fifth truck. The sixth and last truck contained Ron & Kelly, Ryan & Chuck, and Megan &Heidi.
RACE TO THE MAT
Arriving in Pisac tied for first place, Rob & Amber and Susan & Patrick decided to work together to find the clue in the market. Later, Patrick commented, “We have every intention of aligning with Rob & Amber only to set the trap, because we would love to be personally responsible for their disposal in this Race.” For this leg, Patrick held to his word and informed Rob & Amber when he and his mother found the clue instructing Teams to travel over 22 miles back to Cuzco and find La Merced, a 325-year old church and the Pit Stop for this leg of the Race. As the two Teams raced away in taxis, Debbie & Bianca found their clue at the market, making it a three-way race for first place.
After a wild cab race to the Pit Stop that included Rob helping push a stalled car out of the road, Debbie & Bianca stepped onto the mat in first place. Phil Keoghan informed the excited pair that each had also won $10,000 for their efforts. Susan & Patrick finished in second place, while Rob & Amber settled for third.
PHOTO FINISH
After Brian & Greg and Lynn & Alex stepped onto the mat in fourth and fifth place respectively, the final truck pulled into Pisac. Jumping out, Megan & Heidi, Ryan & Chuck and Ron & Kelly searched frantically for the cluebox in the marketplace. Getting a quick jump, Ryan & Chuck sped away in a taxi, followed closely by Megan & Heidi, while Ron & Kelly now found themselves in last place.
With Meredith & Gretchen, Ray & Deana and Uchenna & Joyce arriving at the Pit Stop in sixth through eight places, the last three Teams hoped for a miracle to stay in the Race. Ron & Kelly caught a major break when their taxi driver passed both Megan & Heidi and Ryan & Chuck. However, all three taxis arrived at La Merced at the same time, forcing a footrace to avoid elimination. Megan & Heidi broke off from the pack and found the closest entrance to the church, stepping onto the mat in ninth place. After racing down corridors of the church together, Ron & Kelly edged out Ryan & Chuck by a matter of seconds to claim tenth place. Stepping on the mat in last place, Ryan & Chuck were informed by Phil that they were the first Team eliminated from THE AMAZING RACE. On his friend, Ryan remarked, “The friendship between Chuck and I is a lot more important than being first or last. He’s the only person that’s ever stuck with me.” Chuck added, “It’s very disheartening to be the first Team off, but no matter what Ryan and I will be best friends for life.”
