The Amazing Race > The Amazing Race Discussion
Student-produced version of the Amazing Race airs online
TARAsia Fan:
I managed to save all episodes so if you want the first season in the same way you got TARA, Peach, let me know. :)
TARAsia Fan:
Oh, and Kate and Nick finished the garbage plate in 15 minutes.
apskip:
Ken, thanks very much. I have gone back and inserted that 15 minutes at the right spot. It is good to see that there are others vitally interested in such a well-produced Race. It promises to keep us from missing TAR12 too much through about the end of October and ARA2 whenever it starts. The timing could not be more appropriate with the weekly Amazing Race Asia 1 commentary just ended and Amazing Race Asia 2 many weeks off.
apskip:
I wanted to get an idea of how much driving teams have to do in a leg of The Race, so I went to my Internet resources to figure it out. Here is a table fo the MapQuest estimated time and distance for each of the major driving segments for leg 1:
Start at Ithaca College 953 Danby Road, Ithaca NY Minutes Miles
Captain Bill's Marina, 517 E. 4th St, Watkins Glen NY 40 24.73
Pick'n Patch, 2205 Routes 5 and 20, Stanley NY 48 41.14
Institute of Martial Excellences, 2851 Clover St., Pittsford NY 43 35.46
George Eastman House, 900 East Avenue, Rochester NY 46 39.9
Note: I skipped the two short around rochester segments
Nick Tahou Hots, 320 West Main St., Rochester
Letchworth State Park, 1 Letchworth State Park, Castile NY 94 68.53
That may not look all that much, but the totals for precise, accurate driving following directions teams did not have access to were over 271 miles and 210 minutes. That's a difficult day, with the stress of Challenges thrown in between the driving segments. It is clear that navigation skills will be the key to winning the Race. The team that does this best should win.
apskip:
EPISODE 2 starts at Letchworth State Park, the "Grand Canyon of the East" (not really)
Teams pick up clues under a covered area, as it is still raining. There is no indication that there are doing so at times that reflect their finish from the prior day. The first challenge today involed Letchworth State Park, as teams have to answer 8 questions, each oen giving them one letter toward the clue.
Kristin and Melissa go to the Park Police office and they get access to that office's PC. They get 7 of the 8 questions answered quickly.
Mike and Martha go to a large park information board.
Kate and Nick go to the gift shop.
The 2 leading male/male teams both caucus and agree that they want to eliminate Kristin and Melissa from The Race today.
The answer to the word puzzle forms by the 8 letters is GLENIRIS, which is a specific area where teams have to count the number of Tea Tables. Teams then go to Little Falls (I'm not sure how) and get the clue that takes them on to Windsor Park, Elmira where they will search both sides of the street looking for the right section of this park.
On the the way through the park, Nick and Kate violate the park's 25 mph speed limit and receive either a ticket or a warning.
Arrival order at Elmira is Kristin/Melissa, kate/Nick, Matt/Jeff, Rick/Neil, and Mike/Martha. This is one of the most fabulous tasks of all time, painting a picket fence white like Tom Sawyer (becasue Mark Twain wrote the Prince and the Pauper in Elmira). Teams can paint one wicket, but must enlist a stranger to paint one befer they can paint another. It is sheer mayhem as strangers are recruited to be part of this painting effort. The next clue is to go to Bacon St. in Owego(the small town between Binghamton and Elmira, not the larger city of Oswego which is north on Lake Ontario with a SUNY branch) , which is reputed to be very difficult for even locals to find.
Teams arrive in Owego and do have a lot of trouble. Mike and Martha breeze into town and find someone who knows where it is after all the other teams have been misdirected or nondirected. They are marginally ahead of Matt/Jeff. Later Neil and Rick, Kristin and Melissa and Kate and Mike get there. The clue sends all to Hiawatha Island where they take a boat ride on the Susquehanna River before taking a path to find each of 5 artifacts. The checker decrees that neither Kristin and Melissa nor Kate and Nick have the arrowhead, so both teams have to return down the trail to find it. This is after Melissa had criticized Kristin for giving directional advice on getting to Lake Hiawatha to Mike and Martha, who were already at Lake Hiawatha and did not need it.
The final clue sends teams to the pitstop at Tioga County Courthouse back in Owego. The finish order was:
#1 Mike and Martha
#2 Rick and Neil
#3 Matt and Jeff
#4 Kristin and Melissa, less than one minute ahead of
#5 Kate and Nick, who are eliminated
This was a fun episode. Letchworth State Park was confusing and could have used some additional explanation from the host. Windsor Park was gem. Lake Hiawatha was really good theater.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version