...I Nothing edges out S5 as my personal fave though, with 72,000 MILES!!...
Everbloom. you are too quick to buy the Wikipedia mileage estimate. Although I like Wikipedia more than most on RFF, this is one instance where they have missed it big-time. That's almost 3 times around the earth at the equator! I have done a detailed study of what the real mileage in land miles, not air/nautical miles so it's apples and apples. Segment by AR5 segment, here are my results:
Santa Monica Pier to LAX 10
LAX to Montevideo, Uruguay 4246
Montevideo to Punta del Este 115
Punta del Este to Montevideo 115
Montevideo to Buenos Aires 130
Buenos Aires to San Antonio de Areca 70
San Antonio de Areca to Buenos Aires 70
Buenos Aires to San Carlos de Bariloche 1017
around Bariloche 30
Bariloche to Buenos Aires 1017
Buenos Aires to St. Petersburg 6944 (note: actual route through Frankfurt or Paris would be minor extra mileage, but less than 100 for Frankfurt and 200 for Paris)
St. Petersburg to Pushkin 16
Pushkin to St. Petersburg 16
St. Peterburg to Cairo Airport 2062
Cairo Airport to Giza 20
Giza to Cairo Airport 20
Cairo to Luxor 421
around Luxor 20
Luxor to Cairo Airport 421
Cairo to Nairobi direct 2182
Nairobi to Arusha 143
Arusha to Lake Manyara 81
Lake Manyara to Arusha 81
Arusha to Nairobi 143
Nairobi to Dubai 2212
Dubai to Kolkata 2087
around Kolkata 40
Kolkata to Auckland 6944
Auckland to Rotorua 153
Rotorua to Auckland 153
Auckland to Manila 4978
Manila to Cavite to Victoria, Laguna province 53
Victoria to Manila to Manila international Airport 50
Manila to El Nido Island 260
El Nido Island to Lagen Island 20
Lagen Island to El Nido Island 15
El Nido to Manila 260
Manila to Calgary, Alberta 6831
Calgary International Airport to Banff 88
Banff to Calgary International Airport 88
Calgary to Denver to DFW International airport 1536
DFW to Fort Worth Stockyards 20
Fort Worth Stockyards to Trammel Crow Park, Dallas 30
GRAND TOTAL 43,713
It looks to me that the person estimating 72,000 miles was only off by 29,000 miles.
I do agree with you that AR5 was one of the most exciting Amazing Races. It ranks in my top 3.