The Amazing Race 1


The Amazing Race 1 is the first season of the American reality competition series The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured 11 teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world. This season visited four continents and nine countries, traveling approximately over 13 legs. Filming took place from March 8 to April 8, 2001. Starting in New York City, racers traveled through South Africa, Zambia, France, Tunisia, Italy, India, Thailand, and China before returning to the United States, traveling through Alaska, and finishing in New York City. The season debuted on CBS on September 5, 2001, and concluded on December 13, 2001.
Lawyers and best friends Rob Frisbee and Brennan Swain were the winners, while separated parents Frank and Margarita Mesa finished in second place, and life partners Joe Baldassare and Bill Bartek finished in third place.

Overview

The Amazing Race is a reality television show created by Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri, and hosted by Phil Keoghan. The series follows teams of two competing in a race around the world. Each leg of the race requires teams to deduce clues, navigate foreign environments, interact with locals, perform physical and mental challenges, and travel on a limited budget provided by the show. At each stop during the leg, teams receive clues inside sealed envelopes, which fall into one of these categories:
  • Route Info: These are simple instructions that teams must follow before they can receive their next clue.
  • Detour: A Detour is a choice between two tasks. Teams may choose either task and switch tasks if they find one option too difficult. There is usually one Detour present on each leg.
  • Roadblock: A Roadblock is a task that only one team member can complete. Teams must choose which member will complete the task based on a brief clue they receive before fully learning the details of the task. There is usually one Roadblock present on each leg.
  • Fast Forward: A Fast Forward is a task that only one team may complete, which allows that team to skip all remaining tasks on the leg and go directly to the next Pit Stop. Teams may only claim one Fast Forward during the entire race.
Most teams who arrive last at the Pit Stop of each leg are progressively eliminated, while the first team to arrive at the finish line in the final episode wins the grand prize of US$1,000,000.

Production

Development and filming

On September 13, 2000, CBS announced that it was set to produce a new reality show, which would feature eight teams of two traveling to eleven international locations to win US$1 million. By December 2000, the show was under the working title of CBS Summer Global Adventure Series. Location scouting for the racecourse took place in January 2001. Filming for the first season began in March 2001 by which time the show had been renamed to The Amazing Race. The first season of The Amazing Race traveled in 39 days, spanning four continents and nine countries. The season was hit with multiple filming delays, including an airport strike in Rome and a sandstorm in Tunisia, the latter of which forced teams to begin the sixth leg in Gabès rather than the original Saharan desert Pit Stop. Filming concluded on April 8, 2001, at Flushing Meadows Park. The top of the World Trade Center was considered as the finish location for the season but was changed to Flushing Meadows Park after production was unable to secure needed permits.
Multiple aspects of filming were unique to the first season of the series. Host Phil Keoghan handed out clues at the beginning of some legs and only greeted the last-place team at each Pit Stop; all other teams were greeted and informed of their placements by local representatives. This would change in subsequent seasons; Keoghan informs all of the teams of their placements while accompanied by a local greeter in order to increase his in involvement in the show and prevent him from appearing like a grim reaper. Each leg's Pit Stop mat featured a localized design, while subsequent seasons have used a single design. The teams were also not required to read their clues out loud on camera; this was made compulsory for all teams in subsequent seasons.
The Amazing Race was designed so that the final three teams would all reach the finish line. However, Joe & Bill were so far behind that they could not catch up and did not finish the competition. They were still completing leg 12 in Alaska while Rob & Brennan and Frank & Margarita were crossing the finish line in New York City.

Contestants

Eleven teams participated in the first season of The Amazing Race.
ContestantsAgeRelationshipHometownStatus
28MarriedSimsbury, ConnecticutEliminated 1st
'
28MarriedSimsbury, ConnecticutEliminated 1st
'
28Teachers & RoommatesBaytown, TexasEliminated 2nd
'
27Teachers & RoommatesBaytown, TexasEliminated 2nd
'
43Working MomsLandenberg, PennsylvaniaEliminated 3rd
'
42Working MomsElkton, MarylandEliminated 3rd
'
65GrandparentsRockwall, TexasEliminated 4th
'
60GrandparentsRockwall, TexasEliminated 4th
'
32EngagedLos Angeles, CaliforniaEliminated 5th
'
27EngagedLos Angeles, CaliforniaEliminated 5th
'
33DatingNew York City, New YorkEliminated 6th
'
30DatingNew York City, New YorkEliminated 6th
'
46Mother & DaughterWaco, TexasEliminated 7th
'
21Mother & DaughterWaco, TexasEliminated 7th
'
34Fraternity BrothersBayonne, New JerseyEliminated 8th
'
35Fraternity BrothersStaten Island, New YorkEliminated 8th
'
50Life PartnersLaguna Niguel, CaliforniaThird place
47Life PartnersLaguna Niguel, CaliforniaThird place
30Separated ParentsQueens, New YorkRunners-up
28Separated ParentsQueens, New YorkRunners-up
27Lawyers & Best FriendsMinneapolis, MinnesotaWinners
29Lawyers & Best FriendsRochester, New YorkWinners

;Future appearances
Kevin & Drew made an appearance in The Amazing Race: Family Edition, handing out clues at a hot dog stand in New York City. Kevin & Drew and Joe & Bill, returned for the first All-Stars season. Frank Mesa made an appearance at the starting line of season 25. Rob & Brennan made an appearance at the starting line of season 27.

Results

The following teams are listed with their placements at the end of each episode.
  • A placement with a dagger indicates that the team was eliminated.
  • An placement with a double-dagger indicates that the team was the last to arrive at a Pit Stop in a non-elimination leg.
  • A indicates that the team won the Fast Forward.
;Notes

Race summary

Leg 1 (United States → South Africa → Zambia)

  • Episode 1: "The Race Begins"
  • Eliminated: Matt and Ana
;Locations
;Episode summary
  • Teams set off from Central Park in New York City with instructions to fly on one of three flights to Johannesburg, South Africa. Once there, teams were directed to the Lanseria Airport, where they had to book one of four charter flights to an unknown destination. Once there, teams had to locate a vehicle outside of the airport with instructions to find "the smoke that thunders," the local name for Victoria Falls. Teams could either drive themselves or hire a driver to the falls, where they found their next clue.
  • For the series' very first Fast Forward, one team had to hike down a canyon to the Boiling Pot on the Zambezi River. Rob and Brennan won the Fast Forward.
  • Teams who did not attempt the Fast Forward had to travel to Abseil Zambia at Batoka Gorge, where they found their next clue.
  • The series' very first Detour was a choice between Air or Land. In Air, teams had to ride a zipline across Batoka Gorge and then free-fall down on a gorge swing to their next clue. In Land, teams would have hiked down the rim of the gorge to their next clue. All teams chose Air.
  • Teams had to check in at the Pit Stop: Songwe Village.
;Additional notes
  • Near Songwe Village, there was a Roadblock that required one team member to cook an ostrich egg, which both team members had to eat, before they could check in at the Pit Stop. This task was unaired, but it was shown as a bonus feature on the DVD.
  • The gorge swing Detour at Batoka Gorge was revisited in season 27 as a Switchback in Zimbabwe.