The Amazing Race 10

The Amazing Race 10 is the tenth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured 12 teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world. This season visited four continents and 13 countries, traveling approximately over 12 legs. Filming for this season took place between May 27 and June 24, 2006. Starting in Seattle, racers traveled through China, Mongolia, Vietnam, India, Kuwait, Mauritius, Madagascar, Finland, Ukraine, Morocco, Spain, and France before returning to the United States and finishing in the Hudson Valley. The season premiered on CBS on September 17, 2006, and concluded on December 10, 2006.
Professional models Tyler Denk and James Branaman were the winners of this season, while dating couple Rob Diaz and Kimberly Chabolla finished in second place, and single mothers Lyn Turk and Karlyn Harris 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.
Yield: The Yield allows one team to force another team to stop racing for a predetermined amount of time before they can continue the race. Teams may use the Yield only one time during the entire race.
Intersection: An Intersection requires two teams to work together until otherwise instructed.

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

Filming for this season began on May 27, 2006, at Gas Works Park in Seattle. On June 9, teams were spotted at Kuwait International Airport asking for directions to the Kuwait Towers. On June 12, production was spotted in Mauritius. On June 16, tasks were performed at Ylöjärvi and at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Filming concluded on June 24.
The Amazing Race 10 spanned and covered four continents and 13 countries. Among them were six that were new to the series: Mongolia, Kuwait, Mauritius, Madagascar, Finland, and Ukraine.
The Amazing Race 10 saw the show's first double elimination in a single leg, when one team was eliminated halfway through the leg and another at the end. It also introduced a new obstacle, the Intersection, which required two teams to work together until otherwise instructed. The Intersection was also shown in conjunction with a Fast Forward, allowing both teams working together to receive the benefit of the Fast Forward.
Additionally, the penalty for coming in last on a non-elimination leg was changed. Instead of being stripped of their money and possessions, the last place team was "marked for elimination", meaning the marked team would suffer a 30-minute penalty at the next Pit Stop unless they were the first to check in.
During the leg in Ukraine, host Phil Keoghan was detained at the airport for traveling to the country with a New Zealand passport and without a Ukrainian visa, which he had been informed prior to filming was not needed. He was released the next day after a worker from the American embassy processed a visa for him. After being released, Keoghan arrived at the Pit Stop 10 minutes before the lead team arrived.

Contestants

The cast of The Amazing Race 10 was increased to 12 teams for the first time since season 4. While Peter & Sarah were portrayed as a newly dating couple, to the extent that Sarah seemingly broke up with Peter during their elimination in Kuwait, Sarah Reinertsen revealed that they were only friends whose "dating" was non-existent and created to give them an interesting storyline, although she did say that her displeasure over Peter's cold and hectoring behavior on the show was genuine.

Contestants	Age	Relationship	Hometown	Status
	37	Best Friends	Cleveland, Ohio	Eliminated 1st '
	39	Best Friends	Cleveland, Ohio	Eliminated 1st '
	29	Married	Windermere, Florida	Eliminated 2nd '
	26	Married	Windermere, Florida	Eliminated 2nd '
	22	Cheerleaders	Columbia, South Carolina	Eliminated 3rd '
	22	Cheerleaders	Columbia, South Carolina	Eliminated 3rd '
	52	Father & Daughter	Warwick, Rhode Island	Eliminated 4th '
	26	Father & Daughter	Warwick, Rhode Island	Eliminated 4th '
	39	Boyfriends	New York City, New York	Eliminated 5th '
	45	Boyfriends	New York City, New York	Eliminated 5th '
	35	Recently Dating	Laguna Beach, California	Eliminated 6th '
	31	Recently Dating	Trabuco Canyon, California	Eliminated 6th '
	32	Coal Miner and Wife	Stone, Kentucky	Eliminated 7th '
	31	Coal Miner and Wife	Stone, Kentucky	Eliminated 7th '
	32	Brothers	San Francisco, California	Eliminated 8th '
	29	Brothers	San Francisco, California	Eliminated 8th '
	24	Beauty Queens	Riverside, California	Eliminated 9th '
	24	Beauty Queens	New York City, New York	Eliminated 9th '
	32	Single Moms & Friends	Birmingham, Alabama	Third place
	32	Single Moms & Friends	Helena, Alabama	Third place
	31	Dating	Los Angeles, California	Runners-up
	28	Dating	Los Angeles, California	Runners-up
	29	Models	Los Angeles, California	Winners
	27	Models	Los Angeles, California	Winners

;Future appearances
Dustin and Kandice and David and Mary were selected to race in The Amazing Race: All-Stars.
David and Mary also appeared on The View where they received gifts from the show, including vacations, a Ford Explorer, and a new house. In 2021, Tom Rock and Terry Cosentino competed on Ellen's Game of Games.

Results

The following teams are listed with their placements in each leg. Placements are listed in finishing order.

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, and was "marked for elimination" in the following leg.
An italicized placement indicates a team's placement at the midpoint of a double leg.
A indicates that the team won the Fast Forward.
A indicates that the team used the Yield and a indicates the team on the receiving end of the Yield.
A indicates that the teams encountered an Intersection.

;Notes

Race summary

Leg 1 (United States → China)

Episode 1: "Real Fast! Quack, Quack!"
Prize:
Eliminated: Bilal and Sa'eed Vipul and Arti

;Locations

Seattle, Washington
Seattle → Beijing, China
Beijing
Beijing
Beijing
Beijing
Beijing

;Episode summary

Teams set off from Gas Works Park and drove to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, where they had to book one of two flights to Beijing, China. Once there, teams had to travel to the Gold House Restaurant, where they found their next clue.
In this season's first Roadblock, one team member had to eat all of the eyeballs from a fish head soup in order to receive their next clue.
After the Roadblock, teams had to travel to the Meridian Gate in the Forbidden City, where they had to find a kiosk and pick one of three departure times the next morning. The last team to arrive at the Meridian Gate – Bilal and Sa'eed – were eliminated. The next morning, teams had to direct the driver of a World War II-era sidecar motorbike to 14 Houhai North Bank Road and find the pedicab manager in order to receive their next clue.
This season's first Detour was a choice between Labor or Leisure. In Labor, teams had to travel by pedicab to Run De Li Market, where they had to use traditional Chinese bricks to pave a section of sidewalk in a specific pattern in order to receive their next clue. In Leisure, teams had to travel by pedicab to Beihai Park and participate in a Chinese relaxation exercise known as Taiji Bailong, in which they had to successfully balance a ball on a paddle in order to receive their next clue.
After the Detour, teams had to travel to the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall of China and use a rope to scale the wall in order to reach the Pit Stop.