The Amazing Race 8

The Amazing Race 8 is the eighth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured 10 families of four, including minors as young as eight years old, competing in a race across North America. This season visited 12 states, one federal district, and three additional countries, traveling approximately over 11 legs. Filming took place between July 7 and 31, 2005. Starting in New York City, racers traveled through the United States, Panama, Costa Rica, and Canada before finishing in Lewiston, New York. The season premiered on CBS on September 27, 2005, and concluded on December 13, 2005.
Siblings Nick, Alex, Megan, and Tommy Linz were the winners of this season; while father Wally Branson and his three daughters, Beth, Lauren, and Lindsay, finished in second place; and widow Linda Weaver and her three children, Rebecca, Rachel, and Rolly, 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 normally follows teams of two competing in a race around the world. However, this season featured teams of four and the competition was limited to North America. 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.

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

The eighth season of The Amazing Race spanned. This season placed much less emphasis on international travel as numerous legs were contained within the continental United States, and all locations were in North America, with Panama and Costa Rica visited for the first time. Casting for this season took place in early 2005 with team members as young as eight allowed to apply. Casting closed on March 11, 2005. Filming began on July 7, 2005, with reports of the show at Washington Crossing State Park in New Jersey. From July 12 to 13, teams were in Alabama. Filming concluded after 25 days on July 31.
Route Markers were colored yellow and white with black lining in contrast to the yellow and red markers used in all other seasons. For this season, the supplied credit card covered not only airfare, but also gasoline, which otherwise would have had to be purchased with cash. This rule change was made necessary by the fact that most of the transportation took place in automobiles rather than airplanes.
During the first leg, Renee Rogers fell at the starting line and suffered a concussion. She did not realize the severity of the injury until she went to a hospital after being eliminated the next leg.
This season featured a visit to New Orleans, Louisiana, in the fourth and fifth legs, where filming occurred about a month before Hurricane Katrina struck the region. The episodes aired after the hurricane had devastated the region. A special message was inserted at the beginning of the episodes, including one spoken by Phil Keoghan, dedicating them to the victims and to those helping with the recovery. The Schroeder family, who were from New Orleans, had befriended the Rogers family from Shreveport in northern Louisiana during the season. As Hurricane Katrina neared landfall, the Rogers family offered the Schroeders safety at their home. Hurricane Katrina wiped out the Schroeders' home and most of their possessions, and after staying with the Rogerses for about two weeks, they were able to find more permanent housing in Baton Rouge, and most of the other teams from this season chipped in to help the family.
According to an interview with Wally Bransen on RFF Radio, producers had originally planned a leg in Belize, but had to cancel it due to Hurricane Emily.

Contestants

This season's cast consisted of ten teams of four family members each.

Contestants	Age	Relationship	Hometown	Status
	42	Dad, Mom & Kids	Woodbridge, Virginia	Eliminated 1st '
	40	Dad, Mom & Kids	Woodbridge, Virginia	Eliminated 1st '
	11	Dad, Mom & Kids	Woodbridge, Virginia	Eliminated 1st '
	8	Dad, Mom & Kids	Woodbridge, Virginia	Eliminated 1st '
	46	Dad, Mom & Kids	Shreveport, Louisiana	Eliminated 2nd '
	42	Dad, Mom & Kids	Shreveport, Louisiana	Eliminated 2nd '
	22	Dad, Mom & Kids	Shreveport, Louisiana	Eliminated 2nd '
	19	Dad, Mom & Kids	Shreveport, Louisiana	Eliminated 2nd '
	57	Father and Sons-in-Law	Mansfield, Massachusetts	Eliminated 3rd '
	31	Father and Sons-in-Law	Mansfield, Massachusetts	Eliminated 3rd '
	31	Father and Sons-in-Law	Mansfield, Massachusetts	Eliminated 3rd '
	26	Father and Sons-in-Law	Mansfield, Massachusetts	Eliminated 3rd '
	40	Dad, Stepmom & Kids	New Orleans, Louisiana	Eliminated 4th '
	39	Dad, Stepmom & Kids	New Orleans, Louisiana	Eliminated 4th '
	17	Dad, Stepmom & Kids	New Orleans, Louisiana	Eliminated 4th '
	15	Dad, Stepmom & Kids	New Orleans, Louisiana	Eliminated 4th '
	40	Dad, Mom & Kids	Glastonbury, Connecticut	Eliminated 5th '
	42	Dad, Mom & Kids	Glastonbury, Connecticut	Eliminated 5th '
	12	Dad, Mom & Kids	Glastonbury, Connecticut	Eliminated 5th '
	9	Dad, Mom & Kids	Glastonbury, Connecticut	Eliminated 5th '
	52	Dad, Mom & Kids	Carmel, New York	Eliminated 6th '
	52	Dad, Mom & Kids	Carmel, New York	Eliminated 6th '
	24	Dad, Mom & Kids	Carmel, New York	Eliminated 6th '
	16	Dad, Mom & Kids	Carmel, New York	Eliminated 6th '
	42	Sisters	Des Plaines, Illinois	Eliminated 7th '
	39	Sisters	Des Plaines, Illinois	Eliminated 7th '
	37	Sisters	Des Plaines, Illinois	Eliminated 7th '
	26	Sisters	Des Plaines, Illinois	Eliminated 7th '
	46	Widow & Kids	Ormond Beach, Florida	Third place
	19	Widow & Kids	Ormond Beach, Florida	Third place
	16	Widow & Kids	Ormond Beach, Florida	Third place
	14	Widow & Kids	Ormond Beach, Florida	Third place
	51	Dad and Daughters	Park Ridge, Illinois	Runners-up
	25	Dad and Daughters	Park Ridge, Illinois	Runners-up
	22	Dad and Daughters	Park Ridge, Illinois	Runners-up
	20	Dad and Daughters	Park Ridge, Illinois	Runners-up
	24	Siblings	Cincinnati, Ohio	Winners
	22	Siblings	Cincinnati, Ohio	Winners
	21	Siblings	Cincinnati, Ohio	Winners
	19	Siblings	Cincinnati, Ohio	Winners

;Future appearances
Stassi Schroeder later appeared in the Oxygen reality series Queen Bees, as well as the Bravo reality series Vanderpump Rules, where she as a cast member for eight seasons. In 2011, Brian and Marion Paolo appeared on the HGTV reality show House Hunters. Billy and Carissa Gaghan wrote introductions for My Ox Is Broken, a book about The Amazing Race.