The Amazing Race 8 (also known as The Amazing Race: Family Edition) is the eighth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured ten families of four, including minors as young as eight years old, competing in a race across North America. This season visited twelve states, one federal district, and three additional countries, traveling approximately over eleven legs. Filming took place from July 7 to 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.
Format
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. ContestantsAgeRelationshipHometownStatus 42Dad, Mom & KidsWoodbridge, VirginiaEliminated 1st(in Lancaster, Pennsylvania) 40 11 8 46Dad, Mom & KidsShreveport, LouisianaEliminated 2nd(in Middleburg, Virginia) 42 22 19 57Father and Sons-in-LawMansfield, MassachusettsEliminated 3rd(in Huntsville, Alabama) 31 31 26 40Dad, Stepmom & KidsNew Orleans, LouisianaEliminated 4th(in New Orleans, Louisiana) 39 17 15 40Dad, Mom & KidsGlastonbury, ConnecticutEliminated 5th(in Quepos, Costa Rica) 42 12 9 52Dad, Mom & KidsCarmel, New YorkEliminated 6th(in Page, Arizona) 52 24 16 42SistersDes Plaines, IllinoisEliminated 7th(in Absarokee, Montana) 39 37 26 46Widow & KidsOrmond Beach, FloridaThird place 19 16 14 51Dad & DaughtersPark Ridge, IllinoisRunners-up 25 22 20 24SiblingsCincinnati, OhioWinners 22 21 19
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.
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. As a penalty, they were stripped of their money, bags, and possessions other than their passports and the clothes they were wearing upon checking in, and they received no money at the start of the next 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. +Team placement (by leg) Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910a10b11a11b Linz Family 9th 2nd 2nd 3rd 4th 2nd 3rd 2nd 1st 3rd 2nd 2nd 1st Bransen Family 7th 6th 1st 1st 3rd 3rd 4th 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd Weaver Family 3rd 1st 5th 5th 2nd 5th 2nd 3rd 2nd 3rd 3rd 3rd Godlewski Family 1st 3rd 4th 4th 4th 1st 1st 3rd4th Paolo Family 6th 8th 6th 2nd 1st 1st 4th Gaghan Family 2nd 7th 7th 6th 5th Schroeder Family 5th 4th 3rd Aiello Family 8th 5th Rogers Family 4th Black Family Notes
Race summary
Leg 1 (New York → Pennsylvania & New Jersey)
Episode 1: "Go, Mommy, Go! We Can Beat Them!" (September 27, 2005) Prize: US$20,000 cash (awarded to the Godlewski Family) Eliminated: Black Family Locations New York City, New York (Empire–Fulton Ferry State Park) (Starting Line) New York City (SoHo – Eastern Mountain Sports) New York City (East 91st Street – Hot Dog Stand) Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania (Washington Crossing Historic Park) & Titusville, New Jersey (Washington Crossing State Park) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Fairmount Park – Belmont Plateau) Mount Joy, Pennsylvania (Brubaker Family Farm) Lancaster, Pennsylvania (Rohrer Family Farm) Episode summary Teams set off from Empire–Fulton Ferry State Park and had to drive to Eastern Mountain Sports in SoHo, where they had to pick up camping gear and their next clue. Teams were directed to find a "frank" on East 91st Street between Park and Lexington, where Kevin and Drew from the first season gave them their next clue. Teams then drove to Washington Crossing Historic Park in Pennsylvania, where they found their next clue instructing them to recreate George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River by choosing a rowboat to cross the Delaware River to Washington Crossing State Park in New Jersey. Once across, they had to retrieve a 13-star flag, row back to the Pennsylvania shore, and observe a flag-folding ceremony before receiving their next clue. After driving to the Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park, teams had to pitch a tent before receiving a departure time from an Eagle Scout for the next morning, when they had to drive to the Brubaker Family Farm in Mount Joy. This season's first Detour was a choice between Build It or Buggy It. In Build It, teams had to use a set of provided materials to construct a functioning scale model of a watermill and then use two buckets of water to power the mill and receive their next clue. In Buggy It, two members from each team had to pull a traditional Amish buggy along a course while the other two rode inside to receive their next clue. After the Detour, teams had to check in at the Pit Stop: the Rohrer Family Farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Leg 2 (Pennsylvania → Washington, D.C. → Virginia)
Episode 2: "How Do We Know We Aren't Going to Get Shot?" (October 4, 2005) Prize: A trip to the Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda (awarded to the Weaver Family) Eliminated: Rogers Family Locations Lancaster, Pennsylvania (Rohrer Family Farm) York, Pennsylvania (Shoe House Road – Haines Shoe House) Washington, D.C. (United States Capitol – Reflecting Pool) Washington, D.C. (3rd Street) Washington, D.C. (West Potomac Park – Tidal Basin) Middleburg, Virginia (Welbourne Manor) Episode summary At the start of this leg, teams were instructed to drive to the Haines Shoe House. There, one team member had to climb to the top of the structure and retrieve their next clue, which directed them to drive to the Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. Teams then had to find a limousine parked on 3rd Street, where they received a briefcase that they had take to the Tidal Basin. In this season's first Roadblock, one team member had to search for one of ten spies among 50 people carrying an identical briefcase around the Tidal Basin. To identify the spy, they had to whisper a code phrase ("The sky is blue"), but only a spy would respond with the counterphrase ("The sea is green"). After swapping briefcases, racers found their next clue inside, which directed teams to drive to the Welbourne Manor in Middleburg, Virginia. This leg's Detour at an American Civil War reenactment was a choice between Heat of the Battle or Heat of the Night. In Heat of the Battle, teams had to transport five "wounded soldiers" to a surgical tent using stretchers. In Heat of the Night, teams had to roll a barrel of oil to a workstation, fill 20 oil lamps, bring them to the quartermaster, and light them all. After the Detour, teams were given a Civil War regimental flag and had to bring to the nearby Pit Stop. Additional note The briefcase swap Roadblock was later revisited on season 22 as a Switchback.
Leg 3 (Virginia → South Carolina → Alabama)
Episode 3: "I Don't Kiss I Make Out" (October 11, 2005) Prize: Gasoline for life for each team member (awarded to the Bransen Family) Eliminated: Aiello Family Locations Middleburg, Virginia (Welbourne Manor)