The Amazing Race: A Finale To Remember

After a short recap of the last episode and a snippet about the remaining three teams, the finale of The Amazing Race truly began. Which of the three teams would win the million dollars? Would it be Ron & Christina, TK & Rachel, or Nicolas & Donald?

Ron & Christina were the first team to leave the last pit stop in Taipei at 9:47 AM. Opening the clue, they found out that teams would now have to fly more than 4,500 miles to their final destination of Anchorage, Alaska. When they land, they would make their way to 6th Avenue Outfitters and pick up the necessary gear for their journey ahead as well as their next clue. Teams would have $392 for this leg of the race. Ron & Christina raced off to find a taxi to make their way to the airport.

TK & Rachel began this leg of the race at 10:30 AM while Nicolas & Donald left right on their heels at 10:37 AM. Ron & Christina were the first ones at the airport and bought tickets for the only flight to Anchorage as well as tickets to get access to the lounge at the airport which had internet access. When TK & Rachel and Nicolas & Donald arrived at the airport, they were able to buy tickets for that same flight but began getting a little jittery when they couldn't find Ron & Christina anywhere. After Ron & Christina had finished using their internet time to get information on 6th Avenue Outfitters, they joined the other teams where they were waiting and all of the teams took off on the plane together.

Ron & Christina were the first team off the plane in Anchorage with TK & Rachel behind them and Nicolas & Donald bringing up the rear. All of the teams ran for taxis and began making their way to the gear store. Ron & Christina were the first ones there and grabbed their gear and the clue. Teams would now have to make their way to the waterfront and find the Ship Creek Boat Launch for the next clue. After Ron & Christina were off in their taxi, TK & Rachel arrived for their gear and clue as did Nicolas & Donald. The problem for Nicolas & Donald? They only grabbed one bag of their gear and missed the second bag. Oh no!

At the boat launch, Ron & Christina received their clue. It was a Detour and teams would be having to choose between Cut The Cod or Grab The Crab. In Cut The Cod, teams would have to fillet 50-pound lean cod and search for a miniature clue hidden inside one of the several fish. In Grab The Crab, teams would have to jump into the hold of a boat that contained over 500 live crabs and then search through them until they found the one crab marked with the race colors.

Ron & Christina chose to do Cod. He thought they'd be smaller fish and was really shocked when he found out how big they were. Also, only one member from each team could use the fillet knife so that left Christina digging through the innards for the clue. Meanwhile, TK & Rachel's taxi driver had dropped them off five miles away from where they should have been so they had to find another taxi to finish getting to the boat launch. Christina found the clue in a cod and it told them that teams would now have to travel 60 miles by taxi to a boat landing. They would then take a high-speed boat ride to 20-Mile Glacier for their next clue.

As Ron & Christina were on their way to the glacier, both TK & Rachel and Nicolas & Don passed them going the other way on the highway so they knew they had a chance to catch up. Once at the boat landing, Nicolas & Don finally realized they didn't have their second bag and and had to leave and go back to the store and get it. TK & Rachel received the Detour and chose to do Crab. In the cab on the way back, Don was getting on to Nicolas for not reading the clue correctly but Nicolas was just brushing him off. Luckily for them though, they were able to get their bag and get back to the Detour to find TK & Rachel still working on the Crab task. Whew!

Nicolas & Don chose to do Cod and went straight to work. Right before TK & Rachel decided to switch and do the Cod task themselves, TK found the crab with the color band on it and they ran to grab a taxi. As Don was whipping through the cod, he found the clue so they ran to a taxi as well. They think TK & Rachel are only 3-4 minutes ahead of them while TK & Rachel think Christina & Ron are 20-25 minutes in front of them. It seems to be a fairly close race!

Ron & Christina arrived at the boat launch first and jumped on a red boat for their fast-paced ride to the glacier. After some difficulty with their taxi driver, TK & Rachel arrived at the boat launch and took off on their boat with Nicolas & Don right behind them. All three teams really enjoyed the ride (I know I would have!) but Ronald's thrill was over once they arrived at the glacier. It was then that they found out they'd have to climb the side of the glacier before receiving the next clue which was waiting on top for them. After having some difficulty at first, Ron got the hang of it and was up top before too long. Christina was the one that was really getting frustrated but eventually joined her father at the top and received their clue.

Teams would now take a helicopter ride across the Alaskan wilderness to Merrill Field. Once they landed, they would travel by taxi to Goose Lake Park where they would find their next clue. Ron & Christina had a great time in the helicopter ride as TK & Rachel easily made it to the top of the glacier and grabbed their clue. Nicolas & Don didn't have too hard of a time on the glacier either and soon all of the teams were up in the air over the breathtaking view.

Ron & Christina landed first at Merrill Field and quickly found a taxi that took them to the park where they found the next clue was the final Road Block of the race. Who wants to relive their experience on the race? Each team would be given 15 recognizable items from different legs of the race. They must place on the stage 10 specific items that match 2 different requirements. First, there can only be one item from each of the 10 prior legs of the race. Secondly, of those 10 items, 3 must be animals or animal byproducts, 1 must be a U-Turn, 2 must be objects either at or brought to a Pit Stop, 2 must be items of transportation with wheels (1 of which was used at a Detour and 1 that was an item resembling the shape of a stick). Phil told us that there would be several ways to fulfill either requirement but there was only one way to fulfill both. Once the correct 10 items were on the stage, they would have to say they were done and if they were correct the clue box would open automatically for them. (Wow! This sounds like a really hard Road Block!)

Christina chooses to do the Road Block and quickly gets to work. TK & Rachel were the next team to arrive at the Road Block and Rachel chose to do it. Nicolas & Donald were the last team there and Nicolas decided to do this one. All three of them were having a hard time trying to get the correct items on the stage. Christina was the first to say that she was done but she had the item for Ireland wrong and went to work figuring out what she was missing. Rachel and Nicolas then said they were done but they had several things wrong with their items. You could feel the tension their three teammates were experiencing through the television just waiting for their "other" to finish first.

Christina started freaking out and praying to God for help while Nicolas was just plain stumped. Rachel concentrated on staying calm and tried her items one more time. The clue box opened! She grabbed the clue and ran to TK as they read it together. Teams would now have to travel by taxi to find Cook's eye view of the sleeping lady for their next clue. Phil told us the teams would have to figure out their clue meant for them to go to the Captain Cook Statue. They told the taxi driver what they were trying to find and the taxi driver knows exactly where it is and they take off.

Christina was the second one to finish the Road Block and she whooped and hollered on her way back to her waiting father. It was at that point, your heart had to break a little bit because Don looked so dejected that Nicolas still hadn't finished. Ron & Christina's taxi driver also knew exactly where they needed to go and they took off. Even though TK & Rachel's taxi driver got confused and had to turn around, they were still the first team at the statue for the clue.

Teams would now have to travel by foot into downtown Anchorage and find the statue of the Salmon Hooker (what an interesting fish!) where they'll find their next clue. As Ron & Christina were finding the hooker clue, TK & Rachel found the clue at the fishy statue that said, "This is it!!! Take a taxi to Girdwood Airport and run to the Finish Line. Hurry!!! GO, GO, GO!!!!!"

TK & Rachel took off in a taxi towards the finish line with Ron & Christina hot on their heels. At the finish line, all of the other teams were waiting for them and cheering for them. (I can't believe Jennifer of Nathan & Jennifer was actually smiling!) Watching bumpy footage of some team running, I was biting my nails. Would it be TK & Rachel or Ron & Christina?

Across 10 cities, 4 continents, and nearly 30,000 miles, TK & Rachel are the new winners of The Amazing Race! They can't believe it. He's absolutely speechless!

Ron & Christina were the second team to meet Phil and everybody else and immediately congratulated TK & Rachel. Phil told Christina that he remembered when she told him if she didn't know if the old man could change. She told him that she'd really wanted to do this and there was nobody else she'd rather do the race with and was so happy to be there with him. Ron said he was grateful, that he's changed for the better, and that for once in his life he really means it when he tells Christina that he loves her.

Nicolas & Don were the third and final team to the finish line amidst all of the cheering and clapping. Phil told Don that he's officially the oldest person to ever make it this far in the race and everybody cheered at that. When Phil asked him if he ever thought he'd make it this far, Don said, "Yeah, but not in third!" They congratulated the other teams and Nicolas said this was a wonderful experience made even better by doing it with his grandfather. I thought it was really cool when everybody started cheering, "Grandpa! Grandpa! Grandpa!"

Rachel said that her feelings for TK are very real and that he's her best friend, her rock, and her favorite person. TK said he was glad they didn't compromise their relationship along the way and the fact that they made great friends along the way made their win even sweeter. He finished it off by saying, "Nice guys can finish first". Yes indeed TK!

So what did you think about the finale? Were you glad that TK & Rachel won and the rest of the finishes? Looking back over the season, did you have any favorite moments? What was your favorite location they traveled to this season? Are you going to watch next season? I know I sure will!