World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji (2020) s01e04 Episode Script
Game On
[Bear Grylls] Previously,
on the World's Toughest Race
66 teams of adventure racers
from around the world
began a brutal, 5-leg, 11-day race
spanning over 671 kilometers
of Fiji's most unrelenting terrain.
This is unreal.
- On day three
- [ all cheering ]
teams restarted the race
after a complete course shutdown.
This was due to the torrential rains
that have put athletes in genuine peril.
While Team New Zealand and the leaders
continue to run a tight race
In many ways, the harder the race is,
the bigger the advantage is for our team.
Our motivation is to knock off the Kiwis.
As a team, we will do our best.
So, keep calm, but keep on going.
Yes, yes, yes, yes!
Teams from the back of the pack
rode into Camp 1
with only minutes to spare
before the cutoff time,
and Team Stray Dogs arrived literally
seconds away from being disqualified.
You are still on the World's Toughest Race.
Teams have now been racing
for over 72 consecutive hours,
with little to no sleep.
They're now spread out over 150 kilometers,
across Fiji's remote mountains,
jungles, and rivers.
Team New Zealand and the lead pack
are now approaching Checkpoint 16,
after mountain biking
for over 65 kilometers from Camp 2.
It's hard to believe, but these front teams
are running on less than 2 hours' sleep
in 3 days.
This next whitewater rafting section
is a mandatory course "dark zone."
This means that, due to safety,
no teams will be allowed
to tackle the next section at night.
[ men yelling ]
♪♪♪
[ men talking ]
We'll probably have a-- have a rest.
- A sleep rest?
- [both] Yeah.
Your bike boxes, right over there.
If you're interested, there's a bike wash.
Oh, yes? Whereabouts?
Over on the left by--
on the left of those trucks.
So, we're at 2.16,
so we've just finished the night about right.
Most of today we've spent
with Tiki Tour, the other New Zealand team.
And not far behind has been
the Australian team.
It's a bit of bad luck for us,
because rafting was dark zone.
We have to wait 'til 6:00 tomorrow morning
before we can go rafting.
We felt like we maybe had
one or two hours' advantage over them
that we'd sort of built up
since the start of the race.
We feel like we really are
a few hours in front of them, but we're not.
[ motor starts ]
I would guess that it'll be
you know, a handful of teams
will come through
that'll just come in during the night
and make their way down
to the start of the rafting.
So, at 6:00, everyone who's there,
basically, is on the water.
So, we found what we think will be
a nice spot to sleep.
So, we're going to be a bit damp, but
I'm going to put the tarp up
over this bamboo here.
We got rewarded by some consistent racing.
The dark zone had been ruled, and we actually
crawled back up to the lead,
and probably in the next 24 hours,
it's where it's we really need to leave
our mark on the rest of the field.
They're going to keep pushing hard
and pushing hard,
and, hopefully, one of them
will make a mistake.
[Grylls] While the lead teams
wait out the night for the dark zone to open,
68 kilometers back
and a half a day behind the leaders,
teams in the middle of the pack
arrive to Camp 2.
They've been mountain biking
for over 40 kilometers
through Fiji's rugged jungle.
- [woman] Bula!
- [all] Bula!
[Grylls] And Team Bend Racing
is pushing hard to close the gap
between them and the leaders.
For most of Day 1,
Bend Racing was in first place,
before fatigue crushed the team,
causing them to drop to 58th place.
Boom! Here it is. It's the medallion.
Alright! Yeah.
They've since regrouped and have
clawed their way back up to 16th place
and continue to give everything they have,
in order to catch up with Team New Zealand
and the lead pack.
- Be careful.
- Okay. Thank you.
Here, teams will be reunited
with their assistant crews
to refuel on food and rest.
This bike leg into camp has been rough
on all the teams' equipment,
and Guatemalan team Hombres D'Maiz
is desperately searching for a part,
or they will not be able to continue
in the race.
Do you have a spare rear derailleur?
No.
No, sorry guys.
Did you break it?
Yeah.
Yesterday, my bike
the rear derailleur got caught in the wheel.
It snapped. The bicycle is broken.
If I can get a new one
from one of the teams, I can continue.
I haven't got a spare. I don't have one.
No?
I don't have
- I'm sorry.
- Thank you.
[Grylls] With no extra bike parts at Camp 2,
team Hombres D'Maiz checks with officials
to see if there are any teams out of the race
who might be able to help them out.
[Leopoldo Bolanos] No news?
Not yet, I'm still trying
to get in touch with them at Camp 1
to see which teams are still around.
I will let you know
as soon as I hear something.
- Thank you very much.
- Okay? Yeah.
[Grylls] After a navigation error
on the river,
Mike Kloser and Team Out There
are now currently racing in 8th place,
and they're roughly 65 kilometers
behind the lead teams.
So, we're feeling good.
Like, good spirits and feeling strong.
And I think we'll be able
to spend some time on our bikes,
and that's what we excel in,
so, hopefully, we can maybe
claw back a little bit of time.
[Mike Kloser] We got some ground to make up.
The Kiwis are our biggest rivals.
So
just hope those guys
are gonna do some sleeping, and
give us a chance to kind of close up on 'em.
It's not over by any means yet, so
we'll keep plugging away.
[Grylls] Meanwhile, over 140 kilometers back
and 36 hours behind the leaders,
teams in the back of the pack
are just now arriving at Checkpoint 12.
Here, they'll have
to build their bilibilis by hand
before setting off
on a 45-kilometer river paddle
in the middle of the night.
[boy] USA, USA.
He came from USA.
And you live here, in this village?
Yeah? Nice.
- Do you guys know how to build a bilibili?
- [all] Yeah.
- We can help you.
- Awesome!
- Front?
- Yeah, front.
- Are these too long, or are they good?
- Good, good.
Okay, ready.
[Travis Macy] Shane and Danelle are building
the bilibilis with some local kids.
And we're gonna make some hot dinner
from our little stove.
This might be a path-of-least-resistance option.
I mean just have them do it. [ laughs ]
Any concerns going forward on the bilibili
into the evening?
Well, sometimes the abyss gives you
a false sense of security. [ laughs ]
'Cause you can't see the bad water coming.
So we're just gonna have to wing it.
[ laughs ] Just see what happens.
It's really just letting the river take you
where it wants to.
But it is a ways. It's it's a ways.
We thought it was going to be a normal raft.
We did not anticipate this, bilibilis,
so, the other thing I read is
there could be sharks up the river.
I have no idea if that's true,
but I'm super scared of sharks.
Right now, my mind is just
"sharks, sharks, sharks."
I can't even concentrate.
[Nungshi] At night, it's hard to see.
Navigation becomes so much more difficult.
It's never easy at night, you know? Like
I should be in bed.
[ laughs ] 'Til broad daylight.
Oh, yeah, these will be super stable, Corree.
I don't think we have to worry
about moving or anything, man.
[Sam Scipio] It's an adventure race.
Right? It's like, am I tired? Yeah.
It's the middle of the night.
What's out there? I have no clue. But
I mean, I know we can get through
whatever it is.
If we hit something and something breaks,
we'll fix it.
Feels like she's gonna float, man.
Good thing I can't see a freakin' thing.
We are sleeping here,
because there's a village right there,
it's warm, it's dry, it's out of the rain,
and we also know that getting
a good, long sleep
in the middle of the night,
I mean, it helps us all,
but it especially helps Dad.
we don't trip.
[Grylls] While Travis from Team Endure
decides to stay in the village
due to concerns
about his dad's Alzheimer's disease
and his ability to function
without proper sleep,
only a few kilometers away,
Team Stray Dogs are lost,
trying to find Checkpoint 12,
as they continue to struggle racing
in last place.
Do you think you're further back
than you think you are,
or think you're further ahead
than you think you are?
Very tough to tell
I think we're, um
probably further back.
The direction of that road up there
is pretty much west.
What's the decision?
We're going to continue up here
and find out what the heck's happening.
We're going safe.
- Yeah, we're gonna go safe. Yeah.
- [Nancy] It's not that far.
Really, it doesn't appear that we know
where the heck we are.
[ Nancy laughs ]
Alright, can I have your passport please?
So, what's your plan?
Are you gonna stay here, or are you
gonna continue with the bilibili section?
- We're on the way.
- On the way?
- So, I will check you in and check you out?
- [Nancy] Yes, thank you.
[Grylls] Stray Dogs are now
where the leaders were, over 24 hours ago.
They're over 150 kilometers
off the frontrunners' pace,
giving them no choice
but to power through the night
in order to make the next cutoff time
and avoid disqualification from the race.
[Marshall] I knew there was
a really good possibility
that we may be moving too slow.
We're kind of close to the cutoffs,
real close to the cutoffs.
And I was totally scared of that.
[Grylls] As the sun rises in Fiji on Day 4,
the lead teams must tackle
the next section of the race.
Here, teams must whitewater raft
30 kilometers,
through narrow canyons and gorges,
while braving the rapids
of Fiji's Navua River.
[ shell sounding ]
[Nathan] We basically restarted the race,
you know, with a few teams.
For us to win this race, we need to do
all the things that we can do well,
but we also need to race incredibly smartly.
You have some teams
that want to have a go at us.
I feel really confident through this section.
So, to beat a team as good as the Kiwis,
we definitely have to sharpen our skills
on the paddling legs.
But we were also quite worried about
the other teams that were around us.
So, the dark zone is open,
and Nathan Fa'avee, the captain
of Team New Zealand,
is gonna be carrying ahead now.
And they are especially strong in the water.
And another team coming down,
notice all four of them paddling hard.
These guys, they don't let anything slip.
Every moment is a chance to get that edge,
to get ahead.
You've got to all be pushing,
pushing, pushing.
And these guys are living and breathing that.
And in the back of Nathan's mind,
where is his arch competitor,
Mike Kloser and Team Out There, right now?
I think they're going to be powering on
towards the New Zealand team.
Oh, my lord.
Nightmare
on Mudville, here.
This is just what we were hoping
wouldn't happen.
It stopped raining,
and then it just becomes peanut butter.
And we got caught right at the wrong time.
For many years, we were rivals
with the Kiwis and the New Zealand team.
I am not, by any means, a quitter.
We've just got to suck it up,
race strong and hard,
and see where we end up in the end.
This is the best we've seen it
in the last two hours.
We just hit it exactly wrong,
where the rain stopped,
and the mud got real sticky.
And it just seized everything up.
It's so hard to move the bike.
You can't push it, you can't carry it.
And
Anytime we were hoping
to potentially get back,
it's been washed out the window here.
Unbelievable.
[Grylls] While teams get annihilated
by the muddy conditions
on their mountain bikes,
back at Camp 2,
Andre and Team Hombres D'Maiz
get an update on the issues with their bike.
I have an update.
There is a bike coming from Peak Traverse.
They have dropped out,
so they have donated a bike.
We are trying to get it here from Camp 1.
- Wow.
- There were two. Two huge guys.
- [all] Woo!
- [woman] Yeah.
Thank you.
[ crying ]
I will let you know
as soon as I hear something else, but
- Thank you.
- we're trying to get it here, okay?
- We appreciate it a lot.
- [woman] So
Everything's going to be all right.
[ crying ]
[Gabriela Molina] He's so happy.
Get some rest.
You're going to be good, man.
When you're the one who
who got the problem,
you carry that on your shoulders
from all the team.
But I have three other people's dreams
of finishing this
and it was on my shoulders.
But now we're-- we're finishing.
[woman] Okay. I'll keep you posted
as soon as I hear more.
- Thank you.
- Okay?
[Grylls] With the Guatemalan team
back in the race,
I wanted to check in on the youngest racer
on the course,
Hunter Leininger, from Team AR Georgia.
- Epic, can I come in two minutes?
- Of course.
Oh, my god, you are-- you're incredible.
You are a machine.
You know? Oh, my god.
It's been quite a thing
doing this together, you guys.
Thank you.
- It's pretty special, isn't it?
- Oh, yeah.
Pretty special.
It's a father's dream to be able
to have your son do what you do
- and do it for this length of time.
- Yeah.
Yeah, it's been a great bonding experience,
for sure.
Yeah, you're amazing.
You've got an incredible time coming up
over the next few days as well.
- Who's doing the nap?
- Me.
Okay, good, yeah.
Yeah, that means you as well.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Youngest person on this course.
You are gonna be there at the end.
- Of course. I'll see you there.
- Yeah.
Definitely, the reason I'm here
is to inspire kids to do this race,
because you can pretty much do anything,
no matter what your age is.
Do it now, before it gets too old,
and you might not be able to do it, so
Just get out there and do it.
Stay ahead of the mistakes, you know?
Stay ahead of everything.
You know? So then, if anything goes wrong,
you've got stuff banked.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, we're cheering you on, eh?
- [Hunter] Thank you.
- Good. Take care.
- [Jeff] Thanks for that.
Got the new bike?
Yeah.
Feels really nice bike.
It's making my-- my dream [ sniffs ]
come true to finish this.
It's the Yeah, it's the strongest,
tougher race I have ever made.
And, uh
Now now we're back on track.
Thank you.
Thank you, Team Peak.
Peak Traverse.
Thank you.
[Grylls] Meanwhile,
teams in the back of the race,
over 100 kilometers off the leaders,
continue to claw their way
through the never-ending 45-kilometer paddle
on local bilibili rafts.
Their dreams of a podium finish
are long gone.
Now, they're just praying they can survive
and cross the finish line.
We're enjoying the back of the bus
of this race. [ Lauren laughs ]
The lead teams have probably finished
by now, on the podium,
having their champagne.
We are taking it in
We're going to enjoy every day
We're really milking the full experience.
We want the full eleven days out here.
Anybody can finish in five days.
It takes true grit to come out here
and take eleven days to finish.
[ Lauren laughs ]
[Lauren] Our bilibili was submerged in water.
We were sitting in 3 inches of water
for 12 hours. It was a struggle.
We were paddling as hard
as we possibly could
and still just moving so slow.
[man] You guys, tell me
how the trip's going so far.
On these damned things?
It's not the best.
I don't love it.
[Ashley] They're slow.
But I am blown away every day
at how amazing the Fijians are.
[ all cheering ]
It's more than I ever expected, for sure.
For sure.
[ all yelling ]
[Grylls] A few kilometers behind Able Abels
and in the middle
of the 45-kilometer bilibili section
is Team Khukuri Warriors.
They haven't stopped paddling
since setting off yesterday
in the middle of the night.
[man] Hey, guys,
tell me how the trip's going.
Oh, good.
Nah, it's a bit tiring, to be honest.
Especially with a bamboo paddle,
you know, the paddles. It's pretty hard.
Just cruising down this river, and
been real pretty.
I'm not in the fastest hurry in the world,
so we're just kind of taking it easy.
If I'm not able to speak, it just explains
what my state of being is at the moment.
The less I talk, the more tired I am.
The more I talk, the more energy and stamina
I have got.
One of the things, of course, that drives
a lot of these exciting experiences
is the personalities we all bring
to the table.
I feel like we all are like these tea bags.
We're different flavors, you know.
We're just trying everything.
Masalajat, it's a very Indian thing to say.
But [ laughs ] trying every day
new flavors of
what humans can do and what they're about.
And so, sharing that journey
with three others has been so special.
It's almost like we are four bodies
but one soul.
We're walking, drinking, eating, sleeping
Eco-Challenge at the same time.
Which is awesome.
We're having a hard time,
but our goal is to just keep moving,
no matter what, so
We're excited. We are getting somewhere,
one step at a time.
So, below me is Team Stray Dogs,
and they're the last team in the race,
but you've got to love them.
You've got to love their spirit
and their tenacity.
And most of these guys were adventure racing
before I was born,
before most of these racers
on this course were born.
And we're just cheering them on from up here,
going, "Come on!
You've got to make this cutoff time!
Go, Stray Dogs! You can do this."
[Marshall] It is hard getting older,
and it is hard to accept that you can't do
what you used to be able to do.
With this race, we wanted to show
that we're not afraid of coming out here
and trying it, you know, at 68 years old.
We're just old guys,
but we didn't let that stop us.
[Grylls] 20 kilometers ahead of Stray Dogs
and leading the back of the pack
is Team Onyx.
Yeah, the bilibilis, starting,
one stayed up on top of the water,
and now it's staying in the water.
So, we're going to need to get out of it,
get the weight off of it,
see if we can get some of the water
I'm assuming that's in it out.
[Grylls] Team Onyx heads to dry land
to assess the damage
and determine if they can continue
downstream.
The bilibili's starting to sit
really low in the water.
It's getting hard to control,
and it's starting to sink.
The water's coming in.
We've got to put a fix on it.
♪♪♪
[Grylls] After rafting 30 kilometers
through the dangerous class-3 rapids,
Team New Zealand is holding onto
a slight lead
as they approach Namuamua village,
with Team Tiki Tour and Gippsland Adventure
right on their heels.
♪♪♪
So, once they come out of the river,
out of the rapids,
they're going to reach this village,
and this is where they're going to collect
their third medallion.
They've got to find the chief
of this Namuamua village, get it from him,
and then access the next part of the course.
Okay, let's go and find him.
- You alright, guys?
- [all] Bula!
- [Grylls] Bula bula!
- [boy] Bula!
- [Grylls] Bula!
- [all] Bula!
- Hey, bula.
- Bula vinaka.
Hey. Really nice to meet you.
Thank you so much for hosting all of us.
- Thank you.
- You are so kind.
Okay, so, you're going to give them
one of these?
- [chief] Yeah.
- Thank you, guys.
- [woman] Thank you!
- I'm going to keep moving. Take care.
[ speaking Fijian ]
[Grylls] Team New Zealand
is first out of the boats.
They must now cross the river,
navigate their way through Namuamua village,
in order to find the chief and retrieve
their third medallion of the race.
- Bula!
- Bula!
[ all cheering, clapping ]
[woman] Bravo!
Hey, hey.
So, from here,
they go into this monster hike.
What's ahead of them really is probably
the hardest part of this entire race.
They're now on foot for 45 kilometers--
that's without getting lost--
through some of the densest
and hardest jungle in the world.
And here's another team coming in.
These frontrunning teams are so close,
which at this point in the race
is really extraordinary.
There can be days between teams.
Trying to cross this river,
and you can see how deep it is.
That is now waist-deep.
And when the water level gets
above your knees on a river like this,
it can be really hard to stand.
If you notice, the technique they're using,
they're going in a line where only one person
is taking the force of the water,
and the other three behind
are supporting him.
- Vinaka.
- Vinaka.
All right! [ laughs ]
Bula vinaka.
By the time the racers reach here,
they're going to be fatigued and very wet,
but very relieved to get a welcome like that.
And that's a huge part of what
the World's Toughest Race is about.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you very much. [ laughs ]
- Beautiful place. Beautiful river.
- Thank you.
[Grylls] For this section of the race,
teams have the option of hiring local porters
to help carry packs and to act as guides,
taking the strategy to the next level.
Emma from Team Summit doesn't settle
for only manpower;
she comes up with the idea of hiring a horse
to carry all of the team's packs.
[Emma] We wanted to try the horses.
It was an experiment.
This is one of the ingredients also
of adventure racing,
to adapt to the situation
try to control it,
and to find the solution for everything.
[Emma] If we run, he can go running?
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Because we will run all the time.
Okay. No problem?
Do you also run?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- Venga.
- [ Emma laughs ]
Si no, me enamoro de todo.
Thank you!
You know that we're going to do it very well.
You know?
Thank you very much.
[Grylls] Meanwhile, over 30 kilometers back
and 6 hours off the leaders,
there are a number of teams
trying to catch the lead pack
as they power through
the whitewater section of the race,
rafting down the Navua River.
This river cuts through the heart of Fiji
and creates powerful challenges
for all racers.
They must choose a course
that avoids submerged boulders
which can easily trap a boat,
not to mention the sharp overhangs
that can cause a race-ending crash.
[Melissa Coombes] All right!
Right down the middle!
Bend Racing is now on the Navua River.
Their determined effort to catch back up
to Team New Zealand and the leaders
is taking shape,
as they claw their way up in the rankings
to their current position of 15th place.
[Melissa] Oh, wow. Look at that waterfall.
- Oh my God.
- Whoa!
[Jason] That was amazing, though.
We were just pushing so hard,
and then we got here in time
and ran all the way here,
and now that we've paddled our asses off,
we can be with the teams
that we want to be racing
for the rest of the time.
We're pretty excited.
We've been really liking all the paddling
in this race, so
And look at the rapids
ahead for them down here.
If the rapids look big from up here,
you can guarantee,
if you're in a little raft,
they're going to be huge for these racers.
[Jason] All right, let's go!
Woo!
[Melissa] Yeah!
This is insane.
[Jason] Oh, the whitewater was amazing.
It started off with a bang.
It really kind of kept us on our toes
and just such a stunning canyon.
We were all just trying to imagine,
like, who found that, like
because it was totally stunning.
So, it definitely made it exciting.
It's unbelievable.
Woo!
Oh, my god! This is so special!
What a treat!
Let's go catch some Kiwis.
[Grylls] Over 80 kilometers
back on the racecourse,
Team Onyx is still desperately trying
to fix their bilibili
in order to continue the race.
We might be able to add some string
just to see if we can get these to bend up.
There's a little bit of a gap
between the strip piece and the green piece.
- So, maybe just add some more line.
- Pull it up?
Yeah, so, flip it back over.
One, two, three, lift.
One of our team bilibilis
is not floating well.
So, the first solution we're trying
is to bring some of the long bamboo sticks
closer to, like, the support braces,
because there were some gaps.
We learned how to make these boats
this morning,
and so, now, Chris is fixing it,
so, hopefully, we continue.
- Um
- Perfect.
- We're paddling.
- Yes.
Definitely better.
With another good team save.
Thanks, Sam. We'll see you guys down there.
Team Onyx.
We're actually floating, not sinking.
That's always a good thing in a boat.
Never a better ship has been built of bamboo!
Bilibili badass boat.
Let's go.
[Grylls] Also battling
in the back of the pack,
legendary racer Mark Macy and son Travis
from Team Endure
have now joined the other paddlers
on the Rewa River
after getting extra rest during the night.
The team's energy is rejuvenated
and refreshed
as they try to make up time
in order to make Camp 2's cutoff
tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.
Travis is very mindful of my disease,
as well as the other people on our team.
You know, and Shane joined the team
knowing about it.
They have the same drive, if you will,
to get us through this.
You know, those guys gave up everything
for me to do this.
I'm retired from adventure racing,
and I got an email from Travis,
saying, "Hey, we're going to Fiji
in three months."
I had to think about it for
about 5 minutes.
And it was all go.
- [Johan Lilja] You're looking good, guys!
- Thanks, Johan!
[Dannelle] Travis is amazing.
I mean
it just touched my heart seeing him
take care of his dad
and always being there to take his hand,
to be sure that his dad
is gonna have a quality of life
all the way 'til the end.
I mean I'm never gonna forget it.
We all came here for Mace.
That's the bottom line.
We came here to get him through it.
There's a real deep satisfaction
on a very personal level for doing that,
but the reality is, we can make a difference
by supporting somebody like Mace and Travis.
And the path that those two are on,
dealing with Alzheimer's,
it's special.
♪♪♪
So, when do you think the front pack
will get into Camp 3?
They have 50 kilometers
of an overland jungle trek
before they make it to Camp 3.
Yeah. But that is super hard.
Well, you're still going into the heartland
of the Fijian wilderness.
There's absolutely no roads,
and this is just an old path that
they're going to have to find to link it up
to make it all the way across
this height of land.
And then hopefully they make it
by Camp 3 tonight,
and it should be around 10 p.m.
So, 45K in 12 hours.
That's hardcore.
The lead teams are literally neck and neck,
and many see this as their only opportunity
to overtake Team New Zealand.
We know that Team New Zealand
are very difficult to beat,
and you have to have the race of your life
and have nothing go wrong
for that to happen.
[Rob Preston] You know, they are
the best team in the sport.
They have been for a while.
But empires have to come crumbling down
at some stage,
and hopefully, we might be the team to knock
Team New Zealand off their podium.
[Nathan] For us now, it's going on for sure.
And as long as we can minimize our mistakes
or not make any mistakes,
you know, I feel really confident
that we're in a strong position.
I guess it just keeps you very motivated.
[Grylls] With the competition this tight
and all teams looking for an edge,
they've now all hired locals
to help carry packs
through this brutal 45-kilometer trek
through Fiji's dense jungle.
Are you able to help me get to Nakavika?
- Yeah.
- Cool, cool!
Cool! [ laughs ]
I've got this premium, premium guide here,
helping us now.
So, this is really good. [ laughs ]
Bula, Fiji.
[Grylls] A torrential rain shower
moves through,
adding to the challenge,
by making the already slippery trails
now treacherous.
I'm gonna drop you guys there.
Down there, at the river,
so you can go across.
Because it's very slippery.
Very dangerous.
Team Summit encounters
an unexpected complication.
Due to the heavy rains,
the trails are too steep and too muddy
for the horse,
forcing them to separate
in order for the horse and the porter
to take a flatter but much longer route.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
How do we say "thank you" in Spain?
- Gracias.
- Gracias.
- Gracias.
- Gracias.
And you can tell to the horse person
that we are going.
We wait him up there.
The village on top, yeah.
Thank you!
The trail is different from the horse trail.
That's why we're going to split
in some parts.
The big difference will be that we don't have
to carry any backpack, for a while.
Well, for a while. For a long trek.
So, for me, this is a big difference.
[Sophie] Bula!
[all] Bula!
[ kids playing and laughing ]
Bula!
[Grylls] As the lead teams
continue to push the pace,
they have to swap out fatigued porters
and hire new ones.
Bula, bula, bula!
[ kids laughing ]
Does anyone want to come for a run with us
and carry our packs?
We'll pay you some money.
- Yeah.
- Anyone else?
Vinaka.
[all] Bula!
Bye!
[ kids yelling ]
These guys here are super, super strong.
[ laughs ]
Looks like all the teams
have chosen this path.
[Chris Forne] We were like,
"Well, looks like the good guys.
Seems like a good option,
given that we're allowed."
[ speaking Fijian ]
[Grylls] Emma's decision to hire a horse
is backfiring.
Separating from their gear was a risky move,
and now, they're losing valuable time
waiting on them to catch up.
Are we Day 4 now, or?
- Day 3. Day 4.
- Yeah.
There's only three days to adventure racing.
The first, the middle, and the last.
- [ laughs ]
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The horse finally shows up,
but the owner informs them
that the trail is too steep to continue.
You have someone
that can come with us to Lutu?
No.
It's from I'll get somebody else.
They're now looking for a replacement,
to help guide them
for the last part of the hike.
[ speaking Fijian ]
And the locals offered up
their best hiker in the village,
a 15-year-old boy named Rebonee.
Watch your chest. Is it good, okay? Okay.
- His name is Rebonee.
- Rebonee.
Rebonee viene con nosotros, okay?
He's amazing
for a 15-year-old guide.
So, they're down here, Stray Dogs?
That's them?
Stray Dogs. We really do
want to get these guys through
for the next leg.
Well, they still have like 40 kilometers
of that bilibili to do.
So, there are 44 kilometers left
of that windy, flat river
[Grylls] And then?
And then they got 40 kilometers of bike to do
'til they get to Camp 2.
And they have to make it there
before noon tomorrow.
- But that's doable.
- It is, but you're gonna have to push.
That's still 80 kilometers.
[Grylls] So, they've got to go 80 kilometers
in 21 hours.
It's doable, but they can't quit.
They've got to keep moving.
Yeah. We've got to see them at Camp 2.
They're legends.
Well, let us know what they look like.
We'll be here watching.
They'll look tired and dirty.
Thanks, guys.
I'm being really nice to her
by allowing her to paddle.
'Cause we can't-- we can't paddle too hard
and get too far ahead, so
Only one of us can stay warm,
and I guess it's gonna be you,
because I'm sacrificing myself for you.
You are sacrificing. You're such a giver.
[ both laugh ]
So, we were the last one in
under the cutoff last night.
One of the reasons we're out here
doing this is
to possibly inspire people that are our age.
The message is to keep doing
as much as you can
for as long as you can,
not just shut it down
just because of your age.
It's been a long time
since they've had this race, 17 years,
so, we've been waiting for them
to bring it back.
And it's about time.
So, here it is, dropped in our lap.
So, we're obviously a bit older.
You know, I started doing these, I guess,
when I was 42,
and I'm 68 now, so
Yep.
Time flies.
You've got to squeeze as much out of life
as you can.
[ shell sounding ]
[Grylls] As night falls on Day 4,
the lead teams are nearing the end
of this monstrous 45-kilometer trek
through the remote jungles of Fiji to Camp 3.
♪♪♪
[ war cry ]
Team New Zealand has had multiple teams
nipping at their heels all day long,
but they pushed hard and are the first
to arrive at Camp 3.
[ applause ]
I think today, some of my teammates, I think,
got a bit engaged in the racing,
and we've probably gone a little bit harder
than what I would have liked.
You know, the sort of cat and mouse kind of
racing stuff is a waste of energy,
and I still just think it's too soon.
It's still a long way to go.
[Grylls] And only minutes behind is
fellow New Zealanders Team Tiki Tour
[ applause, cheering, whistling ]
followed closely by the Aussie team
Gippsland Adventure.
[ applause ]
Our performance so far
is reinforcing our belief
that we're a top-three team.
[Grylls] Their desire to beat the Kiwis
is a huge motivator.
Ah, yeah, there's a real special rivalry
between Australia and New Zealand,
and we'd just so dearly love to beat them
and Tiki Tour,
and hopefully they'll start to buckle
towards the end.
[Grylls] Team Summit continues
to make progress,
approaching Camp 3 with the help
of their 15-year-old porter, Rebonee.
Rebonee, how are you doing?
- Good.
- You're good?
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Is this easy or is this hard for you?
- Easy.
- Easy?
[Emma] It was so amazing how they walk,
they go fast, they run without shoes,
how they know the trails.
And he's under 18.
And I was scared about if he could manage.
Pfffft.
I said that I want him
for the next adventure race team. [ laughs ]
He was laughing.
[ singing in Fijian ]
[Emma] They are very happy of sharing
seven hours, eight hours
with the Fijians today.
And
it was a beautiful experience.
[ singing in Fijian ]
Thank you.
♪♪♪
[Grylls] As Day 4 comes to a close,
lead teams at Camp 3 strategize
for the next section of the race
the Vuwa falls
known to the locals as the Widow Maker.
How teams tackle this death-defying,
1,000-foot climb is critical.
One misstep, mistake,
or single lapse in judgment
will spell the difference
between a team's survival
[voice over radio]
We're coming in Vuwa lower.
or the end of the road
[ indistinct voice over radio ]
on the World's Toughest Race.
♪♪♪
[ roaring ]
on the World's Toughest Race
66 teams of adventure racers
from around the world
began a brutal, 5-leg, 11-day race
spanning over 671 kilometers
of Fiji's most unrelenting terrain.
This is unreal.
- On day three
- [ all cheering ]
teams restarted the race
after a complete course shutdown.
This was due to the torrential rains
that have put athletes in genuine peril.
While Team New Zealand and the leaders
continue to run a tight race
In many ways, the harder the race is,
the bigger the advantage is for our team.
Our motivation is to knock off the Kiwis.
As a team, we will do our best.
So, keep calm, but keep on going.
Yes, yes, yes, yes!
Teams from the back of the pack
rode into Camp 1
with only minutes to spare
before the cutoff time,
and Team Stray Dogs arrived literally
seconds away from being disqualified.
You are still on the World's Toughest Race.
Teams have now been racing
for over 72 consecutive hours,
with little to no sleep.
They're now spread out over 150 kilometers,
across Fiji's remote mountains,
jungles, and rivers.
Team New Zealand and the lead pack
are now approaching Checkpoint 16,
after mountain biking
for over 65 kilometers from Camp 2.
It's hard to believe, but these front teams
are running on less than 2 hours' sleep
in 3 days.
This next whitewater rafting section
is a mandatory course "dark zone."
This means that, due to safety,
no teams will be allowed
to tackle the next section at night.
[ men yelling ]
♪♪♪
[ men talking ]
We'll probably have a-- have a rest.
- A sleep rest?
- [both] Yeah.
Your bike boxes, right over there.
If you're interested, there's a bike wash.
Oh, yes? Whereabouts?
Over on the left by--
on the left of those trucks.
So, we're at 2.16,
so we've just finished the night about right.
Most of today we've spent
with Tiki Tour, the other New Zealand team.
And not far behind has been
the Australian team.
It's a bit of bad luck for us,
because rafting was dark zone.
We have to wait 'til 6:00 tomorrow morning
before we can go rafting.
We felt like we maybe had
one or two hours' advantage over them
that we'd sort of built up
since the start of the race.
We feel like we really are
a few hours in front of them, but we're not.
[ motor starts ]
I would guess that it'll be
you know, a handful of teams
will come through
that'll just come in during the night
and make their way down
to the start of the rafting.
So, at 6:00, everyone who's there,
basically, is on the water.
So, we found what we think will be
a nice spot to sleep.
So, we're going to be a bit damp, but
I'm going to put the tarp up
over this bamboo here.
We got rewarded by some consistent racing.
The dark zone had been ruled, and we actually
crawled back up to the lead,
and probably in the next 24 hours,
it's where it's we really need to leave
our mark on the rest of the field.
They're going to keep pushing hard
and pushing hard,
and, hopefully, one of them
will make a mistake.
[Grylls] While the lead teams
wait out the night for the dark zone to open,
68 kilometers back
and a half a day behind the leaders,
teams in the middle of the pack
arrive to Camp 2.
They've been mountain biking
for over 40 kilometers
through Fiji's rugged jungle.
- [woman] Bula!
- [all] Bula!
[Grylls] And Team Bend Racing
is pushing hard to close the gap
between them and the leaders.
For most of Day 1,
Bend Racing was in first place,
before fatigue crushed the team,
causing them to drop to 58th place.
Boom! Here it is. It's the medallion.
Alright! Yeah.
They've since regrouped and have
clawed their way back up to 16th place
and continue to give everything they have,
in order to catch up with Team New Zealand
and the lead pack.
- Be careful.
- Okay. Thank you.
Here, teams will be reunited
with their assistant crews
to refuel on food and rest.
This bike leg into camp has been rough
on all the teams' equipment,
and Guatemalan team Hombres D'Maiz
is desperately searching for a part,
or they will not be able to continue
in the race.
Do you have a spare rear derailleur?
No.
No, sorry guys.
Did you break it?
Yeah.
Yesterday, my bike
the rear derailleur got caught in the wheel.
It snapped. The bicycle is broken.
If I can get a new one
from one of the teams, I can continue.
I haven't got a spare. I don't have one.
No?
I don't have
- I'm sorry.
- Thank you.
[Grylls] With no extra bike parts at Camp 2,
team Hombres D'Maiz checks with officials
to see if there are any teams out of the race
who might be able to help them out.
[Leopoldo Bolanos] No news?
Not yet, I'm still trying
to get in touch with them at Camp 1
to see which teams are still around.
I will let you know
as soon as I hear something.
- Thank you very much.
- Okay? Yeah.
[Grylls] After a navigation error
on the river,
Mike Kloser and Team Out There
are now currently racing in 8th place,
and they're roughly 65 kilometers
behind the lead teams.
So, we're feeling good.
Like, good spirits and feeling strong.
And I think we'll be able
to spend some time on our bikes,
and that's what we excel in,
so, hopefully, we can maybe
claw back a little bit of time.
[Mike Kloser] We got some ground to make up.
The Kiwis are our biggest rivals.
So
just hope those guys
are gonna do some sleeping, and
give us a chance to kind of close up on 'em.
It's not over by any means yet, so
we'll keep plugging away.
[Grylls] Meanwhile, over 140 kilometers back
and 36 hours behind the leaders,
teams in the back of the pack
are just now arriving at Checkpoint 12.
Here, they'll have
to build their bilibilis by hand
before setting off
on a 45-kilometer river paddle
in the middle of the night.
[boy] USA, USA.
He came from USA.
And you live here, in this village?
Yeah? Nice.
- Do you guys know how to build a bilibili?
- [all] Yeah.
- We can help you.
- Awesome!
- Front?
- Yeah, front.
- Are these too long, or are they good?
- Good, good.
Okay, ready.
[Travis Macy] Shane and Danelle are building
the bilibilis with some local kids.
And we're gonna make some hot dinner
from our little stove.
This might be a path-of-least-resistance option.
I mean just have them do it. [ laughs ]
Any concerns going forward on the bilibili
into the evening?
Well, sometimes the abyss gives you
a false sense of security. [ laughs ]
'Cause you can't see the bad water coming.
So we're just gonna have to wing it.
[ laughs ] Just see what happens.
It's really just letting the river take you
where it wants to.
But it is a ways. It's it's a ways.
We thought it was going to be a normal raft.
We did not anticipate this, bilibilis,
so, the other thing I read is
there could be sharks up the river.
I have no idea if that's true,
but I'm super scared of sharks.
Right now, my mind is just
"sharks, sharks, sharks."
I can't even concentrate.
[Nungshi] At night, it's hard to see.
Navigation becomes so much more difficult.
It's never easy at night, you know? Like
I should be in bed.
[ laughs ] 'Til broad daylight.
Oh, yeah, these will be super stable, Corree.
I don't think we have to worry
about moving or anything, man.
[Sam Scipio] It's an adventure race.
Right? It's like, am I tired? Yeah.
It's the middle of the night.
What's out there? I have no clue. But
I mean, I know we can get through
whatever it is.
If we hit something and something breaks,
we'll fix it.
Feels like she's gonna float, man.
Good thing I can't see a freakin' thing.
We are sleeping here,
because there's a village right there,
it's warm, it's dry, it's out of the rain,
and we also know that getting
a good, long sleep
in the middle of the night,
I mean, it helps us all,
but it especially helps Dad.
we don't trip.
[Grylls] While Travis from Team Endure
decides to stay in the village
due to concerns
about his dad's Alzheimer's disease
and his ability to function
without proper sleep,
only a few kilometers away,
Team Stray Dogs are lost,
trying to find Checkpoint 12,
as they continue to struggle racing
in last place.
Do you think you're further back
than you think you are,
or think you're further ahead
than you think you are?
Very tough to tell
I think we're, um
probably further back.
The direction of that road up there
is pretty much west.
What's the decision?
We're going to continue up here
and find out what the heck's happening.
We're going safe.
- Yeah, we're gonna go safe. Yeah.
- [Nancy] It's not that far.
Really, it doesn't appear that we know
where the heck we are.
[ Nancy laughs ]
Alright, can I have your passport please?
So, what's your plan?
Are you gonna stay here, or are you
gonna continue with the bilibili section?
- We're on the way.
- On the way?
- So, I will check you in and check you out?
- [Nancy] Yes, thank you.
[Grylls] Stray Dogs are now
where the leaders were, over 24 hours ago.
They're over 150 kilometers
off the frontrunners' pace,
giving them no choice
but to power through the night
in order to make the next cutoff time
and avoid disqualification from the race.
[Marshall] I knew there was
a really good possibility
that we may be moving too slow.
We're kind of close to the cutoffs,
real close to the cutoffs.
And I was totally scared of that.
[Grylls] As the sun rises in Fiji on Day 4,
the lead teams must tackle
the next section of the race.
Here, teams must whitewater raft
30 kilometers,
through narrow canyons and gorges,
while braving the rapids
of Fiji's Navua River.
[ shell sounding ]
[Nathan] We basically restarted the race,
you know, with a few teams.
For us to win this race, we need to do
all the things that we can do well,
but we also need to race incredibly smartly.
You have some teams
that want to have a go at us.
I feel really confident through this section.
So, to beat a team as good as the Kiwis,
we definitely have to sharpen our skills
on the paddling legs.
But we were also quite worried about
the other teams that were around us.
So, the dark zone is open,
and Nathan Fa'avee, the captain
of Team New Zealand,
is gonna be carrying ahead now.
And they are especially strong in the water.
And another team coming down,
notice all four of them paddling hard.
These guys, they don't let anything slip.
Every moment is a chance to get that edge,
to get ahead.
You've got to all be pushing,
pushing, pushing.
And these guys are living and breathing that.
And in the back of Nathan's mind,
where is his arch competitor,
Mike Kloser and Team Out There, right now?
I think they're going to be powering on
towards the New Zealand team.
Oh, my lord.
Nightmare
on Mudville, here.
This is just what we were hoping
wouldn't happen.
It stopped raining,
and then it just becomes peanut butter.
And we got caught right at the wrong time.
For many years, we were rivals
with the Kiwis and the New Zealand team.
I am not, by any means, a quitter.
We've just got to suck it up,
race strong and hard,
and see where we end up in the end.
This is the best we've seen it
in the last two hours.
We just hit it exactly wrong,
where the rain stopped,
and the mud got real sticky.
And it just seized everything up.
It's so hard to move the bike.
You can't push it, you can't carry it.
And
Anytime we were hoping
to potentially get back,
it's been washed out the window here.
Unbelievable.
[Grylls] While teams get annihilated
by the muddy conditions
on their mountain bikes,
back at Camp 2,
Andre and Team Hombres D'Maiz
get an update on the issues with their bike.
I have an update.
There is a bike coming from Peak Traverse.
They have dropped out,
so they have donated a bike.
We are trying to get it here from Camp 1.
- Wow.
- There were two. Two huge guys.
- [all] Woo!
- [woman] Yeah.
Thank you.
[ crying ]
I will let you know
as soon as I hear something else, but
- Thank you.
- we're trying to get it here, okay?
- We appreciate it a lot.
- [woman] So
Everything's going to be all right.
[ crying ]
[Gabriela Molina] He's so happy.
Get some rest.
You're going to be good, man.
When you're the one who
who got the problem,
you carry that on your shoulders
from all the team.
But I have three other people's dreams
of finishing this
and it was on my shoulders.
But now we're-- we're finishing.
[woman] Okay. I'll keep you posted
as soon as I hear more.
- Thank you.
- Okay?
[Grylls] With the Guatemalan team
back in the race,
I wanted to check in on the youngest racer
on the course,
Hunter Leininger, from Team AR Georgia.
- Epic, can I come in two minutes?
- Of course.
Oh, my god, you are-- you're incredible.
You are a machine.
You know? Oh, my god.
It's been quite a thing
doing this together, you guys.
Thank you.
- It's pretty special, isn't it?
- Oh, yeah.
Pretty special.
It's a father's dream to be able
to have your son do what you do
- and do it for this length of time.
- Yeah.
Yeah, it's been a great bonding experience,
for sure.
Yeah, you're amazing.
You've got an incredible time coming up
over the next few days as well.
- Who's doing the nap?
- Me.
Okay, good, yeah.
Yeah, that means you as well.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Youngest person on this course.
You are gonna be there at the end.
- Of course. I'll see you there.
- Yeah.
Definitely, the reason I'm here
is to inspire kids to do this race,
because you can pretty much do anything,
no matter what your age is.
Do it now, before it gets too old,
and you might not be able to do it, so
Just get out there and do it.
Stay ahead of the mistakes, you know?
Stay ahead of everything.
You know? So then, if anything goes wrong,
you've got stuff banked.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, we're cheering you on, eh?
- [Hunter] Thank you.
- Good. Take care.
- [Jeff] Thanks for that.
Got the new bike?
Yeah.
Feels really nice bike.
It's making my-- my dream [ sniffs ]
come true to finish this.
It's the Yeah, it's the strongest,
tougher race I have ever made.
And, uh
Now now we're back on track.
Thank you.
Thank you, Team Peak.
Peak Traverse.
Thank you.
[Grylls] Meanwhile,
teams in the back of the race,
over 100 kilometers off the leaders,
continue to claw their way
through the never-ending 45-kilometer paddle
on local bilibili rafts.
Their dreams of a podium finish
are long gone.
Now, they're just praying they can survive
and cross the finish line.
We're enjoying the back of the bus
of this race. [ Lauren laughs ]
The lead teams have probably finished
by now, on the podium,
having their champagne.
We are taking it in
We're going to enjoy every day
We're really milking the full experience.
We want the full eleven days out here.
Anybody can finish in five days.
It takes true grit to come out here
and take eleven days to finish.
[ Lauren laughs ]
[Lauren] Our bilibili was submerged in water.
We were sitting in 3 inches of water
for 12 hours. It was a struggle.
We were paddling as hard
as we possibly could
and still just moving so slow.
[man] You guys, tell me
how the trip's going so far.
On these damned things?
It's not the best.
I don't love it.
[Ashley] They're slow.
But I am blown away every day
at how amazing the Fijians are.
[ all cheering ]
It's more than I ever expected, for sure.
For sure.
[ all yelling ]
[Grylls] A few kilometers behind Able Abels
and in the middle
of the 45-kilometer bilibili section
is Team Khukuri Warriors.
They haven't stopped paddling
since setting off yesterday
in the middle of the night.
[man] Hey, guys,
tell me how the trip's going.
Oh, good.
Nah, it's a bit tiring, to be honest.
Especially with a bamboo paddle,
you know, the paddles. It's pretty hard.
Just cruising down this river, and
been real pretty.
I'm not in the fastest hurry in the world,
so we're just kind of taking it easy.
If I'm not able to speak, it just explains
what my state of being is at the moment.
The less I talk, the more tired I am.
The more I talk, the more energy and stamina
I have got.
One of the things, of course, that drives
a lot of these exciting experiences
is the personalities we all bring
to the table.
I feel like we all are like these tea bags.
We're different flavors, you know.
We're just trying everything.
Masalajat, it's a very Indian thing to say.
But [ laughs ] trying every day
new flavors of
what humans can do and what they're about.
And so, sharing that journey
with three others has been so special.
It's almost like we are four bodies
but one soul.
We're walking, drinking, eating, sleeping
Eco-Challenge at the same time.
Which is awesome.
We're having a hard time,
but our goal is to just keep moving,
no matter what, so
We're excited. We are getting somewhere,
one step at a time.
So, below me is Team Stray Dogs,
and they're the last team in the race,
but you've got to love them.
You've got to love their spirit
and their tenacity.
And most of these guys were adventure racing
before I was born,
before most of these racers
on this course were born.
And we're just cheering them on from up here,
going, "Come on!
You've got to make this cutoff time!
Go, Stray Dogs! You can do this."
[Marshall] It is hard getting older,
and it is hard to accept that you can't do
what you used to be able to do.
With this race, we wanted to show
that we're not afraid of coming out here
and trying it, you know, at 68 years old.
We're just old guys,
but we didn't let that stop us.
[Grylls] 20 kilometers ahead of Stray Dogs
and leading the back of the pack
is Team Onyx.
Yeah, the bilibilis, starting,
one stayed up on top of the water,
and now it's staying in the water.
So, we're going to need to get out of it,
get the weight off of it,
see if we can get some of the water
I'm assuming that's in it out.
[Grylls] Team Onyx heads to dry land
to assess the damage
and determine if they can continue
downstream.
The bilibili's starting to sit
really low in the water.
It's getting hard to control,
and it's starting to sink.
The water's coming in.
We've got to put a fix on it.
♪♪♪
[Grylls] After rafting 30 kilometers
through the dangerous class-3 rapids,
Team New Zealand is holding onto
a slight lead
as they approach Namuamua village,
with Team Tiki Tour and Gippsland Adventure
right on their heels.
♪♪♪
So, once they come out of the river,
out of the rapids,
they're going to reach this village,
and this is where they're going to collect
their third medallion.
They've got to find the chief
of this Namuamua village, get it from him,
and then access the next part of the course.
Okay, let's go and find him.
- You alright, guys?
- [all] Bula!
- [Grylls] Bula bula!
- [boy] Bula!
- [Grylls] Bula!
- [all] Bula!
- Hey, bula.
- Bula vinaka.
Hey. Really nice to meet you.
Thank you so much for hosting all of us.
- Thank you.
- You are so kind.
Okay, so, you're going to give them
one of these?
- [chief] Yeah.
- Thank you, guys.
- [woman] Thank you!
- I'm going to keep moving. Take care.
[ speaking Fijian ]
[Grylls] Team New Zealand
is first out of the boats.
They must now cross the river,
navigate their way through Namuamua village,
in order to find the chief and retrieve
their third medallion of the race.
- Bula!
- Bula!
[ all cheering, clapping ]
[woman] Bravo!
Hey, hey.
So, from here,
they go into this monster hike.
What's ahead of them really is probably
the hardest part of this entire race.
They're now on foot for 45 kilometers--
that's without getting lost--
through some of the densest
and hardest jungle in the world.
And here's another team coming in.
These frontrunning teams are so close,
which at this point in the race
is really extraordinary.
There can be days between teams.
Trying to cross this river,
and you can see how deep it is.
That is now waist-deep.
And when the water level gets
above your knees on a river like this,
it can be really hard to stand.
If you notice, the technique they're using,
they're going in a line where only one person
is taking the force of the water,
and the other three behind
are supporting him.
- Vinaka.
- Vinaka.
All right! [ laughs ]
Bula vinaka.
By the time the racers reach here,
they're going to be fatigued and very wet,
but very relieved to get a welcome like that.
And that's a huge part of what
the World's Toughest Race is about.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you very much. [ laughs ]
- Beautiful place. Beautiful river.
- Thank you.
[Grylls] For this section of the race,
teams have the option of hiring local porters
to help carry packs and to act as guides,
taking the strategy to the next level.
Emma from Team Summit doesn't settle
for only manpower;
she comes up with the idea of hiring a horse
to carry all of the team's packs.
[Emma] We wanted to try the horses.
It was an experiment.
This is one of the ingredients also
of adventure racing,
to adapt to the situation
try to control it,
and to find the solution for everything.
[Emma] If we run, he can go running?
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Because we will run all the time.
Okay. No problem?
Do you also run?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- Venga.
- [ Emma laughs ]
Si no, me enamoro de todo.
Thank you!
You know that we're going to do it very well.
You know?
Thank you very much.
[Grylls] Meanwhile, over 30 kilometers back
and 6 hours off the leaders,
there are a number of teams
trying to catch the lead pack
as they power through
the whitewater section of the race,
rafting down the Navua River.
This river cuts through the heart of Fiji
and creates powerful challenges
for all racers.
They must choose a course
that avoids submerged boulders
which can easily trap a boat,
not to mention the sharp overhangs
that can cause a race-ending crash.
[Melissa Coombes] All right!
Right down the middle!
Bend Racing is now on the Navua River.
Their determined effort to catch back up
to Team New Zealand and the leaders
is taking shape,
as they claw their way up in the rankings
to their current position of 15th place.
[Melissa] Oh, wow. Look at that waterfall.
- Oh my God.
- Whoa!
[Jason] That was amazing, though.
We were just pushing so hard,
and then we got here in time
and ran all the way here,
and now that we've paddled our asses off,
we can be with the teams
that we want to be racing
for the rest of the time.
We're pretty excited.
We've been really liking all the paddling
in this race, so
And look at the rapids
ahead for them down here.
If the rapids look big from up here,
you can guarantee,
if you're in a little raft,
they're going to be huge for these racers.
[Jason] All right, let's go!
Woo!
[Melissa] Yeah!
This is insane.
[Jason] Oh, the whitewater was amazing.
It started off with a bang.
It really kind of kept us on our toes
and just such a stunning canyon.
We were all just trying to imagine,
like, who found that, like
because it was totally stunning.
So, it definitely made it exciting.
It's unbelievable.
Woo!
Oh, my god! This is so special!
What a treat!
Let's go catch some Kiwis.
[Grylls] Over 80 kilometers
back on the racecourse,
Team Onyx is still desperately trying
to fix their bilibili
in order to continue the race.
We might be able to add some string
just to see if we can get these to bend up.
There's a little bit of a gap
between the strip piece and the green piece.
- So, maybe just add some more line.
- Pull it up?
Yeah, so, flip it back over.
One, two, three, lift.
One of our team bilibilis
is not floating well.
So, the first solution we're trying
is to bring some of the long bamboo sticks
closer to, like, the support braces,
because there were some gaps.
We learned how to make these boats
this morning,
and so, now, Chris is fixing it,
so, hopefully, we continue.
- Um
- Perfect.
- We're paddling.
- Yes.
Definitely better.
With another good team save.
Thanks, Sam. We'll see you guys down there.
Team Onyx.
We're actually floating, not sinking.
That's always a good thing in a boat.
Never a better ship has been built of bamboo!
Bilibili badass boat.
Let's go.
[Grylls] Also battling
in the back of the pack,
legendary racer Mark Macy and son Travis
from Team Endure
have now joined the other paddlers
on the Rewa River
after getting extra rest during the night.
The team's energy is rejuvenated
and refreshed
as they try to make up time
in order to make Camp 2's cutoff
tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.
Travis is very mindful of my disease,
as well as the other people on our team.
You know, and Shane joined the team
knowing about it.
They have the same drive, if you will,
to get us through this.
You know, those guys gave up everything
for me to do this.
I'm retired from adventure racing,
and I got an email from Travis,
saying, "Hey, we're going to Fiji
in three months."
I had to think about it for
about 5 minutes.
And it was all go.
- [Johan Lilja] You're looking good, guys!
- Thanks, Johan!
[Dannelle] Travis is amazing.
I mean
it just touched my heart seeing him
take care of his dad
and always being there to take his hand,
to be sure that his dad
is gonna have a quality of life
all the way 'til the end.
I mean I'm never gonna forget it.
We all came here for Mace.
That's the bottom line.
We came here to get him through it.
There's a real deep satisfaction
on a very personal level for doing that,
but the reality is, we can make a difference
by supporting somebody like Mace and Travis.
And the path that those two are on,
dealing with Alzheimer's,
it's special.
♪♪♪
So, when do you think the front pack
will get into Camp 3?
They have 50 kilometers
of an overland jungle trek
before they make it to Camp 3.
Yeah. But that is super hard.
Well, you're still going into the heartland
of the Fijian wilderness.
There's absolutely no roads,
and this is just an old path that
they're going to have to find to link it up
to make it all the way across
this height of land.
And then hopefully they make it
by Camp 3 tonight,
and it should be around 10 p.m.
So, 45K in 12 hours.
That's hardcore.
The lead teams are literally neck and neck,
and many see this as their only opportunity
to overtake Team New Zealand.
We know that Team New Zealand
are very difficult to beat,
and you have to have the race of your life
and have nothing go wrong
for that to happen.
[Rob Preston] You know, they are
the best team in the sport.
They have been for a while.
But empires have to come crumbling down
at some stage,
and hopefully, we might be the team to knock
Team New Zealand off their podium.
[Nathan] For us now, it's going on for sure.
And as long as we can minimize our mistakes
or not make any mistakes,
you know, I feel really confident
that we're in a strong position.
I guess it just keeps you very motivated.
[Grylls] With the competition this tight
and all teams looking for an edge,
they've now all hired locals
to help carry packs
through this brutal 45-kilometer trek
through Fiji's dense jungle.
Are you able to help me get to Nakavika?
- Yeah.
- Cool, cool!
Cool! [ laughs ]
I've got this premium, premium guide here,
helping us now.
So, this is really good. [ laughs ]
Bula, Fiji.
[Grylls] A torrential rain shower
moves through,
adding to the challenge,
by making the already slippery trails
now treacherous.
I'm gonna drop you guys there.
Down there, at the river,
so you can go across.
Because it's very slippery.
Very dangerous.
Team Summit encounters
an unexpected complication.
Due to the heavy rains,
the trails are too steep and too muddy
for the horse,
forcing them to separate
in order for the horse and the porter
to take a flatter but much longer route.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
How do we say "thank you" in Spain?
- Gracias.
- Gracias.
- Gracias.
- Gracias.
And you can tell to the horse person
that we are going.
We wait him up there.
The village on top, yeah.
Thank you!
The trail is different from the horse trail.
That's why we're going to split
in some parts.
The big difference will be that we don't have
to carry any backpack, for a while.
Well, for a while. For a long trek.
So, for me, this is a big difference.
[Sophie] Bula!
[all] Bula!
[ kids playing and laughing ]
Bula!
[Grylls] As the lead teams
continue to push the pace,
they have to swap out fatigued porters
and hire new ones.
Bula, bula, bula!
[ kids laughing ]
Does anyone want to come for a run with us
and carry our packs?
We'll pay you some money.
- Yeah.
- Anyone else?
Vinaka.
[all] Bula!
Bye!
[ kids yelling ]
These guys here are super, super strong.
[ laughs ]
Looks like all the teams
have chosen this path.
[Chris Forne] We were like,
"Well, looks like the good guys.
Seems like a good option,
given that we're allowed."
[ speaking Fijian ]
[Grylls] Emma's decision to hire a horse
is backfiring.
Separating from their gear was a risky move,
and now, they're losing valuable time
waiting on them to catch up.
Are we Day 4 now, or?
- Day 3. Day 4.
- Yeah.
There's only three days to adventure racing.
The first, the middle, and the last.
- [ laughs ]
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The horse finally shows up,
but the owner informs them
that the trail is too steep to continue.
You have someone
that can come with us to Lutu?
No.
It's from I'll get somebody else.
They're now looking for a replacement,
to help guide them
for the last part of the hike.
[ speaking Fijian ]
And the locals offered up
their best hiker in the village,
a 15-year-old boy named Rebonee.
Watch your chest. Is it good, okay? Okay.
- His name is Rebonee.
- Rebonee.
Rebonee viene con nosotros, okay?
He's amazing
for a 15-year-old guide.
So, they're down here, Stray Dogs?
That's them?
Stray Dogs. We really do
want to get these guys through
for the next leg.
Well, they still have like 40 kilometers
of that bilibili to do.
So, there are 44 kilometers left
of that windy, flat river
[Grylls] And then?
And then they got 40 kilometers of bike to do
'til they get to Camp 2.
And they have to make it there
before noon tomorrow.
- But that's doable.
- It is, but you're gonna have to push.
That's still 80 kilometers.
[Grylls] So, they've got to go 80 kilometers
in 21 hours.
It's doable, but they can't quit.
They've got to keep moving.
Yeah. We've got to see them at Camp 2.
They're legends.
Well, let us know what they look like.
We'll be here watching.
They'll look tired and dirty.
Thanks, guys.
I'm being really nice to her
by allowing her to paddle.
'Cause we can't-- we can't paddle too hard
and get too far ahead, so
Only one of us can stay warm,
and I guess it's gonna be you,
because I'm sacrificing myself for you.
You are sacrificing. You're such a giver.
[ both laugh ]
So, we were the last one in
under the cutoff last night.
One of the reasons we're out here
doing this is
to possibly inspire people that are our age.
The message is to keep doing
as much as you can
for as long as you can,
not just shut it down
just because of your age.
It's been a long time
since they've had this race, 17 years,
so, we've been waiting for them
to bring it back.
And it's about time.
So, here it is, dropped in our lap.
So, we're obviously a bit older.
You know, I started doing these, I guess,
when I was 42,
and I'm 68 now, so
Yep.
Time flies.
You've got to squeeze as much out of life
as you can.
[ shell sounding ]
[Grylls] As night falls on Day 4,
the lead teams are nearing the end
of this monstrous 45-kilometer trek
through the remote jungles of Fiji to Camp 3.
♪♪♪
[ war cry ]
Team New Zealand has had multiple teams
nipping at their heels all day long,
but they pushed hard and are the first
to arrive at Camp 3.
[ applause ]
I think today, some of my teammates, I think,
got a bit engaged in the racing,
and we've probably gone a little bit harder
than what I would have liked.
You know, the sort of cat and mouse kind of
racing stuff is a waste of energy,
and I still just think it's too soon.
It's still a long way to go.
[Grylls] And only minutes behind is
fellow New Zealanders Team Tiki Tour
[ applause, cheering, whistling ]
followed closely by the Aussie team
Gippsland Adventure.
[ applause ]
Our performance so far
is reinforcing our belief
that we're a top-three team.
[Grylls] Their desire to beat the Kiwis
is a huge motivator.
Ah, yeah, there's a real special rivalry
between Australia and New Zealand,
and we'd just so dearly love to beat them
and Tiki Tour,
and hopefully they'll start to buckle
towards the end.
[Grylls] Team Summit continues
to make progress,
approaching Camp 3 with the help
of their 15-year-old porter, Rebonee.
Rebonee, how are you doing?
- Good.
- You're good?
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Is this easy or is this hard for you?
- Easy.
- Easy?
[Emma] It was so amazing how they walk,
they go fast, they run without shoes,
how they know the trails.
And he's under 18.
And I was scared about if he could manage.
Pfffft.
I said that I want him
for the next adventure race team. [ laughs ]
He was laughing.
[ singing in Fijian ]
[Emma] They are very happy of sharing
seven hours, eight hours
with the Fijians today.
And
it was a beautiful experience.
[ singing in Fijian ]
Thank you.
♪♪♪
[Grylls] As Day 4 comes to a close,
lead teams at Camp 3 strategize
for the next section of the race
the Vuwa falls
known to the locals as the Widow Maker.
How teams tackle this death-defying,
1,000-foot climb is critical.
One misstep, mistake,
or single lapse in judgment
will spell the difference
between a team's survival
[voice over radio]
We're coming in Vuwa lower.
or the end of the road
[ indistinct voice over radio ]
on the World's Toughest Race.
♪♪♪
[ roaring ]