World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji (2020) s01e09 Episode Script

[Bear Grylls] Previously,
on the World's Toughest Race
Over the past 7 days,
adventure racers from around the world
have pushed themselves
beyond human limits.
That was, like, surreal to me
what me and my twin have done.
[Grylls] In an attempt to tackle
this terrifying race course,
teams have suffered severely.
That was so hard.
[Grylls] Elite athletes have been put
to their ultimate test
Arriving to a limit in my mental
and physical strength.
and some have even been forced
to overcome their own personal demons,
just to stay alive.
I really went from being one of the top
female Ironman athletes in the world
to contemplating ending my life.
[Grylls] Team after team have fallen victim
to Fiji's brutal environment,
giving them no choice but to exit the race,
leaving only 49 out of 66 teams
still on the racecourse.
Teams have been racing
for over 150 consecutive hours
and are currently spread out
across 200 kilometers
of Fiji's unrelenting jungles,
mountains, and oceans.
[ cheering, applause ]
Only three teams have crossed
the finish line,
and all teams remaining have one goal--
survive and finish
this unprecedented expedition.
And while most teams in the back of the pack
decided to sleep at the base of Vuwa Falls
to avoid climbing in the dark
I don't think we should go up, personally.
Because we'll get hypothermic.
Team Iron Cowboy charged ahead
to brave the gutsy climb at night.
Yeah. I'm set. I'm ready. I'm excited!
I've been training for this.
[Grylls] Vuwa Falls is
a terrifying thousand-foot climb,
known to be one of the most strenuous points
on this racecourse,
and Team Iron Cowboy
is taking a big leap of faith
by attempting this death-defying ascent
in complete darkness.
Never done one of these
so, taking it step by step.
In our group, we've done 125 Ironmans,
so, we've got a lot of experience mentally.
We're a gritty-- gritty little group here.
This is winning
in the back of the pack.
But this is my jam. I love this stuff.
It's like, really active, mind work
and I'm loving pretty much every second of it.
[Grylls] While Sonja thrives
climbing the falls,
her teammates struggle to keep up,
falling further and further
behind their team captain.
This is the scary part for me.
In the dark
tired
frustrated.
None of us have
extensive climbing experience.
We're learning how to adventure race
in the toughest race on the planet.
This is the part we were pretty much
worried most about.
We've been doing it for four hours.
Pretty exhausted at this point.
[James] This is a sufferfest.
Every step along the way,
somebody else rolls up
and did what they needed to do
to get everybody else through.
I loved every rope.
It was awesome.
Tell me this is the top.
[ laughing ]
Yes! Woo!
[Sonja] Yeah!
Just patience and resilience, and one by one,
we made our way up to the top.
Yes!
- [Sonja] Woo hoo!
- Woo hoo!
[Sonja] Oh, wow.
[ kiss ]
I just hope my family's proud of me
when they see it all.
They helped me get up that, actually.
First breakdown of the race
right there, guys.
[Grylls] Over 170 kilometers ahead
on the racecourse,
lead teams are on the final ocean leg,
which is where the winning teams
had major trouble yesterday.
Each of these lead teams are fighting
for their top 10 position,
along with the bragging rights of finishing
the World's Toughest Race.
This ocean is definitely starting
to get rougher.
There are teams on the water.
Boy, are they gonna be feeling it
at this stage.
When the sea is this far out,
it starts to get rough.
It is going to be harrowing.
You know, trying to paddle one of
these small boats through thick waves,
against the wind,
it's gonna be a whole world of pain
for these lead teams.
[Emma] We wanted to arrive in the top 10,
and that's, for me, it's enough.
My body is completely out.
Run out of energy and everything.
We just fight for finish.
All the countries are here.
The best teams of the world.
So, it's the world championship.
So, the level is so high.
And it's perfect.
The weather,
it's a very big element in this race.
And, uh, it's like, quite demanding for us.
I've never done it on an outrigger.
I think they're moving the island.
It just didn't seem to ever
want to get any closer.
But, meanwhile, back on the main island,
the majority of the teams
in the World's Toughest Race
are still fighting for every inch,
and they are not having a good time.
That's where we're heading now,
to see how they're getting on.
They are really in the hurt locker,
many of them,
and they're getting
to the toughest part of the race.
Over 100 kilometers back,
Team Flying J are dealing with one of
the most pivotal spots on the racecourse--
the infamous pools above Vuwa Falls.
The rocks are slippery,
the bushes impenetrable,
and the water freezing.
Thank God we didn't do this last night.
Oh my God.
That would have sucked.
I'm Dianette Wells.
I'm the team captain of Team Flying J.
The incredible men I'm racing with,
are Guy LaRocque.
I've done many bike races with him.
My next guy is a former Navy SEAL.
His name is Harald Zundel.
He's the calmest, coolest,
most collected beast out there.
And then Blain Reeves.
And Special Ops won't really tell us
exactly what he does for the Army,
but, you know, he's a badass,
and I'm so happy to be racing with him.
Didn't expect this
long swim, early in the morning.
It's a little cold.
Feeling Fiji.
[Dianette] I'm one of the few
female team captains out there,
and I'm 53 now.
I have a lot of wear and tear.
But I'm nervous about
just keeping my mates just calm,
and letting nothing faze us.
You know, just like being a mom.
[ breathing heavily ]
Harald, he was falling all over the place
in the water.
And by this time, I was just so cold,
because we'd been going so long.
- Our swim's almost over.
- Yeah.
I can see the end.
Being in the jungle
and you're constantly wet,
the cold is unbelievable and unbearable.
It's the coldest I've ever been.
- [ sighs ]
- How slippery are these roads?
[ chuckles ]
The It's so hard to stand,
it's like being on ice without
without ice skates or clamp-ons or anything.
[ groans ]
It's worse-- it's worse than ice.
Uneven and flat.
[ straining ]
[Dianette] I think you're past the point
of stitches, right?
No, I need stitches.
[Dianette] Doesn't it have to be
within a certain time?
- [Dianette] It just reopened.
- Yeah, it did reopen.
On the bouldering section going up the river,
I slipped and banged up my shin
up at the rock,
and I split-- split it open,
so I could see the flesh almost to the bone,
and I'm like, "Oh-- not good."
Um, so we put a butterfly stitch on it
and some duct tape,
to, uh, you know, stop the bleeding,
and I'll get it checked out
at, uh, Checkpoint 23,
when there's a full medical staff,
because it is swollen right now,
so, I'm worried about infection
more than anything else right now.
It's a new day.
We're just ready to get moving, you know?
The finish line is in sight now,
and that's where we're headed.
[Grylls] 28 kilometers behind Team Flying J
are the back-of-the-pack teams,
who are fighting for every inch
on this racecourse just to stay alive.
They now have to tackle
the towering Vuwa Falls.
We're about to go and climb that.
I'm about to cry. [ laughs ]
It's giving me goosebumps.
We have been waiting for the waterfall.
Like, I was like, if I was to just make it
to the waterfall during the whole expedition,
that would be epic.
This is Day 7, and we finally made it
to the climbing section.
So, we are pumped, like,
we just want to do this,
and, like, have some fun up there,
in the slopes, and, yeah,
get some arms working.
Wow.
This is so unbelievable.
I feel like crying.
Vuwa Falls was just-- ah, it was so surreal.
Even though it was cold up there, that was
definitely one of the high moments.
I've, uh, always heard about this place.
Vuwa Falls.
My mom's from this province,
a village not far from here,
but I never grew up here.
This is my home. My home.
The best morning of my life.
Woo!
Even I live in Fiji, I've never seen
beautiful things like this in Fiji.
So yeah. [ laughs ]
What a great experience.
For the two Fiji teams to experience
some of the places that we don't even go,
I think if it wasn't for Eco-Challenge,
we'd never have seen
all those beautiful places.
This was amazing.
It was.
[Grylls] 20 kilometers ahead,
18-year-old Hunter and his dad,
from Team AR Georgia,
are halfway between Checkpoint 23
and Checkpoint 24,
as they make their way to Camp 4.
My dad started racing
probably three years prior to me starting,
and I was always out there, helping him out,
and I was like,
"Why can't I do this race with you?"
So, started racing when I was 7
and never stopped.
[Grylls] This section of the racecourse
is grueling.
Teams must navigate 16 kilometers
on paddleboards
through lakes, rivers, and tributaries.
And over the last few hours,
water levels have subsided,
making navigation hard and causing
extensive problems for the teams.
So, this is the stream,
but it looked like a dead end.
- Apparently not.
- We've been going west.
One of the things that I really want to make
sure that I don't do is let my team down.
And I have to get through that mentally
throughout the course.
I am the navigator.
So, I'm gonna have to really stay focused,
and the mental game is very important
in adventure racing.
And your team has to work together
to coach themselves at the right pace,
at the right time,
to make sure that you finish.
You're going to go directly there
from where the rapids were.
Let's see how far this goes
until it shallows out.
I know what you're saying.
I know where the point is.
But, um, if there's no water, it doesn't--
you know
We might have to put in
right there at the end to cross this river.
I think it would be quicker
to port it right now.
I think this is really slow-moving.
We're second-guessing.
If we just--
He knows where we are. We just need
to point in that direction and go
is my vote, but
we all have to agree so
[ laughs ]
The fun of teamwork here.
[Jeff] What do you see?
It's a big bank,
and it looks like it goes that way.
Hunter, this is the direction.
We want to go right that way.
Yeah, it looks like there's something there.
There's no easy part of this race.
You don't realize how tough the terrain
actually is here,
because we realized the last 20%
of every single leg is the hardest.
All of a sudden,
you're on a standup paddleboard,
and then you run out of water.
[Jeff] Where are you trying to go, Hunter?
I think that way, but I don't have the map,
so I'm just listening to him.
It kind of goes along that shore there
but the problem is, these high points
over here don't exist on the map.
If we get out, Dad
that looks like there's a trail that follows
the river all the way down.
I think one of our big problems
is just agreeing
and three of us wanting to do one thing,
one of us wanting to do the other,
but we're kind of having a little tension there.
[ laughs ]
[Grylls] 16 kilometers behind AR Georgia,
Team Flying J is at Checkpoint 23
seeking medical attention on Harald's shin.
His cut is deep, and signs of infection
are imminent.
[Dr. Carachi] Okay.
Uh, which one's the worst one?
- This one.
- So, this one there.
Alright, so, you want to swing your legs
around here?
Sure.
This is a a tough environment to race in,
and there's a lot of bacteria,
there's a lot of infection around
through the river,
as they're paddling in the sea.
In the bouldering section, I slipped off
of many slippery boulders
and smashed it right onto another boulder,
and it just opened up,
created a little gap.
Thanks.
Yeah, it's a point of 2.5 centimeters there.
It's full thickness, so it's all the way
through the skin there.
It also looks as if it's got the beginnings
of infection right there as well.
[Grylls] After injecting a local anesthetic,
the doctor must close the gaping wound
with stitches to prevent further infection,
with the hopes that Harald
and his team, Flying J,
can continue to the finish line.
I can feel that.
[Dr. Carachi] Do you want me
to put more local in?
- Mm, yeah, maybe.
- Yeah.
The wound shows early signs of infection.
However, I felt that the best option
was to give it a good, clean scrub
as best as possible,
and to try and prevent any further infections
from getting in.
The fact that it's infected
will make wound healing very difficult.
[Harald] I am worried, but I also know
that we're getting closer and closer
to the finish line, so
I'm going to follow the doctor's advice,
take the medication,
and just keep on pushing forward.
Flying J's gonna finish the race.
[Grylls] But ex Navy SEAL Harald isn't
the only one on Flying J who's struggling.
His teammate,
Ironman athlete Guy LaRocque,
is barely hanging on,
as the race takes its toll
both mentally and physically.
Oh, it's been tough for me
the last couple days.
I've I've, uh
This-- this team has, uh,
basically held me through everything.
The one thing about Eco is it
it's designed to turn you inside out.
You just never know when your day is coming.
And what day is that going to be?
For me
yesterday
today.
I can't let these lay down.
We've come too far, man.
[Grylls] Less than 5 kilometers
behind Flying J,
and in the middle of the 8-kilometer swim
through the icy pools,
Team Iron Cowboy is nearing
their breaking point.
I don't do well in cold,
and, so, swimming in the pools
and navigating all of the rock fields
in the water,
that seemed like it was just never gonna end.
Very cold, very long.
Very wet trek.
I loosened all the straps on my pack,
let the waist belt off
and the chest belt off.
Loosened the shoulder straps.
Game changer.
[Grylls] In order to prevent hypothermia,
Sonja has come up with a method
of tying the backpacks
in a way that makes it easier to swim.
I'm just gonna get you swimming,
so you can warm up.
- Okay.
- So
I'm gonna put your waist band
around your waist like like this.
Now you can swim.
- Sweet!
- Yeah.
[James] Sonja is an unbelievable,
strong woman.
Her heart is pure gold.
She wants to help everybody.
- Okay.
- Better?
- Yeah.
- Sweet.
She's gone through
a lot of emotional things in her life,
massive depression, completely had a
you know, a life meltdown.
And then this race is, uh, is her comeback.
We're gonna cross that finish line together.
[Grylls] Only a few kilometers back,
Team Khukuri Warriors approach the start of
the hellish pool section on the racecourse.
You're okay? Look, you're still smiling.
So many teams are out of this race.
You have no idea.
- Oh, really?
- So many teams.
And this is the section that breaks people.
So, you're here, you're smiling,
you're together. Good job.
Bear, he's such an inspiration.
And just to hear him speak,
it just changes so much
about our own perceptions and beliefs,
about what humans can do.
That section was super hard.
It's gonna get cold and difficult
in this next bit.
But get through it, and then
it's all heading down to the end.
- We're game.
- [Grylls] Okay. Go, go, go, go, go.
He's out to see and look deep
into our own soul
and make the most of our physical abilities.
- Come on, India!
- [Praveen] Come on, India, get to work.
[Grylls] 25 kilometers ahead,
AR Georgia are still desperately trying
to locate Checkpoint 24,
after losing valuable time being totally lost
on their paddleboards.
If they don't find their bearings soon,
the consequences could be disastrous.
When team dynamics break down,
it's only a matter of time
before more mistakes are made.
What about that way?
- Dad.
- Huh?
There's a bunch of logs in the river anyway,
so you have to get out.
Yeah, I see what it does.
So, we all have our, like, ideas, and
we're not the ones who look at the map, so,
ultimately, you have to rely on the navigator
and not argue too much,
'cause that just brings their
confidence down, and that doesn't help.
So, these are all footprints
leading this way
and my gut and my map and my distance
tells me that our checkpoint's over there,
but, uh, just because you're on a SUP board,
doesn't mean that you're paddling
the whole way.
Alright, so, what we've got
is we've got a whole bunch of fin marks
on the ground, people dragging.
We've got footprints,
all toes leading that way. Make sense?
It's only a K.
- So, are you guys doing now what you'd
- [ laughs ] Yeah.
Sometimes, it just
takes some time [ laughs ]
to try it.
So yes. [ sighs ]
I don't mind mud.
I don't like it when it's mixed in
with cow dung.
You can't eat, you can't drink,
'cause you can't touch yourself.
[ flies buzzing ]
Whew! That smells good.
Oh, ha, ha, ha!
Perfect!
Perfect!
I wasn't paying attention.
Ugh.
Hey, bula!
We're lost!
Do you know where the road is?
Yeah, yeah, yeah! to the road.
- I'm going that way?
- Yeah, yeah.
Perfect, thank you. Bingo.
Always double-check where you're going.
Always.
[Katie] Through the cow pies.
Alright! Welcome to CP 24, guys.
You guys look a little muddy there.
[Katie] Yeah. [ laughs ]
I would say that's more poopish.
- [ laughing ]
- More cow poop.
You would not be wrong.
Just because we're mountain biking,
doesn't mean we're on a mountain bike.
Just because we're on a SUP board doesn't
mean we're going to be on the board.
Just because we're in a, you know, a sailboat
doesn't mean we're going to get wind.
That's what the Eco-Challenge
is all about, so [ sighs ]
And dirty feet.
[Grylls] Over 180 kilometers ahead,
and days ahead of AR Georgia,
the frontrunners are nearing the end
of the killer final 45-kilometer open-ocean
outrigger paddle towards the finish line.
[Tom] We have a saying in New Zealand.
"If you're not first, you're last."
And it's sort of how we feel finishing.
Definitely, being a small nation,
there's a lot of pride
in our sporting legacy
and history over the years
and everything New Zealand does.
[ laughter ]
[ applause ]
- [ cheering ]
- You finished!
Yeah!
I just finished the toughest race in the world. [ laughs ]
It's a pretty amazing feeling.
[ cheering ]
- Oh, well done.
- How are you?
Oh, I'm so excited to see you. [ laughs ]
[Bernadette] We're very
I mean, we've never finished,
you know, in the top 10.
So, yeah, crossing the finish line
was certainly a bit of euphoria.
Yeah, incredibly, incredibly excited.
We're impressed with ourselves, really.
Woo!
Woo hoo hoo!
[ applause ]
[Emma] Adventure racing,
it's not the most healthy
[ laughs ] activity to do.
There were several times during the race
that I was not clear that I would finish.
This is the world championship
adventure racing.
That's why I'm proud if I can be a reference
for the women that they can do whatever,
even if they are mothers.
You can train, you can be yourself,
you can feel powerful.
The empowered woman.
Here, the top 10 teams, the women
perfect.
Continuing down this ridge line,
wherever this ridge line terminates,
it is steep.
The steepest is here
and this is less steep.
This, to me, looks passable.
Let's see?
[Grylls] 40 kilometers from Camp 4,
Team Curl has decided
to veer off the ridgeline trail
for a shortcut down a steep ravine
that could save them time.
But this is a risk.
Trekking off course in Fiji
can quickly backfire,
causing a dire situation for the entire team.
[Jennifer] Justin is the brains of the group.
There's no question about that.
He is always five steps ahead
of any human that I know.
And he took 150% of the brunt of navigation.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
But, yeah, it could get really steep.
I wish I was a goat.
[Justin] Just trekking, getting up
in those canyons
that you know few people have been in,
for me, that's experiencing the countryside
of this place that is just so raw
and so, just it makes you feel so small.
I don't see a trail, Jenn.
That's our ridge that we need to get around,
before we're gonna see the road.
[Grylls] With many kilometers to go
until they reach Camp 4,
Team Curl's decision
to leave the ridgeline trail
is turning out to be a bad move.
We are missing the mark here.
What the heck's going on?
I'm so confused.
I am so puzzled right now.
I didn't feel too scared
about navigating too far off course,
and maybe I should have been
a little more scared.
I mean, it shows it going straight up.
I mean, it's hard to tell, right,
if it zigs and zags.
But then it veers hard right.
That's the direction of our peak.
- Wait, where are you going to get up there?
- Well, I'm not sure.
We have to get up and over
this band of cliffs,
but we're just not really sure
which is the right way to go.
I don't like this at all.
I don't mind climbing
I mind dying.
Ahh!
This sucks.
[Grylls] 45 kilometers back from Team Curl
is Iron Cowboy,
where Sonja is fiercely fighting
to keep the guys motivated
to hang on and stay in the race.
See, look, there.
Here we go. Here we go.
And this is Iron Cowboy, the Americans,
digging deep now.
This water is absolutely freezing.
Never give up! Keep going!
[ Sonja laughing ]
You can do it, guys!
You can do this!
You haven't got much longer left
in the water, round this bend!
This is really the heart, the crux of this.
If they can get through this,
they can do this.
It's going to be a tipping point
for this team.
[James] I think a race like this allows you
to really have conversations with yourself.
There's a lot of slugfesting out there,
where it's you and your mind
and your thoughts.
And you're gonna find out real quick
if you like you or you don't like you.
I think that's why I enjoy these so much,
is because I can work on me,
and hopefully come out on the other side
a different and better person.
[Dr. Thorne] What can we get you?
Coffee, cocoa?
[James] Yes!
Sonja, I think you would be
an amazing professional eco racer.
No, seriously.
Like, that's your jam, man.
It's what you love to do.
Trust me, I'd rather be golfing
with my buddies.
[Sonja] Yeah.
[James] I just feel like I have no business
being out here. I don't even have experience.
I've literally almost died.
It is these experiences that make us, like,
really think about
what's important in our life.
You have so much time to think
when you're kind of miserable.
Like many endurance athletes,
I have demons that I'm trying to slay.
Um, we do really hard things,
because it helps us feel like
we're maybe in control
of the things we aren't.
I will walk out of this race
stronger emotionally,
which is something
I've really been working on
but didn't quite always know how.
I am a tough chick. I'm super tough.
Physically, emotionally, spiritually.
I'm tough.
And I'm-- like, I'm proud of that.
I'm proud of myself.
[Grylls] Meanwhile, just a few kilometers
behind Iron Cowboy,
Team Khukuri Warriors are forced to face
one of the most brutal parts
of the racecourse--
attempting to swim the 8 lethal kilometers
through the freezing pools
towards Checkpoint 22.
We do this. We do this, yeah?
We'll traverse left first
get to that grass section
go up a little. See if we can traverse that way.
We just keep going this way.
I remember seeing this lake that we had
to cross, and I'm like, "Holy shit."
And Praveen and me and Nungshi haven't
done swimming without PFDs before.
The three of us, we were so scared of water.
Move it.
Move your fingers and toes, guys!
Brandon! Where are you?
Try sidestroke.
[Tashi] I'm doing the stroke right now.
I'm doing doggy style.
This course is breaking people,
and it's breaking teams.
Meanwhile, those twins, still going.
This is where it gets very real.
This is where heroes are made.
Come on, twins. You show!
[Tashi] Keep going.
[Brandon] Guys, you've gotta move
or you get hypothermic.
We have 3 KMs to go like this.
If we don't move fast, we're doomed.
[Grylls] Over 160 kilometers ahead
on this course,
a race for the top U.S. team has formed.
Team Out There is literally chasing
Bend Racing.
They know how strong Bend Racing is
on the water,
and they're giving everything they've got
to get to the outriggers at Checkpoint 30
as soon as possible.
Woo!
About to start the last leg.
What do you feel, man?
Last leg, I feel excited.
We've barely taken these things out
on the ocean before.
Whose bag, is that your stuff?
Head to the fence.
I can't still check you in
until your team is here.
[ yells in Fijian ]
We're definitely capable of--
of being the top U.S. team,
so, we'll be leaning on our tenacity
and really making a big push.
We-- we tend to really try
to kind of pick up steam and be steady
when a lot of teams are falling apart.
[Josiah] It feels good to be
this close to the finish line.
We've come a long way.
But I think we still have a fair amount
of paddling ahead of us.
See if we can put, uh, one more good day
on the water.
We're almost there.
We're almost there.
[Grylls] Over 90 kilometers back
and a day and a half behind Team Out There
and Bend Racing,
is Team Costa Rica,
who are approaching Camp 4.
But before they get there, they have
one more challenge to overcome.
[ yells in Spanish ]
[ calf braying ]
[Eduardo] The finish line for stage 4
is there, and all of a sudden,
we're almost there,
and this bull comes out of nowhere.
stampeding
"Aah!" Everybody running around.
[ yells in Spanish ]
[ yells in Spanish ]
[ speaking Spanish ] The bull sees our red.
[ speaking Spanish ] It made him crazy.
A super scary moment.
I'm laughing now, but, at the moment,
it was total madness.
Bula vida!
[Eduardo] In Costa Rica,
we have the saying "Pura vida."
And so, we ended up saying, "Bula vida."
And "pura vida" means pure life,
and it means everything's awesome.
And I think "bula vida" says the same thing.
It's like, everything's great.
Everything's joy.
Bula vida.
[ cheering ]
Bula vinaka.
[ applause ]
Woo!
[Eduardo] So, today is Costa Rica's
independence day,
and that coincided with the toughest section
of the race for us,
and we brought our colors in a big way.
Oh, no, where's the medallion?
Oh, what are we gonna do?
We've got to go back!
Hey, I'll do those rope sections 20 times.
[ cheering ]
I love you, Kevin!
[ laughs ]
[Eduardo] Having Latin blood is a big part
of why we're so joyful all the time
and why we just take positivity
as a way of life, so to speak.
But I also think it has a lot to do with
the strong friendship that binds this team.
And in a race like Eco-Challenge,
the World's Toughest Race,
if you can't rely on somebody else
in a way that you would rely on your father
or your brother or your best friend,
you won't have success.
It almost feels like we finished, though.
[Grylls] 10 kilometers back from Costa Rica
and still trying to navigate
the 50-kilometer hike to Camp 4 is Team Curl.
They're still lost and anxiously trying
to find their bearings
before the sun goes down.
[ sighs ]
I'm seeing the settlement
over there to the right.
[Jennifer] Mm-hmm.
That's the direction we need to be headed,
so we can go down this road
a little ways more.
Hey!
[ distant ] Hey!
Wainadu Creek! Go this way?
[ distant yelling ]
- Eh!
- Eh!
[Brett] Steven is an excellent athlete,
and he's just a-- more importantly,
just a great human.
His heart is as good as gold, like,
he just wants everyone
to be happy and healthy,
and he brings everyone up around him
to better places.
My father committed suicide
about eight and a half years ago.
And, for me, it was a huge bomb.
It just blew everything up.
It forced me to reconsider
everything that I was doing.
Metabolizing all of that
is what I'm, like, here for.
I think the World's Toughest Race
is offering that to me, like,
to to fully show up
and, like, get my ass kicked.
That was a joke.
[Jennifer] Worth the price of admission.
[ laughs ]
- Is that part of it?
- I was like, wait, what?
[Grylls] 30 kilometers back
and a day behind Team Curl
is Team Khukuri Warriors
and the back-of-the-pack teams,
who are all dangerously close to hypothermia
from being in the freezing pool section
for most of the day.
Come on, guys. We can do this.
[Grylls] These middle and
back-of-the-pack teams are all struggling,
which goes to show how relentless
and impressive the lead teams' pace was,
who all cruised through these sections
of the course days ago.
[ Camera-man ] Are you scared of water, you said?
- Very scared of water.
I'm going to keep my calm, yeah?
I swam with my team without a PFD
for the first time.
I'm not a good swimmer,
and I was like shit scared.
I was like, "What if I drown here?"
[Anna] The cold was terrible.
When we had to go into the water,
that was rough. [ laughs ]
But we're just focused
on getting to the finish.
We're on our home soil.
My team will finish the World's Toughest Race
Eco-Challenge
not just for us, but for everybody else
who's cheering us on.
[ struggling ] Oh, man.
Move, move, move.
Finally. My fear of water.
Oh! Finally.
[Nungshi] On a personal level,
I think it was just about my fears
and to realize that it is temporary,
you know?
Like, fear is in our mind.
So, if you can move that away,
can tell your mind to control your body
and just keep moving past these obstacles,
fear just is non-existent.
- Good morning.
- Woo!
[ applause ]
Oh my God. Let's go, let's go!
Finally, there's a warming tent.
Get your wet stuff off as soon as you can.
- We'll get you a hot
- [ Nungshi sighs ]
Oh, man, that was the hardest thing
I've ever done in my life.
My mind kept telling me,
"Don't give up, don't give up,"
which is so crucial for my body to function,
and I'm so happy
everything was working in sync.
The last leg was really pushing it hard.
Really pushing it hard, because
we wouldn't have made it otherwise.
I can't believe I'm holding
a cup of hot chocolate.
I was, like, so proud of Nungshi and I, like,
we pressed through, so, I'm so glad
we got done with that part,
and if it hadn't been for us--
each other motivating one another,
we would have been out of the race.
[Grylls] 75 kilometers ahead, at Camp 4,
Team Curl finally reaches their destination,
after a crippling hike that cost them
countless hours
being lost in the highlands.
Hey, buddy.
[Steven] The way this thing is set up
is really cool.
It's not only, like,
physically beating us down,
but it's making us have to rely on
some deep parts of ourselves.
Like, what why the hell
am I doing something like this?
Why do I care about, like, facing suffering
and over and over and over?
What-- like, what is it about the unknown
that's enticing?
Relying on ourselves
and on each other, and
it's developing something pretty
pretty nice inside.
Can we do rice and quesadillas?
eat for a month?
Could I get a hug too?
[ music ]
[Grylls] Over 140 kilometers ahead,
on Mana Island,
race director Kevin Hodder anxiously awaits
the first U.S. team at the finish line.
[ music ]
You made it! Come on, guys!
Woo!
[ cheering ]
Whew!
We made it.
Mana!
Woo!
[ cheering ]
All right, guys, not only have you made
a solid top-15 finish
in the World's Toughest Race,
you're our first American team
to arrive at the finish line.
- [ all cheering ]
- That was our goal!
We definitely feel like we're winning life
for having been able to come here
and take part in this,
and to make it through with our team.
I just want to say thanks to Eco-Challenge
for actually putting on an event
that allows us to not only race
but to get to know a place in a way
that is so much deeper
than any other event that I've ever done.
And that makes me walk away
feeling like an actual explorer.
[ cork pops ]
Woo hoo hoo hoo hoo!
Yes, sir!
[Melissa] Don't waste it all.
I'm just really grateful
to have had this experience,
and I'm grateful that it's so amazing
and I'll be able to tell my kids
about it one day,
and there's a lot of pieces that
that are tough.
And I'm happy
to live with those things forever
if the experiences are as good as they are.
It's always the earned victory
that makes the better story.
And I think that's--
that's adventure racing in a nutshell.
Wow, top U.S. team.
- Crazy.
- I don't know how that happened.
[ Melissa laughs ]
[Grylls] On the final episode
of the World's Toughest Race,
33 teams remain, with all eyes set
on one goal-- the finish line.
But for all remaining athletes
- Nice one!
- Can't break us yet.
here in Fiji, nothing is a guarantee.
- [ groaning ]
- We are going to take him to hospital.
[Grylls] On the World's Toughest Race.
[ music ]
[ roaring ]