Introduction → Meet the Teams → Race Tracker → Leg 1 → Leg 2 → Leg 3 → Leg 4 → Leg 5 → Leg 6 → Leg 7 → Leg 8 → Leg 9 → Leg 10 → Leg 11 → Leg 12 → Leg 13 → Leg 14 → Leg 15
Leg 24.13 – “We’re gonna squash the competition.”
During the Pit Stop, teams will be magically transported to Munich, Germany where they will begin this lucky 13th Leg in Marienplatz.
The first clue tells teams to catch a train from Munich back to London, United Kingdom.
From St Pancras International Station, teams must make their way on foot to King’s Cross railway station where they will find their next clue waiting at the magical Platform 9¾. Here, teams will find a Road Block Decision Point (Who can soar to victory?) and also pick a number for the Road Block.
Teams will then board a charter bus which will take them to a secret location. That location is the Cotswold Airfield in Cirencester where they will face the Road Block.
The Supermarine Spitfire first flew in 1938 and is a famous British fighter craft used during World War II. It became one of the most iconic aircraft of World War II known for its role in the Battle of Britain. For this Road Block, teams will get the opportunity to fly one on their own! Accompanied by an experienced pilot, teams will take the controls and perform specific maneuvers during the flight. However, teams will only get one chance for each maneuver before having to land back on the ground. If teams fail any of the maneuvers, they will have to fly again.
After the Road Block, teams must choose a 2024 Kia Sportage and drive themselves to the Royal Marines Commando Training Centre in Lympstone. And here they will find the Detour: Conquer the Course or Command the Gear.
In Conquer the Course, teams will tackle a modified version of the Candidate Preparation Course, which all candidates must undergo before they can take on Royal Marine Commando training itself. If teams can get through the course within the allotted time, teams will get the next clue.
In Command the Gear, teams will learn how to and then successfully set up a field tent and them assemble and carry a makeshift stretcher. If teams can complete the tasks within the allotted time, they will receive the next clue.
After the Detour, teams will drive to Devon & Exeter Squash & Racketball Club in Exeter.
Squash is a fast-paced racquet sport which originated here in the UK. For this Task, teams must correctly perform several squash drills including sustaining a rally, properly serving the ball and each team member scoring a specific number of points. When teams have completed the drills, they will receive the next clue.
Teams must now drive to St Mary and St Boniface’s Cathedral in Plymouth.
Here, teams will be delivering mail through the neighborhood using a traditional Pashley Mailstar bike. Teams will be given a list of addresses in the area corresponding to the Pit Stop locations of the Race so far. Teams will then sort through letters addressed to the eliminated teams. Teams must deliver each team’s letter to the specific address corresponding to the Pit Stop location they were eliminated in. Once they have correctly made their deliveries, they will receive their next clue.
That clue directs teams to the Plymouth Gin Distillery where they will face a Double Road Block: Bottles or Botanicals.
Teams must match botanicals, plant-derived ingredients used in production of gin and other spirits, to their descriptions, flavors or historical uses in gin. One team member (Botanicals) will learn about the ingredients before then relaying that information to their partner (Bottles) who will go into another room to correctly match the bottles of botanicals with their names, descriptions, flavors and/or historical use in gin. When correct, teams will get the next clue.
Teams will now search through hundreds of bottle labels for ones that correspond to each Leg of the Race so far. Teams must collect those labels and then properly attach them to a row of gin bottles in the correct order. When correct, teams must then seal the bottles with caps or corks to receive the next clue.
And that clue directs teams to make their way on foot to Plymouth Hoe Park and lighthouse known as Smeaton’s Tower, the Pit Stop for this Leg of the Race.
The first team to check-in here will win P200,000 courtesy of Shell V-Power Nitro+.
The last team to check-in here WILL be the final team eliminated from the Race!
“Director’s” Commentary
I think this is a great Final Elimination Leg! So, we return to the UK since our wonderful partners at Philippine Airlines parked the chartered plane at Heathrow. So of course we have to return here before flying back east hehe
But I think we have some great tasks here for a great Penultimate-style Leg.
First, the Route Marker at King’s Cross is just a fun little visit to the famous Harry Potter location. And we add the Road Block Decision Point and number-taking to make it a meaningful stop.
We take a charter bus to the airfield just for logistics purposes.
For this Road Block, I just wanted to squeeze in some kind of flying or fighter jet task in this visit to Europe. And I found one (I think) here which should make for a fun task. Being at the start of the Leg also helps since it is a bit of a processional task. But with only four teams, it shouldn’t be too bad.
Google scouting brought me to the Royal Marines training centre. So having teams go through a boot camp sort of course would be fun as well. I think it would be better with more teams though. And both sides of the Detour should be challenging for the teams.
Squash has been on my UK reserve tasks for a long time now. And finally, I’ve found a spot for it here. A good task to help fill out this Leg.
Some kind of task using the Pashley Mailstar bike has also been on my reserve tasks list. And Plymouth also offers up the perfect spot for this task as well. I incorporated the memory element since this is the Final Elimination Leg. So that should be good.
Finally, another Double Road Block in line with this iconic (lol) TARPHDME task. Teams needing to relay information to each other on either side of the task. I think it’s very interesting here with how these things relate to gin production. So this would be another task that would be great with more teams as well.
The final task is another memory task as well. I think a good, straightforward task involving the bottles and labels. So having another memory task on this Leg is a good thing.
Then teams finish the Leg running to the Pit Stop.
Overall, I think this is a great and full Final Elimination, Penultimate-style Leg. Some great locations and interesting tasks!
I’m chronicling the legs of this, and I’m curious about the mail delivering task – you mention “addresses in the area corresponding to the Pit Stop locations of the Race so far.” Can you please let me know which locations these are? Are they specific houses on Singapore street by chance or…?
Oh! Well that would be great if there were streets like that. But I guess I should’ve specified more clearly. I guess teams will get a list of actual addresses in the area and each will be assigned a country or city. Like for example:
123 A Street = Singapore
234 B Street = Bangkok, Thailand
890 C Street = Chiang Rai, Thailand
678 D Street = Lamphun, Thailand
etc
So teams would have to deliver letters to the eliminated team to the home corresponding to where they’re eliminated. A hope would be teams will get tripped up so they might deliver a letter to the Bangkok address when actually there was no Pit Stop there. Or they might switch the Thai Pit Stops, something like that.
But really, this should be more of a physical task. Having to bike around at the end of a long day.