Eco-Challenge Winners: Who Finished, Who Won the ‘World’s Toughest Race’

After 17 years of being off the air, Amazon Prime has brought back the World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji. This time, it’s a 10-part survival adventure series located in the beautiful Amazon region of Fiji, starring Bear Grylls.

As an adventurer, writer, and television presenter, Bear Grylls is on a multitude of TV shows. He is the perfect host for this survival show. Over 1,000 teams applied for the chance to be a part of the World’s Toughest Race but only 66 teams qualified. The race itself covers 415 miles (671 km) over a 1- day period. The race is sectioned into five legs: the ocean, the jungle, the river, the highlands, and the island. Teams trek, bike, raft, climb, paddleboard, swim, and rappel in order to finish this race. Each team must locate and retrieve a medallion from each section of the race.

According to Gear Junkie, Team New Zealand was the winner, even after battling a capsized outrigger at the beginning and end of the race. Team New Zealand included Team Captain Nathan Fa’avae, Crew Mark Rayward, and Racers Sophie Hart, Stuart Lynch, and Chris Forne. Their winning time was 141 hours and 23 minutes. The race is timed and nonstop, except for mandatory camp breaks and checkpoints. Teams were monitored through check-ins and GPS trackers.

Once teams were accepted into the race, there were various certificates in training each team member had to get, including proficiency in climbing, navigation test, and a first aid test. There is a lot of mental pressure and physical strain that comes from competing 24 hours a day. If one member quits, the entire team is out.

The Producer of the show, Lisa Henn, said there were 700 production crew members working together to capture this reality show. There were a lot of physical and mental challenges the crew of the show faced, as well as the team members. Not only was the race itself challenging, the teams had to deal with the Mother Nature’s obstacles. When a tropical storm hit and there was flooding in the canyon, all the teams had to stop to wait it out. There is some incredible footage shot in the middle of that storm as cameraman Pablo Durana stayed working in the field right alongside the teams.

This series is beautifully shot and you can really feel the tension the teams are encountering as you’re watching. It’s incredible to think of all the elements the teams and crew encountered during the race. The teams were encouraged to work with the locals to help them figure out a route. Fijian people proved to be some of the most inviting and nice people in the world. Tune in to World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji on Amazon Prime to catch the action.

Source: Gear Junkie

About The Author