The Amazing Race 31, Episode 11, Part 2 Recap

The exhilarating finale episode of The Amazing Race season 31 on CBS (April-June 2019) continued in Part 2. Teams travelled from Camden Market in the UNITED KINGDOM to Detroit, Michigan in the UNITED STATES. Three teams competed in this episode: couple Christie Woods and Colin Guinn, cousins Jamal Zadran and Leo Temory, and best friends Korey Kuhl and Tyler Oakley. Which one won the one million dollars? (Say that three times fast!) Find out at the end of this GeoFact of the Day post! Sorted by chronological order, here were the challenges and happenings encountered by the three remaining teams during this episode’s 12th and final leg:

● Departures: Since teammates Jamal & Leo arrived at the Camden Market Pit Stop first in part 1 (GeoFact of the Day’s previous post) of episode 11, they were allowed to begin this leg of the race before the two other finale teams at 3:53 AM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in the night — or morning if you are an early bird! Korey & Tyler departed from the United Kingdom at 4:13 AM, followed by Christie & Colin at 4:29 AM.

● After flying to the most-populated city in Michigan, teams found clues at the Spirit of Detroit — a brilliant bronze statue with marble and gold-plated accents — and soon at the Guardian Building.

● Roadblock: Once the three teams arrived at the Guardian Building, one member of each team rappelled about 500 feet down the building’s glassy outer wall. This fear-of-heights challenge is formidable as it is, but the Roadblock participants (Colin, Leo, and Tyler) had to rappel downward facing toward the ground, so it was difficult for them to avoid how high up in the sky they were! On several spots of the wall during the descent were combination-lock numbers to be used to unlock a bank vault. These numbers and instructions regarding how to properly turn the vaults’ wheel back and forth allowed the teams to find and take their clue from the modern treasure chest.

● Teams played fowling — an outdoors/indoors sport combining American football and bowling — at the Fowling Warehouse in nearby Hamtramck, about four miles from Downtown Detroit. Teams attempted to throw a football at all of the bowling pins to achieve a strike score and proceed in the competition.

● Teams participated in another fun activity, this time at Third Man Records. Here at this vinyl records manufacturing center, teams pressed a total of five colorful records containing red and yellow vinyl as an homage to The Amazing Race’s iconic clue cards.

● The next task (Route Info 5) was not aired on CBS, likely being cut for time in the show’s episode editing procedure. Teams visited an outdoor art installation known as the Heidelberg Project. Among the myriad of boxes scattered on the premises, teams looked for a box with a clue contained inside.

● Officially opened in 1975, the Philip Aloysius Hart Plaza (or simply Hart Plaza) served as the setting for the season finale’s final challenge. Teams looked on top of a drum for a clue, which required them to perfectly cobble together a drum set matching a fully assembled example. Nearby, musicians loudly played Seven Nation Army (2003) by The White Stripes, a distraction that provided anguish to team members as they tried to give guidance to each other in properly assembling their drum kit. Once teams finished the set according to guidelines, they received the final clue that led them to the Pit Stop and Finish Line…

● Pit Stop and Season 31’s Finish Line: Detroit’s Fort Wayne historical site — not to be confused with the fort in Fort Wayne, Indiana

● After over 25 seasons since competing on season 5 of The Amazing Race, Christie Woods and Colin Guinn crossed the Finish Line first and won $1 million!

  Season 31, Episode 11, Leg #12/12
  First, Second, and Last Places at the Pit Stop

  1st (Season 31 WINNERS!) — Christie Woods and Colin Guinn
       1st place prize — $1 million

  2nd — Korey Kuhl and Tyler Oakley

  Last (3rd) — Jamal Zadran and Leo Temory