Published: 10:00 pm, 10 May 2023
BBC One’s Bafta-award-winning, Race Across the World, reached its thrilling conclusion tonight with Cathie and Tricia reaching the final checkpoint and claiming the £20,000 cash prize.
Fighting off tough competition from the other two teams, Cathie and Tricia were the first to arrive at the Lighthouse on Cape Spear. Mobeen and Zainib followed in second place, with Ladi and Monique coming in third.
The emotional pair were shocked and elated in equal measures. Reflecting on their victory, Tricia said: “It is just crazy madness but amazing, absolutely amazing. We’ve raced across the whole of Canada, with sod-all budget, eaten cream cheese and crackers, got lost in Stanley Park and we’ve come first. How bloody amazing is that!”
Cathie added: “I’m totally elated, I feel just total elation mixed with a bit of disbelief. I’m overwhelmed, it’s incredible. I think it’s the best way to say thank you to all of the people in Canada who have helped us get here. It’s just unreal.”
Over the last eight weeks, viewers have seen Cathie and Tricia push themselves to their limits using skill, ingenuity, and sheer determination to get ahead of the other teams, and all with Tricia’s sight condition – chromo retinopathy uveitis – motivating her evermore.
The experience has allowed Cathie to take time to reflect, revaluate what’s important in life and put herself first amidst her busy working lifestyle. She added “It’s been totally inspirational, empowering in lots of different ways. It’s pushed me to do things that I’ve been afraid of doing but has also showed me that I can step back and let Trish run things, let her be in control. It’s been completely wonderful.”
The pairs’ final leg was a far cry from their starting point which saw them take over three hours to make it out of the starting blocks at Stanley Park.
But despite this inauspicious start, the best friends went on to win Legs Two and Three; survive the surprise Elimination Round during a visit to Banff; and saw them start the Final Leg from Liverpool in a strong second place.
In a nail-biting final episode, Zainib and Mobeen began with a 14-hour lead but were quickly overtaken by a determined Cathie and Tricia.
Reflecting on the result, Zainib and Mobeen said: “We always said that if we are not to win, we would want Cathie and Trish to win. They are like family to us now and them winning is like us winning.”
Ladi and Monique added: “Huge congrats to Cathie and Trish – they’ve hustled hard and brought home that win!”
The friends made some wise decisions in the last kilometres of the race, carefully juggling their timeline with spending the remaining budget prudently - calculating how to make the very most of every dollar.
Across the series, viewers fell in love with their friendship and supportive relationship. Although the race was always a priority, they took time to enjoy some amazing experiences along the way, working on the Pentangle V Ranch in British Columbia, visiting a frozen lake in Jade City and working on the shores of Vines Lake, to name a few.
The race also proved a challenging journey at points, with Tricia receiving some news from home about her husband’s kidney transplant failure and the pair were close to leaving the race and heading home. Deciding to push on to complete the challenge and make Tricia’s husband proud, the duo did just that.
In addition, the win helped Tricia to realise her ambition and motivation for entering Race Across the World: “It was to prove to myself that with my sight loss I can still do stuff and that I'm not sight loss Tricia, I'm Tricia with sight loss – because a lot of people do label you. I want to get it out there that people that have got sight loss can still do whatever they want to do.”
BAFTA-Award winning Race Across the World, moved to BBC One for series three and the first episode consolidated at 6.3m in 30-day BBC All Screens data, with the series averaging nearly 5m an episode (7-day BBC All Screens data) making it the second highest BBC factual programme to launch in 2023 (after Wild Isles).
Catch up on all episodes of Race Across the World on BBC iPlayer now, including a special reunion programme tonight at 10.40pm on BBC One.
In Race Across the World: The Reunion, the five pairs reunite for the first time since the race ended to reveal fascinating insights into their different strategies and individual experiences - from their highest highs to their lowest lows, from money woes to emotional breakdowns, from the hardships of travel to the kindness of strangers, and perhaps most importantly their moments of self-discovery.
This one-off special will offer a truly unique, captivating, behind-the-scenes look into how these intrepid travellers coped with the trials and tribulations of this incredible, life-affirming race and the impact it’s had on them and their relationships.
abigail@plankpr.com
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