The Amazing Race 13


The Amazing Race 13 is the thirteenth installment of the American reality television show The Amazing Race. This season featured 11 teams of two, with a pre-existing relationship, in a race around the world.
The 13th season was part of the fall lineup for the 2008–09 season. It aired Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT from September 28, 2008 until the season finale on December 7, 2008.
Siblings Nicholas "Nick" and Emily "Starr" Spangler were the winners of this Race. Excluding the Family Edition of Season 8, "Starr" remains the youngest person ever to win The Amazing Race, at age 21. Nick & Starr are also the first team of siblings to win the competition, with the exception of the winners of the Family Edition.
A DVD for this season was released on April 8, 2014, through Amazon's CreateSpace program.

Production

Development and filming

The Amazing Race 13 spanned in 23 days and visited eight different countries. This included the series' first visits to Bolivia, Cambodia, and Kazakhstan, and return visits to Brazil, New Zealand, India, and Russia, with the Finish Line in Portland, Oregon. CBS had originally planned to only air one installment of The Amazing Race in the 2007–08 season, but due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, CBS ordered a 13th installment as a replacement for programs affected by the strike. CBS greenlit the 13th installment on December 9, 2007. Race locations were scouted in January 2008 and filming took place between April and May 2008.
This is the second season with a course that circumnavigated the world westward.
The show also featured John Keoghan, the father of host Phil Keoghan, as the local greeter at Te Puke in Keoghan's native New Zealand.
This was the first season in which an eliminated team was absent from the Finish Line, where teams normally cheer on the finalists, as Dallas Imbimbo had misplaced his passport and the team's money in Russia on the penultimate leg. This had been hinted at in promotional materials aired before the Race began, where CBS revealed that one team made "an unprecedented mistake that ultimately prohibit them from joining their fellow Racers at the Finish Line." In a post-race interview, Dallas revealed that the loss of the passport and money was partly caused by the changing of a microphone battery by production. The passport was eventually turned in at the U.S. Embassy in Russia, but it was still too late for Dallas and his mother to join their fellow racers at the Finish Line. Emily "Starr" Spangler revealed in a post-race interview that Toni and Dallas joined the other racers in Portland, Oregon at a party the night following the end of the Race.
Andrew Lappitt and Daniel "Dan" Honig stated in a post-show interview that the second U-Turn was available on Leg 9 but it was not used by any teams, thus it was not aired in the show. This was the first season in which racers did not use an available U-Turn. In addition, while the editing of the finale strongly suggested that Andrew & Dan were so far behind that they were simply sent directly to the Finish Line after Nick & Starr won the Race, it was later confirmed that they did finish the tasks on the leg before arriving 3rd, coming in around 20 minutes after Ken & Tina finished 2nd.

Cast

Applications for The Amazing Race 13 were due on November 27, 2007. Semi-finalist interviews were held in December 2007 and January 2008 and final casting interviews took place in February 2008, in Los Angeles.
The cast featured a team of fraternity brothers, married hippies, southern belles, businesswomen divorcees, and a retired NFL player hoping to reconnect with his estranged wife.
Winners Nick & Starr became the first team to win seven legs during a single season.
Emily "Starr" Spangler was a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader prior to the Race, while Nicholas "Nick" Spangler opened on Broadway in the musical The Book of Mormon in 2010. Post-show interviews revealed that Emily "Starr" Spangler and Dallas Imbimbo, who competed on opposing teams, had been long-distance dating for six months, since the show completed taping. The two eventually ended their relationship due to long distance.

Future appearances

This cast was not represented in The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business or the second All-Stars edition.
Terence Gerchberg and Andrew Lappitt later attended the public start of Season 25.

Marketing

CBS heavily promoted the new season, including placing advertising on the top of three hangar buildings at Los Angeles International Airport prior to the premiere. Unlike other seasons, CBS revealed a location map of where the Race would be traveling prior to the start of the season.

Results

The following teams participated in the season, each listed along with their placements in each leg and relationships as identified by the program. Note that this table is not necessarily reflective of all content broadcast on television, owing to the inclusion or exclusion of some data. Placements are listed in finishing order:
  1. Mark & Bill initially arrived 8th, but were issued a 30-minute penalty for taking a taxi instead of going on foot to the Bumpy Ride Detour as the clue specifically instructed. Kelly & Christy checked-in during their penalty time, dropping Mark & Bill to last place and resulting in their elimination.
  2. Terence & Sarah initially arrived 3rd, but were issued a 30-minute penalty for speeding. They served their penalty at the start of the next leg, therefore departing at the Pit Start 5th.
  3. Andrew & Dan initially arrived 4th, but took a taxi to the Pit Stop instead of going on foot as stated on the clue. They were required to go back to the end of the Detour and walk back to the Pit Stop to correct the mistakes. This did not affect their placement.
  4. Ken & Tina initially arrived 3rd, but they had missed the clue directing them to the Pit Stop, having arrived there by chance while searching for the clue. They were required to retrieve the missed clue at the end of the Detour and return to the Pit Stop. This did not affect their placement.
  5. Toni & Dallas were initially denied their clue at the Detour starting point, as they had taken the Metro instead of a taxi, and the lady with a Shetland Pony required them to go back to the end of the Roadblock and return to the Detour starting point via taxi. Later, when all the other teams had checked-in at the Pit Stop, while Toni & Dallas were still performing the Ride the Lines Detour, Phil came to Rizhskaya Station to inform them of their elimination.

    Episode title quotes

Episode titles are often taken from quotes made by the racers:
  1. "Bees Are Much Calmer Than All This!" – Anita
  2. "Do You Like American Candy?" – Marisa
  3. "Did You Push My Sports Bra Off the Ledge?" – Christy
  4. "I Wonder If They Like Blondes in New Zealand?" – Marisa
  5. "Do It Like a Madman" – Dan
  6. "Please Hold While I Singe My Skull" – Christy
  7. "My Nose Is on Fire" – Sarah
  8. "I'm Like an Angry Cow" – Terence
  9. "That Is Studly" – Andrew
  10. "You're Gonna Get Me Killed" – Tina
  11. "You Look Like Peter Pan" – Starr

    Prizes

The prize for each leg was awarded to the first place team for that leg. All trips are sponsored by Travelocity. The prizes were:
The first five teams eliminated were sequestered at a villa in Acapulco, Mexico to await the finale. Subsequently, eliminated teams telephoned to inform the teams at the villa of their elimination, but continued to run the Race as decoys to throw off spoilers to the final outcome of the Race. The sequestered teams met up with the decoy teams in the final destination city, to cheer the final three teams at the Finish Line.
CBS posted short videos on its website after each episode aired in the Pacific Time Zone to show the eliminated teams interacting at the villa.

Leg 1 (United States → Brazil)

Airdate: September 28, 2008
The first Detour of the Race was a choice between Hard Way Up or Soft Way Down. In Hard Way Up, teams emulated a religious ceremony by climbing the Escadaria do Passo on their hands and knees. At the top, teams were asked a mystery question- "How many stairs have you climbed?"; if teams gave the correct answer of 53, they could receive their next clue; otherwise, they had to climb the staircase again. In Soft Way Down, teams had to go to the top of the Elevador Lacerda, an outdoor elevator, and climb down a cargo net to receive their next clue. Only three teams were permitted on a net at the same time.
;Additional tasks
;Additional note
Airdate: October 5, 2008
The Detour for this leg was a choice between Beach It or Docket. In Beach It, teams had to travel to Pecém Beach and move a traditional Brazilian sailboat known as a jangada by placing logs underneath it to roll the boat into an inlet to receive their next clue. In Docket, teams had to travel to nearby Port of Pecem and search in a computer database for the specific ID number to a shipping container that held their next clue.
The first Roadblock of the Race required one team member to give the name of their next destination, which was hidden amongst several advertisements painted along a wall, to a painter to receive their next clue.
;Additional task
Airdate: October 12, 2008
The Detour for this leg was a choice between Musical March or Bumpy Ride. In Musical March, teams had to make their way on foot to three plazas, several blocks apart, gathering the members of a marching band. After leading the band to Plaza Abaroa, a band leader would give teams their next clue. In Bumpy Ride, teams had to make their way on foot to Mercado de las Brujas, where they had to ride a traditional wooden bicycle, down the steep cobblestone streets to Plaza Abaroa to receive their next clue.
For this Roadblock, one team member had to learn six wrestling moves from luchadoras called the Fighting Cholitas. After successfully performing these moves in the ring, they were given their next clue. If they made a misstep, they had to get additional training from the Fighting Cholita before they could try again.
;Additional tasks
;Additional note
Airdate: October 19, 2008
The first Fast Forward of the Race required one team to climb the mast of Sky Tower and retrieve a Travelocity roaming gnome from the top to win the Fast Forward award and a helicopter ride to the Pit Stop.
The Roadblock atop Mount Eden required that one team member search among several hundred Māori warriors, who were performing the traditional haka dance, for one whose tā moko face tattoo matched a selected pattern to receive their next clue. If team members chose the wrong warrior, the warrior would take the image away and the racer would have to start over with a new pattern.
The Detour for this leg was a choice between Matter of Time or Matter of Skill. In Matter of Time, teams had to drive to the Kiwi Orchard Farm. There, teams had to use their feet to crush a vat of kiwifruit to produce of juice. Each team member had to drink a glass of juice to receive their next clue. In Matter of Skill, teams had to drive to Blokart Heaven. There, teams have to assemble two Blokarts, and each team member had to complete three laps around a track. Once they were complete, the track official would give them their next clue.
;Additional tasks
Airdate: October 26, 2008
The Detour was a choice between Village Life or Village Work. In Village Life, teams had to retrieve a set of toy teeth from a dentist, a doll from a tailor, and a basketball from a floating basketball court. Each team member had to score a basket before returning all the items they had collected to the Siem Reap Harbor, where they would receive their next clue. In Village Work, teams had to go into Tonlé Sap. There, teams have to retrieve two full baskets of fish from the water and return them to the Siem Reap Harbor to receive their next clue.
In the leg's Roadblock, one team member had to search for an echo chamber within an elusive room called Prassat Kok Troung. Once there, they had to stand in a specific spot and thump their chest in such a way as to make an echo sound in the room. They could then pick up a stone frieze, which displayed their next clue on the reverse.
;Additional task
Airdate: November 2, 2008
The leg's Roadblock required one team member to repaint black portions of an auto-rickshaw green, to show that the tuk tuk had switched to using natural gas as fuel. The team member had to cover all of the glass and wheels of the tuk tuk with newspaper before using green spray-paint. When they finished painting, they would receive their next clue.
The Detour was a choice between Launder Money or Launder Clothes. In Launder Money, teams had to make a traditional Indian wedding necklace by stapling 10 Indian rupee bank notes to the necklace that added up to 780. They then had to find the newlywed couple in the crowded banquet hall and present them the necklace to receive their next clue. In Launder Clothes, teams had to use a traditional charcoal iron to press 20 pieces of clothing in order to receive their next clue from a laundry woman.

Leg 7 (India)

Airdate: November 9, 2008
For this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to climb one of three ladders to find a suspended envelope that had "The Amazing Race" printed on it among several others that said "Try Again", amid celebrators of Holi, the Festival of Colours, who would bombarded them with the traditional colored dyes and water.
For their Speed Bump, Ken & Tina had to serve holy water to hundreds of Sikhs at the Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib at Chandni Chowk before they could continue racing.
The leg's Detour was a choice between Bleary Eyed and Teary Eyed. In Bleary Eyed, teams had to follow a series of power lines on Nai Sarak Street, keeping mark of the numbered tags. They would then report these numbers to a power company official and if they were correct, would plug in a musical Ganesh statue to receive their next clue. In Teary Eyed, teams had to search a spice market for a store named Ram Bhandar. There, teams would be given bags of chili peppers, then transport them a quarter of a mile to Shwan Kumar and Sons and grind them into chili powder with a mortar and pestle to receive their next clue.
;Additional task
Airdate: November 16, 2008
In the second Fast Forward of the Race, teams had to join in a traditional Kazakh feast at Alasha Restaurant, where they would discover that both team members had each eat a serving of sheep fat known as kurduk. The first team to finish their servings would win the Fast Forward award.
In this leg's Roadblock at Alel Agro Chicken Factory, one team member had to search among 30,000 chickens for one of seven golden eggs, which they could be traded for their next clue.
The leg's Detour was a choice between Play Like Mad or Act Like Fools. In Play Like Mad, teams traveled to the Kazakh Museum of Folk Musical Instruments. There, teams would learn to play a traditional folk tune on the dombra and the shang-kobuz. They then had to go to a park and perform for locals to earn tips totalling 200₸ to receive their next clue. In Act Like Fools, teams made their way to the Almaty State Puppet Theater, where they had to put on a two-person cow costume and travel across town to a milk stand to drink a glass of milk. At the bottom of the glass was the name of their next destination, the Zelyoniy Bazaar, where they had to find the meat section to receive their next clue.
;Additional tasks
Airdate: November 23, 2008
The leg's Detour was a choice of Boots or Borscht. For both Detour options, teams had to dress in a Russian military uniform, including traditional foot socks. In Boots, teams had to learn a Russian parade march, then they had to fall in line and perform one full lap with a drill team. If teams performed the dance to the drill master's standard, they received their next clue. In Borscht, teams traveled to a nearby tent and would put on a chef's hat and apron before serving each of the 75 soldiers a bowl of borscht to receive their next clue.
The Roadblock for this leg required one team member to unload 50 bags of flour from a truck to a bakery by laying them down on the floor to receive their next clue from the baker.
;Additional task
Airdate: November 30, 2008
For the Roadblock, one team member had to count the number of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin statues in the park, then proceed to an antique book shop named Bukinist on Arbat Street. The numbers of Lenin and Stalin statues were to be the tens and ones digits of a number that they had to tell the bookstore manager; if incorrect, a 10-minute penalty would be issued before another guess could be made. If correct, the team member would receive a copy of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, and flip to the page of the correct answer to find a clue about their next destination – Bulgakov's old flat – where they could reunite with the teammate, and get their next clue.
For their Speed Bump, Andrew & Dan had to learn and perform a traditional Russian dance to the satisfaction of a choreographer before they could continue racing.
The Detour was a choice between Ride the Rails or Ride the Lines. In Ride the Rails, teams had to travel by the Moscow Metro from Sokolniki to Ulitsa 1905 Goda, where they could pick up a samsa from a marked snack stand. The wrapper will direct teams to Kitay-Gorod and give the samosa to a near the statue of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Slavyanskaya Square, who would give them a postcard directing teams to VDNKh Park station, where they would find their next clue. In Ride the Lines, teams had to travel by trolleybus from Sokolniki to Krasnoselskaya Station to find a key maker, who would give them a key. The keytag would direct teams to Rizhskaya Station, where their key would open up a locker with a postcard directing teams to VDNKh Park station, where they would find their next clue.
;Additional tasks
Airdate: December 7, 2008
The final Detour of the Race was a choice of High & Dry or Low & Wet. In High & Dry, each team member had to climb up a tree, where they had to balance themselves on a log and then jump off to each grab half of their next clue. In Low & Wet, teams participated in a logrolling tradition, where they had to walk across floating logs a distance of to a river island to retrieve their next clue.
;Additional tasks

U.S. Nielsen ratings

Canadian ratings