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The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race. A 33,000-mile trek around the world for a $1-millon grand prize starts in Los Angeles at The Hollywood Bowl. One of the eleven teams for Season 32 is comprised of a pair of Punahou School alums, brothers Riley (’07) and Maddison (’09) McKibbin. The professional volleyball players on the AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals) Tour, more commonly known as “The Beard Brothers,” are also easily spotted throughout this season by the yellow shirts they wear. Season 32 of “The Amazing Race” airs each Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. on KGMB. We here at ESPN Honolulu will follow their journey throughout the race with a Wednesday recap that looks back at the previous episode and previews what to expect for the upcoming episode.

Episode 1 (“One Million Miles”) into a preview of episode 2 – Since the completion of Season 32 filming 22 months ago, the premiere of The Amazing Race finally aired last week. The episode begins with all 11 teams running onto the stage at The Hollywood Bowl. Show host Phil Keoghan has the teams line up and asks, “Who is the team to beat?” Maddison, points in the direction of the NFL team (former Carolina Panthers teammates RB DeAngelo Williams and TE Gary Barnidge) and says “Start with those guys.” Brains, brawn, teamwork and luck are all involved here as Keoghan gives the go for the teams to begin the race.

And with that, the race is on! All teams race to where their bags were previously dropped and on top of their bags is the first clue. We knew prior to the premiere they’d be going to Trinidad and Tobago for the first episode. Riley and Maddison hop into their taxi and head to Los Angeles International Airport. They land at 9 p.m. at Picaro International Airport in Port of Spain, Trinidad and quickly find a taxi. The taxi is to take them to the “24-hour fruit stand in St. Augustine,” where they will find the next clue. The professional beach volleyball players are the first team to reach the fruit stand, where they get the clue. The clue says that each team member must roll oil drums (the ones used to make steel drums) a quarter mile down the street to where a Saturday night street party is.

Due to its diverse population, Trinidad is known as the “Rainbow Country.” They love to dress up and take part in the greatest show on earth, Carnival. Once there, they must find the Midnight Robber amongst the crowd. The Robber is dressed in all black and has a giant hat on; this is the person that has the ticket for the next destination: Tobago. Carrying their “overpacked” backpacks, the McKibbins are the third team to find the Midnight Robber and in doing so, are in the group of seven teams who will fly out on the first plane to Tobago, some 30 minutes or so before the second plane that will carry the remaining four teams. Once they get the clue, we see Riley and Maddison join the dancers and take in the party for a few seconds. Bound for Crown Point, Tobago via Caribbean Airlines, they must find Swallows Beach.

As the taxi takes the McKibbins along the coast to Swallows Beach, Maddison says this looks exactly like the east shore of Oahu. This is also where CBS shows the pre-produced video of Riley and Maddison with pictures of them growing up and then tell the viewers when they decided to grow their beards. Receiving the next clue from their boat captain, Riley and Maddison joke with their boat captain that “you look like Jack Sparrow.” The boat captains take the team to the Nylon Pools where they must perform the first challenge. Dubbed “Fish Out Of Water,” teams must go through the water where there are 125 painted wooden fish. They must find the fish that matches the one on their boat, THEN remember a four-number combination that was on the boat in order to unlock the fish. Teams that were on the second flight have made up that 30-minute difference and now all 11 teams are looking for their fish.

Riley and Maddison are the 2nd team to locate and unlock their fish. Heading back into their boat, Pigeon Point is the next destination. Upon landing at Pigeon Point, this is where the first roadblock of the race occurs. A roadblock means only one member of the team can complete the task and the team can’t move forward until the roadblock is successfully completed. Titled “Who can steel the show,” one member must learn how to play parts of the song “Day-O” on the steelpan, the national instrument of Trinidad & Tobago. Maddison opts to complete the roadblock. He quickly finds the group of instructors and says “who loves teaching” before picking his instructor. He must learn the song by following numbers on the paper, then hitting those numbers with a rhythm on the steelpan. Playing along with the band, it’s at the discretion of the director as to whether or not he awards the next clue to a team. Correctly play them, you receive the next clue. Play them incorrectly and you must go to the end of the line and await another chance to play.

Maddison is the third person to play with the band and is quickly denied by the director. Heading back for more instruction by his teacher, he waits in line for another chance. Third time is indeed the charm for Maddison. Giving Riley a chest bump, they tear open the clue that tells them they must head to the Buccoo Integrated Facility. Tobago is known as the goat-racing capital of the world and it’s at Buccoo, where the first pit stop of the race is located…AND the first team is eliminated. In order to successfully cross the finish line, teams must each run next to a goat and hold onto its leash. It takes the Beard Brothers one try to complete the last task in this segment. Upon crossing the finish line, we hear Maddison say “let the record show I won that.” These brothers compete at EVERYTHING! They step onto the mat as host Phil Keoghan says, “Riley and Maddison, you are the third team to arrive.” In the end, Best Friends Nathan and Cody were the first team eliminated from the race.

Episode 2, titled “Red Lipstick Is Not My Color.” Episode titles are often taken from quotes made by the racers. On this episode, Riley and Maddison will make their way from Tobago to Bogotá, Colombia. Receiving the next clue outside the airport, they’ll travel by taxi to the Nemcón Salt Mine. Racers will also test their balance. Also, teams encounter the “yield,” a route marker giving them the power to stop another team’s race for a designated amount of time. Here’s more of a video preview:

To follow along via social media, visit @AmazingRaceCBS and @TheMcKibbinBros on Twitter or you can head to Instagram to visit @theamazingrace or @themckibbinbros. You can also subscribe to their YouTube page by searching for The McKibbin Brothers.

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