The Amazing Race - Season 7

First aired: 3/1/2005 12 episodes

The Amazing Race 7 is the seventh installment of the reality television show The Amazing Race. The Amazing Race 7 features 11 teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race around the world. This installment ran from March 1, 2005 to May 10, 2005.

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Episodes

1. Courteous? This Is a Race!

Aired: 3/1/2005

A new group of teams takes off from Long Beach, California on two flights to Lima, Peru. The new teams include ""Survivor couple"" Rob and Amber, son and mother Susan and Patrick and pals Ryan and Chuck, among others. Once in Peru, the teams follow clues taking them many miles to various destinations and exploring the country and its mountains. Tasks include riding ziplines and traveling by several forms of local transportation. Several teams fall behind after carelessly not searching carefully before locking in times on a task that put them behind the rest of the pack. Many teams express a desire to outfox, outwit and outrace Rob and Amber. A Detour, Rope a Llama or Rope a Basket, gives teams a choice of either leading llamas into pins or carrying heavy baskets two-thirds of a mile. Some teams struggle with the llamas, while other teams breeze through their chosen task. A true photo finish of mere seconds sends one team home.

2. The Whole Country Hates Me

Aired: 3/8/2005

The teams receive a clue taking them from their Pit Stop at the La Moset Church to Arequipa, also known as the white city, where they must find a shoe union. After some jockeying for position, all teams end up taking the same ten hour bus ride and one racer pays the driver to open only the front doors when they arrive. Once at the shoe union, the teams do a Roadblock that requires them to shine five pairs of shoes and earn five Peruvian sols. Some teams use charm to complete the task quickly, while others find it hard to convince the locals to stop. The next clue sends the teams on two different flights to Santiago, Chile, leaving and arriving 45 minutes apart. Once in Chile, the teams do a Detour: Shop or Schlep. Several teams choose Schlep, which involves hauling 180 books eight blocks, while the remaining teams choose to Shop for five different ingredients at local markets. Strategy comes into play as the teams figure out the best way to complete the tasks and one team has a run-in

3. Do You Need Some Mouth-to-Mouth Resuscitation

Aired: 3/15/2005

The teams receive a clue telling them to travel 150 miles from their Pit Stop in Saro, Santo Lucia to a bridge in Argentina. Spurred by a warning about an upcoming Yield, the teams finagle for transportation, with one team earning hostility by snatching another team's cab. The teams make their way to Nortes Sur and one team goes dangerously off-track. Eventually, the teams reach both the Yield (which none choose to use) and a Detour: Paddle or Pedal. Most teams choose Paddle, which involves rafting seven miles with professionals, but one falls behind after getting a flat tire while doing the biking task --- Pedal. Later, the teams reach a Roadblock that involves eating four pounds of traditional Argentine food. One team-member, feeling that there's no way he can complete this, decides to take a four-hour penalty, and then convinces others to do it as well. It comes down once again to a rather close and somewhat surprising finish.

4. What a Gaucho You Are

Aired: 3/22/2005

The teams take off from their Pit Stop, a ranch in Mendoza, to Cabana La Guatana, 25 miles away. While several teams enjoy a nice lead following the four-hour penalties taken by teams the previous week, others scramble to catch up. The teams take part in a Roadblock that involves riding a horse to spear a ring in under 40 seconds and one team manages a last-second catch-up, to the shock and surprise of the top teams from the previous week. As these teams enjoy a nice lead, the others struggle to catch up and avoid being eliminated. The Detour for this episode is Shipwreck or Island --- search a seven mile radius for a Shipwreck or find a flag on an island. Generally, most teams complete this with ease, although some have problems with their boats and one is even surprised when they end up at the island when they were looking for the shipwreck. It's another close finish as the trailing teams race for the Pit Stop, hoping to avoid elimination.

5. I've Been Wanting a Face-Lift for a Long Time

Aired: 3/29/2005

In a two-hour episode, the teams travel from the Pit Stop at a polo club called The Martina to Johannesburg, South Africa. Once there, they take part in a Detour that involves either rappelling into and then searching an underground cavern or collecting five items and giving them to the appropriate tribes. Later, the teams do a Roadblock that requires them to search a market for five items and then deliver them to a local orphanage. As the teams race to complete these tasks, one pulls ahead with a Fast Forward, while one team-member suffers a nasty injury. It ends up being a tight finish, but all teams continue onwards for the next leg. This leg sees the teams traveling to a nature reserve, where they one of two scheduled shuttles and feed lions. Later, the Roadblock involves throwing spears. Afterwards, the teams ride Humvees and choose between a Detour task of grinding corn or filling ostrich eggs with water. One team crashes their vehicle and falls behind, but the race to the Pit St

6. Houston, We Have An Elephant

Aired: 4/5/2005

The teams continue their journey in Africa, proceeding to a water tower in the Sanyuko Village. Some teams have trouble finding the water tower, initially heading to another, but once there, all take part in a Detour. The choice is Carry It or Milk It, which involves either carrying baskets filled with food and water using only your heads, or milking goats until you've filled a ten-ounce cup. Most teams choose to milk the goats, but one team gives a skilled performance on the basket-carrying and is able to finish quickly. The teams continue onward to a Roadblock, one suffering some major problems with their vehicles along the way. The Roadblock, which involves driving through crocodile-infested waters and then removing logs, also proves confusing for some teams. In the end, one team is unable to recover from an initial mistake and is eliminated, despite an amusing plea to stay in the race.

7. They Saved the Eyeball

Aired: 4/6/2005

This episode is a review of what's happened in the season so far. The events of each leg are recapped, with new footage revealing events previously unseen or expanding on past events. In one noteable highlights, viewers see Brian and Greg spending time with Megan and Heidi at a hotel. Meredith and Gretchen avoid being eliminated after running out of money and negotiating with a cab driver. Rob and Amber spot themselves on the cover of a magazine and endure the continuing resentment of some of the other teams. Finally, the remaining teams take the time to reflect on their journey so far.

8. Mow'em Down Like Grass

Aired: 4/12/2005

The teams travel from their Pit Stop at the Khwai River Lodge to Lucknow, India. The teams then take a series of flights, some prescheduled and some that they have to schedule themselves to make their way to Lucknow, India. Some teams stick with the pack and secure a later flight, while two less-liked teams manage to make their way onto a slightly earlier flight. Once in Lucknow, the teams all choose not to Yield each other and then do a Roadblock that involves searching heavy steel boxes for one of ten clues. Some teams get lucky and find them quickly, while one has a real time of it, but makes it out okay in the end. The teams face a Detour with a choice of Solid or Liquid. All teams pass on Solid, which involves smashing coal and instead choose Liquid, which requires them to make tea deliveries to five people at a local business. As one team lags behind, they receive a standing ovation when they reach the Detour clue. A surprise waits for the teams as they make their way to a locati

9. We Have A Bad Elephant!

Aired: 4/19/2005

The teams continue the leg started in the previous episode after receiving a clue from Phil at the roof of the Charbaugh multiflats in India. The clue has them boarding a mystery train where they learn that after a journey of nearly a day's length, they'll arrive at the Sardar Market and make their way to a clock tower. Once there, they learn that it doesn't open till 10 A.M., so the teams stay at a hotel and some enjoy local celebrations. The next morning, one team opts for a Fast Forward, where the other teams do a Detour --- Trunk or Dunk. All teams choose Trunk, requiring them to transport a large model elephant half of a mile to a temple, rather than Dunk, which would have required them to tie-dye t-shirst until they found a clue. Some teams due well by enlisting the help of others, but one team falls behind. Later, a Roadblock requires one member of each team to race a camel two laps around a course. As the teams then race for the Pit Stop one team makes a major mistake in naviga

10. We Got a Gnome! We Got a Gnome!

Aired: 4/26/2005

The teams continue from their Pit Stop at a royal tomb in Jodhpur, India to Istanbul, Turkey --- more than 4,000 miles away. As the teams jockey for flights, two teams are caught by surprise when they learn that after believing they had a lead, they are in fact more than two hours behind. Once in Turkey, the teams participate in a sponsorship-placed gnome-finding task and then encounter a Detour which requires them to choose between Columns or Kilos. Most teams opt for Kilos, which requires them to weight people on a scale, but Ron and Kelly choose Columns, in which they have to use a coordinate grid to find columns with numbers and then use them as a combination for a lock. Later, a Roadblock requires one member of each team to rappel up a tall fortress and locate a key. The teams jockey for position heading for the Pit Stop, all while wondering about the significance of the gnome picked up earlier in the leg.

11. The Devil Made Me Do It

Aired: 5/3/2005

The teams travel from their Pit Stop in Istanbul, Turkey to London, England, where they pay a visit to Abbey Road, made famous by The Beatles. Two teams explore flight options and successfully risk an earlier flight, while two others choose to play it safe with a flight that ends up coming in later. In England, the teams ride a ferris wheel called the London Eye and then participate in a Detour that requires them to make a classic choice --- Brains or Brawn. Uchenna and Joyce and Meredith and Gretchen both opt for Brawn, which requires them to stack boats, while the other two teams go for Brains and solve a series of clues leading them to the home of the legendary Sherlock Holmes. Seeing Meredith and Gretchen struggle, Uchenna attempts to help out before realizing that he's not allowed. Later, the teams do a Roadblock at the Millennium Dome in which they must drive a double-decker bus through a marked obstacle course. One team surges ahead, while a Yield puts the remaining three teams

12. Five Continents, 25 Cities and More than 40,000 Miles

Aired: 5/10/2005

The teams receive a clue telling them to travel from their Pit Stop in Potter's Field Park, England to Kingston, Jamaica and then take a taxi 90 miles to the Frenchman's Cove in Port Antonio. The Roadblock in this leg requires the teams to dance the limbo. Then, after spending the night at that location, they face a Detour that requires them to choose between Raft It or Build It. All teams choose the Build It option, which requires them to build a raft and then sail it a short distance across a river. The teams then travel 80 miles to a coconut and spice plantation in Montego Bay, the Pit Stop for the leg. In the final leg of the race, the teams first face an onion-cutting task and then a Detour in which all teams choose Tee rather than Pony, requiring them to hit a golf ball within a particular area. The teams later travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico and do a Roadblock that requires one team member to take a big dive off a bridge. One team fights back from the from the brink of losing it