It’s always sad to see a team eliminated on The Amazing Race, but it was particularly sad to see Mel and Mike go. They were very sweet to each other while running the race, and eventually had to give up because it was too cold wading through the mud in Japan. Here’s what Mel, the 70-year old father of the father-son duo, had to say about his Amazing Race experience.
It seems like a lot of the teams are helping each other out and working together this season, why is that?
I don’t know. You have more empathy with others team when you all understand how difficult the race is. The first time you are really competitive and the second time you are still competitive but you understand the pressure that you are under. I don’t know what it would have been like at the end but in the beginning people are much more willing to help each other out because you understand the positions the other teams are in.
Did you have a different strategy going into The Amazing Race a second time?
The second time we learned that we needed to never stop racing. We should never take time out to celebrate, relax or lie down. We had to keep racing. Also the second, we knew going in that if we got a bad taxi driver we would get out. We didn’t want to let a taxi driver control our fate.
Mel, you’ve raced around the world twice now while the rest of us sat on our couches; any advice for staying active?
At 70 I see people getting into various kinds of physicalities like diabetes and dementia and being active can help with that. The race was a chance for me to stay active and build my quality of life. Being active sustains life and improves the quality. That’s all I know.
Any teams you’re rooting for?
I’m rooting for all of them to survive because this year was so much harder than before. I’m hoping for the best for each of them.
Do you still feel like you have “unfinished business”?
Oh yeah! I have unfinished business. I haven’t won yet and I will have unfinished business until I do. Maybe someday I will get a third chance at it.
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Writer, BuddyTV
Originally from Seattle, Carla recently took a husband and moved to Austin, Texas, where she is finally using her television “problem” to her advantage. It’s sort of like Dexter, but boring and less murdering. Carla’s favorite shows include 30 Rock, The Amazing Race, Project Runway, Modern Family, anything with murder, and pretty much anything gross and weird (CSI, The Bachelor, Toddlers & Tiaras, etc.). Favorite canceled shows include: Arrested Development, Veronica Mars and Average Joe. In her spare time, Carla leads tours of downtown Austin on a Segway (don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it!), blogs about Netflix Instant, and visits elementary schools telling children they don’t need math to succeed (just kidding, stay in school, kids).
