Despite a strong showing in The Amazing Race 13's third leg, "Best Friends" Marisa Axelrod and Brooke Jackson were unable to recover from a slow start in the next leg and became the fourth team to be eliminated from the competition during last night's broadcast of the CBS reality series.

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"I think The Amazing Race is about taking chances and finding out who you are as individuals, and finding out more about your teammate, and we definitely did that," Marisa said following her elimination. "I got to experience this special race with [Brooke], and that's something that no one else can take away from us."

The Amazing Race 13's fourth episode began with the eight remaining teams leaving the Mirador el Monticulo, a hilltop park in La Paz, Bolivia that served as the location of Pit Stop for The Amazing Race 13's third leg.

During the mandatory rest period in the park before the start of the race's fourth leg, the "Divorcees" team of Kelly Crabb and Christy Cook confronted "Brother and Sister" team Nick and Starr Spangler about their attempt to have another team U-Turn them during the previous leg. 

"Now things are even worse," said Starr of the confrontation, in which the girls told the siblings they would not hold back against them in the race's future legs.

Following the mandatory rest period, the "Separated Couple" team of Ken and Tina Greene -- the first team to reach the Pit Stop -- were the first to depart at 12:33AM.

After opening their first clue, Ken and Tina were instructed to make their way to the local airport and fly 6,900 miles to Auckland, New Zealand. Once in New Zealand, they were told to drive Gulf Harbor, where they would then have to untie a gordian knot that contained their next clue.

Ken and Tina were followed by "Mother and Son" Toni and Dallas Imbimbo at 12:59AM, "Newly Dating Couple" Terence Gerchberg and Sarah Leshner at 1:04AM, Marisa and Brooke at 1:05AM, "Long Distance Dating Couple" Aja Benton and Ty White at 1:06AM, Nick and Starr at 1:07AM, "Fraternity Brothers" Andrew Lappitt and Dan Honig at 1:08AM, and Kelly and Christy at 1:20AM.

While Ken and Tina arrived at the airport first, they were disappointed as the other seven teams arrived as well before the airport opened. After scrambling to borrow computers from other travelers to make their reservations, all eight teams ended up departing on the same flight.

Once in Auckland, Terrence and Sarah were the first team to find their cars and leave the airport. They were followed by the teams of Andrew and Dan, Ken and Tina, Kelly and Christy, Nick and Starr, Aja and Ty, Toni and Dallas, and Marisa and Brooke trailing.

Ken and Tina had no trouble navigating their way to Gulf Harbor and regained the lead after Terrence and Sarah took a wrong turn that dropped them into third behind Andrew and Dan.

Nick and Starr and Marisa and Brooke also had trouble driving to Gulf Harbor and both teams eventually stopped at gas stations for directions.  Meanwhile, Aja and Ty didn't seem to have any problem figuring out where they were going, however they suffered a flat tire and were stranded until a passing motorist helped them to put on their spare.

At the harbor, Andrew and Dan were the first team to untie the gordian knot and receive the next clue, which instructed them to drive themselves to the top of Mount Eden for their next clue.  In addition, the clue gave the teams instructions on how to go for the first to The Amazing Race's two Fast Forward task, which would allow the first team to complete it to skip all of the leg's remaining tasks and go directly to the Pit Stop after completing a separate challenge.

In order to complete the Fast Forward, a team would have to drive to the Auckland Skytower.  Once there, they have to use the building's maintenance ladders to ascend from the building's skydeck to it's highest point and grab a marker.

Both Andrew and Dan and Ken and Tina -- who seemed to untie thie knot seconds after Andrew and Dan -- decided to go for the Fast Forward, however Ken and Tina managed to be the first to get back into their vehicle and begin driving to the Auckland Skytower.

Andrew and Dan left the harbor right after Ken and Tina but failed beat them to the tower.  Once they arrived at the building's parking garage and saw Ken and Tina's vehicle already there, they gave up on the Fast Forward and drove to Mount Eden.

Terrence and Sarah were the third team to untie the knot and leave the harbor towards Mount Eden. They were followed by Kelly and Christy, Toni and Dallas, Nick and Starr, and Aja and Ty.

Marisa and Brooke seemed to arrive at the harbor long after the other teams had departed and -- after encountering an additional delay while searching for the gordian knot -- became the last team to head towards Mount Eden.

Meanwhile, back at the Skytower, Ken and Tina decided to proceed with the Fast Forward despite some last-minute worries from Tina.

"No chance of falling off right?" she asked the building's attendants. "I have a massive fear of heights."

Once the teams arrived at Mount Eden, they learned it was time for the leg's Roadblock, which required one member of each team to search a group of indigenous Maori warriors for the warrior that had a facial tattoo which matched the Maori symbol the team member had selected.  If the team member selected the wrong warrior, the warrior would take the image away and they would have to start over with a new image. If they guess correctly, the warrior would give the team its next clue.

After getting it wrong on his first try, Terrence guessed correctly and received the next clue, which instructed them to drive into downtown Auckland and check out the view from the rooftop of City Life Hotel.

While Kelly and Christy were the second team to arrive at Mount Eden, they failed to realize the teams could drive up to the summit and walked up instead, allowing Toni and Dallas to pass them.

After Toni matched her image to the corresponding warrior on the first try, she and Dallas left for the hotel in third place.

Andrew and Dan ended up reaching the top of Mount Eden before Kelly and Christy as well, however they lost their lead after Andrew struggled to match his image while Christy made a successful match on her first guess.

Andrew and Dan eventually followed in fifth place, and were followed by Nick and Starr in sixth place, Aja and Ty in seventh place, and Marisa and Brooke in eighth place.

Terrence and Sarah were the first team to arrive at the hotel.  Once on the roof, they were instructed to use binoculars to scan the area around the hotel and try to spot a Travelocity gnome. After retrieving the gnome, the team would find its next clue.

While most of the teams stayed in their same position in the race while they attempted to find the gnomes, Ken and Tina completed the Fast Forward and jumped into first place.  Once they were done with the Fast Forward, they got to enjoy a helicopter ride that took them directly to Summerhill, a 1,000-acre sheep farm that served as the site of race's fifth Pit Stop.

After becoming the first team to find their gnome, Terrence and Sarah were instructed to travel to Kiwi 360, a local landmark in the town of Puke.

Kelly and Christy dropped to sixth place after reaching the hotel after Andrew and Dan and then being passed by Nick and Starr, who managed to spot a gnome before the women.

"The fact that we showed up after [Kelly and Christy] and left before them is going to frustrate them to no end," Nick said as he and Starr got in their car and headed to Kiwi 360.

After arriving at Summerhill in their helicopter and being greeted by The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan -- a New Zealand native -- and his father, Phil informed Ken and Tina that they had managed to finish their third-straight leg in first place.  As a prize, Ken and Tina won a seven-night trip to Rio did Janeiro, Brazil.

As they arrived at Kiwi 360, the remaining teams received clues informing it was time for the leg's two Detour options: "A Matter of Time" and "A Matter of Skill."

"A Matter of Time" required each team to drive themselves to a kiwi orchard and use their feet to crush enough kiwis to make 12 quarts of juice. After each member drank a cup of their juice, they would receive their next clue.

"A Matter of Skill" required each team had to drive to a small racetrack and assemble two "blokarts," motorless karts that were powered by wind sails. After assembling the karts, each team member would have to complete three track in their kart before receiving their next clue.

Terrence and Sarah were the first team to arrive at Kiwi 360.  Much like every other team would go on to do initially, they chose "A Matter of Time." However, while Terrence and Sarah were able to get to the kiwi orchard and complete the challenge rather painlessly, other teams were not so fortunate.

Toni and Dallas, Andrew and Dan, and Nick and Starr all decided to switch to their Detour task to "A Matter of Skill" after hurting their feet on the rough kiwis and dealing with clogged juice holes that impeded any juice from getting into their measuring cups.

"This looked so much more fun when Lucy and Ethel did it," Toni said as she struggles to stamp the kiwis.

However, Kelly and Christy fared much better and managed to jump from sixth place into third place after sticking with -- and even enjoying -- the kiwi challenge.

"These kiwis are exfoliating our legs," said an excited Christy. "The kiwis are like tension relieving balls underneath our feet, it was fun!"

Although they suspected they were already one of the last few teams, Aja and Ty also decided to switch to the "A Matter of Skill" after initially struggling with the kiwi juice task.

Marisa and Brooke struggled as they stepped on the kiwis, but didn't decide to switch challenges.

Sevveral teams continued to have trouble even after switching to the kart task.  Andrew and Dan and Aja and Ty both struggled to assemble their karts, while Starr got hurt when she flipped her kart while driving it on the track.

"It hurts so bad, I think I broke my arm!" she screamed before eventually completing the task without losing any ground in the competition.

After they completed their Detour tasks, the teams received clues instructing them to drive to Summerhill and check-in at the Pit Stop.

Terrence and Sarah managed to hold their Detour lead and become the second team to arrive at the Pit Stop.  They were followed by the teams of Kelly and Christy, Toni and Dallas, Nick and Starr, Andrew and Dan, and Aja and Ty.

Marisa and Brooke arrived at the Pit Stop in last place, and were told by Phil that they had been eliminated from the race.

"We're just two girls from South Carolina trying to get around the world. We did it together, and I mean I'm glad we made it this far," said Marisa, before she and Brooke each got a post-elimination hug from Phil's dad.

The Amazing Race 13's next episode will air Sunday, October 26 at 8PM ET/PT on CBS.
About The Author: John Bracchitta

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