Nary Ebeid and Jamie Graetz survive finishing 'The Amazing Race' last

"Federal Agents and Friends" Nary Ebeid and Jamie Graetz survived to compete in The Amazing Race's eighth twentieth-season leg despite a last-place finish during Sunday night's broadcast of the Race's seventh leg.


"We're just here to have a great time and try to win a million dollars and see the world. We're here. We're committed, and we live to see another day," Jamie said after discovering her team was still in the running to compete in the next leg.

The seventh episode of The Amazing Race's twentieth season began where the last broadcast left off two weeks ago, with the Race's six teams meeting with The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan and leaving the course's sixth Pit Stop at Esplanade Estakada in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Since they had been the team to finish in first place at the Race's sixth Pit Stop, "Married Couple" Dave Brown Jr. and Rachel Brown were the first team to depart from Esplanade Estakada at 9:15PM.

They were then followed by "Border Patrol Agents and Friends" Art Velez and J.J. Carrell at 10:45PM, "Friends" William "Bopper" Minton and Mark Jackson at 10:55PM, "Engaged Couple" and former Big Brother houseguests Brendon Villegas and Rachel Reilly at 10:56PM, Nary and Jamie at 11:32PM, and "Dating Divorcees" Vanessa Macias and Ralph Kelley at 11:35PM.


Upon opening their departure clues, the teams were instructed to fly to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania and they later discovered they could do so by stopping in Nairobi, Kenya.

Rachel B. and Dave went immediately to a travel agency to try to book the earliest available flight. They were able to secure tickets on an 8:30AM flight to Nairobi, which was a connecting flight that would eventually land them in Kilimanjaro, and believed it was the best one they could find.

Art and J.J. then hustled to the same travel agency and got there after Rachel B. and Dave had finished their business. Brendon and Rachel R. arrived at the same spot shortly afterwards. Rachel R. felt like Art and J.J. didn't think she and Brendon deserved to still be there and it bothered her. She could sense the tension in the room because it was clear Art and J.J. were not fans of them.

Bopper and Mark then arrived at the travel agency and met the other two teams. Art and J.J. told Brendon and Rachel R. they thought Nary and Jamie were lying about their kindergarten-teacher professions. They thought the women were actually police officers because they knew information about law enforcement jobs and undercover operations that ordinary teachers probably wouldn't have knowledge about.

Rachel R. and Brendon were pretty surprised to learn the news and believed their suspicions actually made sense. Art and J.J. told Brendon and Rachel R. that kindergarten teachers would most likely be more "bouncy" and "social."


Nary and Jamie then arrived at the travel agency, and they were soon followed by Vanessa and Ralph. All teams ended up booking the same flight to Nairobi.

Once the teams got to the airport around the same time, Ralph noticed Brendon had flipped him off the finger as they were running to the gates. Once in line to board the flight, Art and J.J. teamed up with Vanessa and Ralph and started ganging up on Rachel R. and Brendon. Art and J.J. told them the Race wasn't "follow the leader" and they needed to do it on their own.

Meanwhile, Vanessa and Rachel were taking shots at each other while Brendon and Ralph were going at it in an argument which seemed it might escalate to a physical level. Vanessa told Rachel to "put on more sparkles," and then Rachel asked her if she was 38-years-old in a condescending tone. Vanessa willingly admitted 38 was her age, but then she fired back and claimed she still looked younger than Rachel R. despite the numbers.

Rachel was clearly upset, but then Vanessa decided to yell out that Rachel R. "should've gotten a nose job before getting a boob job" before the feud finally ended. Bopper and Ralph said they felt like they were in school standing in the lunch line, and then Art and J.J. said it was "disgusting" Brendon and Rachel R. were even running the same Race as them. Rachel B. and Dave just stood behind the teams laughing at all the drama.

Rachel then got her last shot in yelled out "learn some humility" before she broke down and cried. Ralph began feeling a little bad for Rachel R. and brought up the fact she was crying to Vanessa, but Vanessa told her boyfriend it was Rachel R.'s lack of self-esteem that made her cry. Vanessa insisted if she couldn't take the heat, then she shouldn't dish out insults.


Afterward, Art and J.J. confronted Nary and Jamie and asked them how they knew about "UC" operations and case loads -- which was the conversation the two pairs previously had -- attempting to discover what their real professions were. The women stuck with their cover stories and insisted they were still kindergarten teachers.

Art and J.J. said they weren't dumb and it wasn't their first rodeo in disbelief, but they opted to let it go and not dwell on the subject.

Once the plane landed in Kilimanjaro with all the teams onboard, Rachel R. and Brendon were the first team to rush out of the plane and airport, and they were soon followed by Bopper and Mark, Rachel B. and Dave, Vanessa and Ralph, Nary and Jamie, and then Art and J.J.

The teams then rushed to Arusha Airstrip, where they were required to sign up for one of three charter flights to the Ngorongoro Crater.

Art and J.J. arrived at the Airstrip first and booked a 9:30AM flight along with Brendon and Rachel R. Bopper and Mark then arrived and signed up for the 9:45AM flight with Rachel B. and Dave. Lastly, Nary and Jamie were stuck with the 10AM, and Vanessa and Ralph signed up for the same exact one shortly afterwards. 


The next morning, all six teams took off to get on their flights which were booked 15 minutes apart from each other. Rachel R. was fueling her own fire and said she was motivated to "destroy" Art and J.J. However, the guys were convinced it would be absolutely no struggle to beat them.

Upon landing, the teams retrieved their next set of clues and learned they must choose a safari vehicle, navigate their driver to the western rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and then find a Maasai warrior who would hand them their next clue.

Rachel R. and Brendon were the first team to retrieve the clue and they were followed by Art and J.J., Rachel B. and Dave, Bopper and Mark, Nary and Jamie, and Vanessa and Ralph.

Many of the teams stopped to ask the locals for directions, and Rachel B. and Dave weren't sure if they were headed in the right direction.

Art and J.J. were the first team to meet the Maasai warrior and then it became time for them to complete one of two Detour tasks: "Marksmanship" or "Courtship."


"Marksmanship" required the teams to step onto a training ranch and then master a Maasai hunting weapon by attempting to shatter a clay target. Once both team members could each smash one target, they would receive their next clue.

"Courtship" required the teams to jump for an exhausting minute while they were nearly 8,000 feet above sea level. Once they could accomplish the task, they'd earn their next clue.

Following Art and J.J., Brendon and Rachel R. met the Maasai warrior and were soon followed by Rachel B. and Dave, Bopper and Mark, Nary and Jamie, and Vanessa and Ralph.

All the teams learned they could only reach the destination of their selected Detour task by riding bicycles. Riding the bikes alone proved to be difficult for some team members, especially Vanessa and Rachel B. Their partners attempted to lend them some support along the way, but both women were frustrated because they were trying the best they could and saw the men's help as being critical. 

Art and J.J., Rachel B. and Dave, Nary and Jamie, and Vanessa and Ralph all opted to take on the "Marksmanship" Detour task, while Rachel R. and Brendon and Bopper and Mark tested their luck with the "Courtship" task.

Both tasks ended up being pretty easy for mostly all the teams, but the "Courtship" one seemed to go faster.


As a result, Rachel R. and Brendon were the first team to complete the Detour task. They were then followed by Art and J.J., Bopper and Mark, Rachel B. and Dave, Nary and Jamie, and Vanessa and Ralph.

The teams were then instructed to bike back to their safari vehicle and search for Simba Campsite. They were told they must direct their driver along the way.

Rachel R. and Brendon and Art and J.J. ended up both getting a little lost and initially went the wrong way. Their mistake allowed Rachel B. and Dave to catch up to them and eventually pass them.

Therefore, Rachel B. and Dave were the first team to arrive at the campsite and they were then followed by Brendon and Rachel R., Bopper and Mark, Art and J.J., Nary and Jamie, and Vanessa and Ralph.

Upon receiving their next clues, the teams learned they must unload materials stacked on a truck and then construct an elaborate safari pitch tent complete with a working shower. Once they built their camp properly and the showers worked, they could then race to the nearby Pit Stop -- the Race's seventh Pit Stop of the season -- which was located in an open grassy field ontop of a hill.

The tent-building task definitely tested the strength of many of the teams' relationships.


Most of the couples bickered as they attempted to work together, especially Rachel B. and Dave. Rachel B. was yelling at Dave to stop whining about their progress and voice instructions instead, while Art and J.J. -- who were rushing to catch up to the other teams and gain some ground -- admitted watching Rachel B. and Dave bicker was their reasoning behind choosing not to compete on The Amazing Race with their wives.

Nary and Jamie had the most trouble pitching their tent, and as a result, fell far behind all the other teams. They couldn't get the base to stand up and it took them awhile to finally figure it out. Meanwhile, Rachel B. and Dave and Bopper and Mark finished their tent, frustrating Art and J.J. that people were beating them.

Despite what seemed to be a grim outlook on their Race, Nary and Jamie were determined to finish the leg even though they were exhausted, thirsty and could tell they would going to end up in last place.

Following Rachel B. and Dave and then Bopper and Mark, Art and J.J. were finally able to pitch their tent properly. After Art and J.J. then came Rachel R. and Brendon, Vanessa and Ralph, and finally Nary and Jamie.

Rachel B. and Dave then arrived at the Pit Stop mat and met Phil in first place. For finishing the leg before any of the other teams, the couple won a trip for two to Costa Rica.

Bopper and Mark then finished the leg in second place, while Art and J.J. subsequently secured third place.


Brendon and Rachel R. then became team number four, while Vanessa and Ralph were declared the fifth-place team.

Meanwhile, Nary and Jamie stopped their driver to observe the wildlife on their way to the Pit Stop. They were convinced they'd come in last place and figured they'd take advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity while they still could.

Nary and Jamie were then greeted by Phil, who told them they had finished the seventh leg in sixth place.

"Nary and Jamie, I'm sorry to tell you that you are the last team to arrive," Phil told the girls.

"Yeah, we knew it. But you know what? We weren't going to give up," Jamie said.

"No regrets?" Phil asked.


"No regrets," both girls said simultaneously.

"We're hoping you're not going to eliminate us though," Nary explained.

"I know," Jamie said.

"Is that what you would like?" Phil asked.

"That's what we would love!" both women said in agreeance while laughing.

"Well you're going to love what I have to say then," Phil said with a smile.


The girls then cheered and anticipated what Phil was about to say next.

"This is a non-elimination leg and you are still in the Race. You still have a chance to win The Amazing Race. Now, because you are the last team to arrive, you will encounter a Speed Bump some time during the next leg of the Race," Phil explained.

"Okay," Jamie said.

"We'll get it done," Nary suggested.

"We absolutely will," Jamie confirmed.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski