The Amazing Race crowned Bates Battaglia and Anthony Battaglia the champions of its 22nd season during Sunday night's two-hour broadcast of the CBS reality competition's finale.

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"I can't remember the last time I felt like this. It hasn't come from hockey in a long time, so it's pretty amazing," Bates explained after he and Anthony finished the final leg in first place.

"We were saying earlier that there's nobody else we would've rathered race with, and I don't think there was anybody else we could've done as well with. When it comes to the Race, it's not so much the destination. It's the journey. And even if we hadn't won the million dollars, just being able to do all the things we did in the last few weeks and just experience the world, that's priceless right there. I mean, the entire experience is just like the title says..."

"It's amazing," Anthony interjected.

The "Hockey Brothers" team was the first team to cross the 22nd season of The Amazing Race's finish line in Washington D.C., claiming the $1 million grand prize.

"Newlyweds" Max Bichler and Katie Bichler finished second.

"We're still married. We made it around the world," Katie noted with a laugh.

"I think we forged the iron, I feel like, with this. We had a brand new fresh relationship, and this was definitely throwing us right into the fire," Max explained. "The Race really reinforced that we are a really, really solid power couple and when we put our minds to it, we can do some great things. And I think in life we're going to continue to do great things together."

"Roller Derby Moms" Mona Egender and Beth Bandimere finished the Race in third place.

"We're going to take away so much from this Race. It has been life changing. We've done so many cool things and met so many fabulous people -- everyone here and everyone that we met along the way across the world that helped us out," Mona said.

"Mona and I, I think everyone knows, we had kids very, very young. And life kind of got put on pause for a little while. And the chance to do something like this, to travel all over the world, this Race is a prize. It's totally life changing," Beth explained.

"We wouldn't trade this experience for a million dollars," Mona noted.

The two-part eleventh episode of The Amazing Race's 22nd season began where last week's broadcast left off, with the Race's four teams meeting with host Phil Keoghan and leaving the course's ninth Pit Stop.

Since they had been the team to finish in first place at the Race's ninth Pit Stop, Max and Katie were the first team to depart from Niddry Street South, a cobblestone alleyway in Edinburgh, Scotland, at 4:07PM. Following Max and Katie were Bates and Anthony at 4:15PM, Caroline and Jennifer at 5:27PM, and Mona and Beth at 7:27PM.

Upon opening their departure clues, the teams were instructed to travel by train to Stranraer, Scotland and then catch a ferry to Belfast, Northern Island. Upon arriving at a shipping warehouse, they must then pick up a vehicle and drive themselves to Peatlands Park, where they'd receive their next clue.

Bates and Anthony arrived at the park in first place, and they were then followed by Max and Katie, Jennifer and Caroline, and Mona and Beth -- who had gotten a little lost on their way.

The first available ferry wasn't departing the dock until 7:30AM the following morning, so all the teams had to wait overnight.

Once the teams eventually made it to Peatlands Park, it became time for one member of each pair to complete a Roadblock task.

For the Roadblock, the teammates were instructed to ride a train out to a marsh -- and wearing a mask, snorkel, wetsuit and flippers -- cannonball into a pit of mud and then complete a 100-yard lap through the bog in under four minutes. Once the task was successfully completed in the allotted time, the teams would be handed their next clue.

Katie opted to do the Roadblock task for her team, and she was soon joined by Anthony, Mona and Jennifer.

Bates and Anthony completed the Roadblock task before any of the other teams. Max and Katie were right behind them and were followed by Mona and Beth. Jennifer really struggled with the swimming, as she faced exhaustion and felt closterphobic. However, on her third attempt, Jennifer finally accomplished the task after threatening to quit repeatedly.

The teams' next set of clues instructed the pairs to drive back to Belfast and find the "Thing With A Ring."

Max and Katie got to the "thing" first. They were then followed by Mona and Beth, Bates and Anthony, and Caroline and Jennifer -- who had gotten lost.

The clue then noted that each team had to complete one of two Detour tasks: "Tray It" or "Spray It."

"Tray it" required the teams to use a menu and seating chart for reference to serve five courses of actual dishes served on the Titanic to dinner guests with one team member preparing the dishes in the kitchen and the other running them over to the dining room. They had to serve the five courses in the correct order to a table of first-class passengers, making sure each passenger received the correct dish to earn their next clue.

"Spray It" required the teams to visit a popular urban sports and arts center and finish one side of a piece of graffiti art, using a picture for reference. When the crew felt their artwork had been properly painted, they'd receive their next clue.

All the teams tried the "Tray It" task except for Caroline and Jennifer.

The five-course dinner service proved to be the more difficult task. Mona and Beth didn't realize there were five courses to begin with and kept skipping the initial appetizer portion of the meal. Meanwhile, Bates and Anthony struggled because Anthony was getting the courses wrong and Bates was exhausted from running the trays back and forth.

Max and Katie finished the Detour task fairly quickly and efficiently, as they seemed to be very focused on what needed to get done. Following Max and Katie were Bates and Anthony, Mona and Beth, and finally Caroline and Jennifer.

The teams then learned they must race to the season's tenth Pit Stop at Ulster Hall.

Max and Katie arrived at the Pit Stop in first place and learned they had won a trip for two to the Dominican Republic. Bates and Anthony claimed second place, Mona and Beth subsequently arrived in third, and finally Caroline and Jennifer stepped on the mat in fourth -- and last -- place. Phil then announced their elimination from the Race.

"We've enjoyed every bit of this experience and we made it to the eleventh leg! And we saw so much of the world," Caroline said. "We didn't know we could get any closer."

"Our friendship is stronger now than it ever has been. [The Race] a gift. It's such a beautiful gift that we were given and we're going to home and write a lot of songs about things we went through," Jennifer explained.

The second half of The Amazing Race's finale broadcast then began with the Race's Final 3 teams leaving the course's tenth Pit Stop at Ulster Hall. Since they were the team to come in first place during that leg, Max and Katie took off first for the final eleventh leg at 5:04AM.

Bates and Anthony departed next at 5:05AM followed by Mona and Beth at 5:47AM.

The team's set of clues instructed them to make their way by an eight-hour ferry across the Irish Sea to Liverpool and then travel to London, England, where they must find the Euston Pint bar and order a pint to receive their next clue.

A ferry wasn't leaving until 10:30AM, so all the teams were on an equal playing field.

Mona and Beth ordered their pint in first place, and they were then followed by Max and Katie and Bates and Anthony.

The teams then learned they must fly to the Race's final destination of Washington, D.C. Upon landing, they must figure out that their next clue is on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Bates admitted he had lived in Washington D.C. for awhile so his team had a home court advantage.

All the teams booked a 5:15AM flight to London, so they were all on the same page again. Max and Katie, however, snagged the clue on the steps in first place. Mona and Beth followed closely behind, and Bates and Anthony were racing in last place at this point.

The teams' next set of clues required them to make their way to 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue. Once there, a secret service agent would escort them to meet President Barack Obama and allow the teams to have a picture taken with him.

Mona and Beth went straight to the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, so they wasted a little time there. In the end, the anxious teams were just taken to a tourist attraction in which they weren't actually introduced to the real president. They felt a little foolish and gullible but laughed it off.

After taking their photo for a photo-shopped moment with Obama, Max and Katie led the pack after receiving their next clue, which instructed them to make their way to a marked car near the paddleboat dock at The Tidal Basin. Once there, they must knock three times on the rear passenger window of the car to receive a briefcase and their next clue. Bates and Anthony got their next and Mona and Beth were dragging behind.

It then became time for the teams to complete a Roadblock task.

For the task, one member of each team was required to search around the basin and use a secret password such as "The cherry blossoms are beautiful here in April," in attempt to solicit the correct response such as "I'll have to bring my mother next spring" from one of 50 spies dressed all in black.

When the teammates were given an actual response, they'd exchange briefcases with the secret agents and receive an instruction on how to open the briefcase. The teams were told the combination to open their briefcases would be the order of which they had finished prior legs in New Zealand, Indonesia and Vietnam. Max, Bates and Beth took on the task for their teams.

Although Max started the Roadblock first, he didn't have much luck finding his correct spy out of the bunch, as skill wasn't really required. Bates did, however, get the job done fairly quickly because he managed to bump into the right guy.

Therefore, Bates and Anthony finished the Roadblock in first place, and they were soon followed by Mona and Beth and Max and Katie.

The teams then learned they must make their way to the National Stadium.

Bates and Anthony got to the stadium first and received their next set of clues. While one team member was suspended high above the stadium, the other had to dress as a giant baseball from below. The high-wired teammate zipped across the stadium while throwing a baseball down to his or her teammate on the ground. If the catcher dropped or missed the ball, the team would have to reset and try again. Once a team could successfully make a catch, they'd receive their next clue.

Max and Katie arrived at the stadium in second place and Mona and Beth followed behind. For the task, Anthony, Katie and Mona decided to throw the ball from above. The teams ended up finishing the task in the same order they had arrived at the stadium. It apparently took Mona and Beth 17 attempts to complete the challenge.

The teams then learned they must make their way to Hains Point.

Once at Hains Point, the teams had to face a final challenge before heading to the finish line. One team member had to search through an enormous collection of globes, each of which showed a highlighted country. They needed to find the 10 countries they visited during the Race and pass the globes to their partner, standing outside of the ball pit. That person then had to put the globes in the correct order to complete the challenge and receive their next clue.

Anthony, Max and Mona decided to look amongst the globes from inside the pit. Bates and Anthony clearly had a large lead on the other two teams, who ended up arriving around the same time at a later moment. Katie and Beth ended up swapping with their partners to see if they could have better luck inside the pit.

Bates and Anthony finished the task first, and they were followed by Max and Katie and Mona and Beth.

The next -- and final -- clue instructed the teams to race to George Washington's Mount Vernon, which would serve as The Amazing Race's 22nd season's final Pit Stop.

After rushing to the finish, Bates and Anthony met Phil at the mat before any of the other teams to claim their The Amazing Race victory. Previously-eliminated Racers cheered the team on, and Bates and Anthony couldn't have been happier about how they had dominated the concluding leg of the Race.

"Bates and Anthony, five continents, 10 countries, more than 30,000 miles -- I am pleased to tell you that you have won the one million dollars and you are the official winners of The Amazing Race. Congratulations!" Phil told the ecstatic team.

"It's not real right now," Bates said.

"It hasn't kicked in," Anthony added.

"You made it all the way around the world with your false teeth. They didn't fall out of your mouth. You didn't choke," Phil joked with the "Hockey Brothers."

"I can buy some new ones now," Anthony noted with a smile.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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