PIT STOP: SOUTH GATE OF CITY WALL, XI'AN, CHINA

Let's get right to it. At 5:27am local time, Kris & Jon start the final leg with this clue:

They head back to the hotel where they spent the night on CBS' dime and look into travel agents. 19 minutes after they had left the PIT STOP, Freddy & Kendra - the last of the Model Alliance - depart, happy to be going home and confident they'll stop at nothing to win. They go to the front desk where Team Restauranteurs are finalizing their orders with the travel agent they contacted. With that, they head for the agent. But... the Chinese-to-English-and-vice-versa just isn't working for them, so they head back to the hotel.

By the time they get BACK to the hotel, the business center on the second floor has opened and Team Engaged Models make use of it first. They find a flight via Osaka, Japan leaving at 9am that day and arriving at 9:30am AHT the next day. They book it and book out, since Xi'an Airport is an hour's drive away. Kris & Jon go in... but they can't get on the same flight. Instead, they have to book one through Tokyo that lands 15 minutes later than Freddy & Kendra.

Long after those two flights take off, Adam & Rebecca leave the PIT STOP at 11:20am. They're happy to be going back home... but they know they are a LONG ways behind by now. They likewise go to the business center in the hotel and book a flight that hits the Honolulu airstrip at 11am AHT after going through Osaka. They take a cab with a clueless cabbie to the airport and head on the next plane to...

OSAKA, JAPAN

Freddy & Kendra's flight lands and they hurry to make their connection... and to look for faster flights. They find one that gets to Hawai'i three hours ahead of the flight they're booked on... but the problem is that, since they booked their bags internationally, they can't get on. Kendra begged to get on. claiming to have a "sick child in Honolulu"... but the travel agent has seen better lies in anime. Despite her turning on the tears, they will not break company policy.

As they board the plane, Adam & Rebecca land and run to try to get on the flight. At first, they say the flight is closed. But they talk to someone willing to listen and, assuring that they'd get no meal and have no bags to check, she sees what she can do. After some phone discussion, she says they can't do anything. Adam proceeds to chide the ticket agent, calling her 'mean'. But there's nothing that can be done. Team Engaged Models' plane departs on time... and Team Shrek will have to wait.

TOKYO, JAPAN

In the city the U.S. bluffed into thinking would be the next atomic target 60 years ago, Kris & Jon arrive and, likewise, look for a faster flight. There's one that departs a full hour before their original flight... but "economy class" has only one seat left... and the Rules of the Race state that they can ONLY fly economy and they MUST fly together (plus the cameraman and soundman following them). So forget that. They try a few more avenues before surrendering and taking the flight they had booked to...

HONOLULU, HAWAI'I, USA

In the capital of the 50th State, Freddy & Kendra's plane lands in the tropical sunshine. They don't realize that their lead is only 15 minutes, but they hustle anyway to find their mini-van and get onto Interstate H-1 (which begs the question how an island thousands of miles from the mainland could have an 'Interstate' highway). 15 minutes later, Kris & Jon follow in pursuit to...

PUU UALAKKA STATE PARK, HAWAI'I

And there, at a beautiful lookout, Team Engaged Models hit the final...

As they decide to paddle after a little discussion, Team Shrek arrives in Honolulu, a full 90 minutes behind the leaders. As they find their vehicle, the sunshine fades and the rain starts to fall. Meanwhile, Team Restauranteurs picks OUTRIGGERS first... but then change their minds and decide on OUTFITS instead.

And that's a good choice because, while Freddy & Kendra try to find the canoe club, Kris & Jon easily find the clothing distributor. They choose crimson outfits with surfboards on them and rush to the back room to look for the matching ones. As the models sloppily paddle their way down the stream (not so merrily, merrily, etc.), the restaurant lovers find the shirt and look for the dress. Jon pulls the racks while Kris looks for the outfits. Freddy & Kendra make good time and are almost at the dock when Adam & Rebecca choose to also OUTRIGGER.

It's Team Restauranteurs who find the dress first, though and, after putting the shirt and dress on, get handed their next clue:

And the COOLEST part of it? They get to KEEP the clothes! As they head back to H-1, Team Engaged Models finish their exhausting row and likewise get their next clue.

Kris & Jon go to the correct airstrip and slam into the last...

At this point, both members of each team SHOULD have one member with 5 ROAD BLOCKs to their credit and one with 6, since there have been 11 so far in this Race. Kris says that this is Jon's ROAD BLOCK no matter what it is...so Kris must have done 6 already.

Team Engaged Models are lost again as Jon goes up, up and...up some more. Kris gets on the boat and watches as Jon plummets almost two miles down. He enjoys the ride and grabs the next clue:

(TRIVIA: This is the first time since the first Race that the starting and finishing lines were in the same city.)

As they leave, Freddy decides to do HIS last ROAD BLOCK the same way. He gets on board, he climbs, he jumps, he dives, he gets clue, yadda yadda yadda. And Adam follows close behind with HIS jump (though to say he's freaked is an UNDERSTATEMENT!)

Back at the International Airport, Kris & Jon book an American flight which arrives in Chicago at around 5:30am. Confirming that it's the soonest arrival, they book it. But Freddy & Kendra find otherwise as a United flight gets in about 30 minutes before American. They book THAT one and take off, with Kris & Jon sucking on their fumes.

As for Adam & Rebecca, they get a later American flight that's a fair clip behind the others... but who knows WHAT will happen in...

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA (Final destination city)

The Second City welcomes back six of the 22 people who left there nearly a month ago. But it welcomes Freddy & Kendra's flight ten minutes late... and Kris & Jon's flight 15 minutes EARLY... meaning the half-hour lead is down to a mere five minutes! Both teams run to the "El" and get on the SAME TRAIN...though the models don't know this yet.

"Chicago Station...all Racers please disembark at this time." The two teams do so and run up to the bright sunlight shining off the Chicago skyline. Now all they have to do is find the Old Water Tower. While Team Restauranteurs consults a map, Team Engaged Models find the clue box first. And their clue:

Kendra is STARVING (wouldn't that make her an ACTOR? Models are SUPPOSED to starve, right?) so they hop a cab and head for Gino's. It takes a little while longer, but Kris & Jon reach the Tower as well and follow that car.

At Gino's, Team Engaged Models learn that the pizza isn't very big and that they each must chow down half of it in order to get the final clue. But though the pizza isn't WIDE, it is THICK (hence 'deep-dish') so it's a LITTLE trouble for Kendra... and Freddy's prodding isn't helping maters much. Kendra tries to keep from horking her pizza... and she finally gets her final piece of crust down... and she and Freddy get the clue they have gone around the world to receive:

They depart... just as Team Restauranteurs arrives. As such, Freddy & Kendra try to take the taxi Kris & Jon ARRIVED in! This upset Kris considerably... but they do their best to chow down the pizza in a manner that would make Pete Dowswell (world-record eater from the 70s) envious. As it turns out, the cabbie has no IDEA where Ping Tom Park is. But, hey, they're willing to give him a try just once... so off they go.

Oh, yeah, and Team Shrek finally lands at O'Hare. Nice of you to join us, Adam & Rebecca. You might as well relax unless the other two teams get REALLY lost.

Freddy & Kendra's cabbie calls his dispatcher for directions to Ping Tom... and Freddy actually talks on the cell phone to get the directions. But the dispatcher's never HEARD of it...not in Chicago, anyway.

As Adam & Rebecca arrive at the Tower to get their next-to-last clue, Kris & Jon finish their pizza and run out to get a taxi who KNOWS where the Finish Line is. Then Adam & Rebecca arrive at Gino's and make like Jack Sprat and his wife; he will eat no tomatoes, she will eat no cheese. Can they lick the platter clean in time to catch up? Well,...they do...but it may not be enough.

Essentially, it's a cab race between the long-distance daters and the models to the...

FINISH LINE!: PING TOM MEMORIAL PARK, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA

Both cabs stop in the Chinatown section of Chicago...and large yellow-and-red banners decorate the outside columns of the park. It turns into the start of a foot race... but, though Freddy & Kendra head into the park in first, Kris & Jon can't... because a train is crossing the tracks in front of the entrance! EWWWWW! Talk about your bad beats!

On the large red platform only a few miles from where he started the Race off, Phil Keoghan waits. The eight teams who were eliminated during the course of the race line the runway leading to him. And, as Team Engaged Models round the corner, the teams - Avi & Joe (Team Brooklyn Buddies, 11th), Meredith & Maria (Team Queens, 10th), Lena & Kristy (Team Mormon Models, 9th), Don & Mary Jean (Team Married Grands, 8th), Gus & Hera (Team Who's Da Boss?, 7th), Jonathan & Victoria (Team Dom-Sub, 6th), Lori & Bolo (Team Rasslers, 5th) and Hayden & Aaron (Team Newly-Engaged Actors, 4th) - applaud and egg them on. They hit the mat and group hug Phil happily until Phil is able to say those magic words:

"Four continents, 24 cities, and more than forty-thousand miles... Freddy & Kendra, you are the OFFICIAL WINNERS OF THE AMAZING RACE! You guys have won ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!"

Kendra is proud of Freddy...and herself. They're proud to have come in first among eleven VERY strong teams... and they can't seem to stop hugging each other.

The train passes and a slightly dispondant Team Restauranteurs jogs to the mat. They're glad that they did THIS well... but I'm sure they wish they did better. Phil officially names them the second team and thanked them for an incredible Race. Kris & Jon do the same as Freddy & Kendra; snugging and kissing and saying they're proud of each other. Any more diabetic and I'll need my brother's insulin.

Oh, yeah, and then there's Team Shrek... who enter the park a number of minutes later and are officially made the bronze medalists of this Race. At least they made it, leaving their "comfort zone" throughout the Race and happy with each others' friendship... though a relationship is SO out of the question.

The top three teams then mingle with the others... and even Jonathan has dropped his "holier than all of thou" attitude and congratulates the winners. Somehow,...I don't think even Dr. Phil can save THIS relationship.

OK, you know the deal. Everyone gather on the platform... and applaud... and smile to the boom camera... and Phil raise Freddy's hand... annnnnd CUT! PRINT! Check the gate! Moving on!