CENTRE WELLINGTON – Now in its 10th season, a recent episode of The Amazing Race Canada featured Elora, Aboyne, Fergus and Guelph.
The show pits teams of two people (who have a pre-existing relationship) against each other.
The competitors’ skills are challenged as they “race” around Canada, attempting to be the first team to reach “pit-stops,” where they execute challenges and can find clues to the location of the next stop.
They can win prizes for each leg of the journey, but if they finish last during any leg of the competition, they face elimination or a significant disadvantage during the next leg.
Planes, trains, automobiles, helicopters, boats, on foot – the modes of transportation are varied as the teams make their way through multiple provinces and territories.
And the challenges they face are “related in some manner to the area of Canada wherein they are located or its culture,” officials state.
This season’s remaining teams traversed the Elora Quarry in canoes and rope-climbed its cliffs.
They tried their hands (and mouths) at glass blowing at Kitras Art Glass in Fergus and created “live” paintings at the Elora Centre for the Arts.
They scrolled through microfiche at the Wellington County Museum and Archives and wrestled in a ring at Dublin Street United Church in Guelph.
Mark Lysadowski, executive producer of Amazing Race Canada, said choosing the Centre Wellington area as a location for the show was long overdue.
Lysadowski said he knows the area well and has visited many times, and knows the area is filled with art, agriculture and “a lot of great things” he wanted to share with the rest of the country.
When it came to choosing the locations and features within an area to share, Lysadowski said the team at Amazing Race Canada relied heavily on the people of the community, especially the township’s tourism office.
But Lysadwoski said he looks for far more than tourist attractions.
Despite numerous visits to the area, Lysadowski said learning John McCrae was from the area was a “fundamental surprise.”
Episode six started at McCrae house in Guelph and included a partial reading of John McCrae’s world-famous poem In Flanders Fields.
“The racers take it in and take a moment and reflect on it, and I think it reflects how people feel about this piece of literature nationally,” Lysadowski said.
One of his favourite books growing up was Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day? And for Lydadowski sharing with Canadians how people live in their communities is an important aspect of the show.
“What makes the community tick? Where do people work, what do they do for a living, what do they do for entertainment?,” Lysadowski said.
“What makes this show really work is it’s a celebration of Canadian communities from coast to coast to coast.”
Episode six saw the end of the adventure for the team of Julie Viola and Olivia Curto.
The couple from Stayner told the Advertiser the experience has shown them they can tackle anything in life together.
Viola said it was important to her and Curto, who have been together for 10 years and married for one, to “showcase our love; that it doesn’t matter who you love.
“We wanted to portray that on the show and hopefully set a positive example,” Viola said.
“We know we’re a great team, that’s why we got married,” Curto added.
“And now we know that we are a great Amazing Race team. And whatever life throws at us, we’re going to take it together and come out of it.”
The couple is familiar with Elora.
“We’ve gone to the quarry there. We’ve gone swimming and explored the area It’s so gorgeous, so pretty,” Viola said.
Viola and Curto said they like bringing friends to the quarry and they love the people and atmosphere of Elora.
“We embrace the culture and the community, and it keeps us coming back,” Curto said.
Being on Amazing Race Canada and filming in Wellington County has shown the couple there is much more to explore here.
“Going to the archives and knowing there is something like that we can explore was incredible,” Curto said.
“It’s a very welcoming community. I encourage everybody to come out your way because of the people and the atmosphere and the beauty that is surrounding you.”
