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The next scheduled Team to leave was brother and sister Blake & Paige. Because he felt bad for having jumped ahead of sisters Mary & Peach on the check-in mat at the end of the previous leg, Blake asked the sisters to depart ahead of them. Mary & Peach agreed and received their clue envelope just before Blake & Paige. Both Teams then headed to their waiting taxis and took off. Once in the cab, Mary commented, "It was nice of Blake & Paige to let us read ahead of them. Welcome to the world of being human."
At 11:44 am, Cyndi & Russell began the leg. As they headed off, Russell enthused, "Fired up, charged up, can't wait to get to Bangkok." Over an hour later, lifelong friends Chris & Alex, who had also received a time penalty for speeding, departed. Even though they were in last place, the teammates felt confident. In their taxi, Chris explained, "We have a lot of ground to make up. A lot of ground to make up. And we think we're gonna be able to do it at the airport: meet up with everybody, get a good flight. And then we're gonna kick everybody's ass once we're on the road." ( Alex discusses the challenges of the race)
Chris & Alex's estimation proved incorrect, however, when they got to the airport and discovered that the other Teams had already caught a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, where they could catch connections to Bangkok. The next plane to Johannesburg didn't leave until 3:00 pm, over an hour after the earlier flight.
The first flight touched down in Johannesburg. Teams worked the airline counter agents to book the best connecting flights to Bangkok, as well as the best seats--those as far up as possible--allowing first exit from the airplane.
Meanwhile, the plane carrying Chris & Alex landed. They were excited to discover they had caught up with the other Teams. "Everybody's on this flight. Everyone. We're all on a level playing field. This is where we're gonna take off," Alex told Chris. The Teams boarded the flight to begin their long journey to Bangkok.
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