A choice between two different ways to accomplish a goal or reach a destination. On the surface, one may seem easy but involves some sort of twist; the other may seem difficult but in the end may be the quicker choice.


Two pre-determined legs have one FAST FORWARD, which allows the Team that completes the FAST FORWARD task first to proceed directly to the next PIT STOP without having to do any further tasks, including DETOURs or ROADBLOCKs, on the way. The trick is that only the first Team to find and complete the FAST FORWARD on the leg may use it; any subsequent Team that finds it will have wasted their time and must go back and complete all tasks. In addition, a Team may claim only one FAST FORWARD during the entire race.


The final destination for each leg of a race, at which point a Team must "clock in." The last Team to arrive at most PIT STOPs is eliminated from the race. A Team will leave the PIT STOP 12 hours after they clock in; for instance, a Team that clocks in at 9 am will leave at 9 pm.


A task in which only one member of the two-person Team may participate; in most cases, the non-participant must wait for the participant to accomplish the goal. In previous races, Teams chose without restriction which Team member would complete the Roadblock. Now, no person can perform more than six Roadblocks on the entire Race.


Yellow and red flag that marks the locations of further instructions.


Each leg of the race has a YIELD point. Teams must stop at the YIELD location to do two things before continuing along the course: 1) They must check to see if they have been YIELDed by another team; 2) If no Team has been YIELDed, they must decide whether to use the YIELD or not. If a Team is YIELDed, they must turn over the hourglass and wait until all the sand runs out before they may continue with the race. A Team may use the YIELD to stop another Team only once throughout the entire course of the race. However, there is no limit to the number of times that a Team can be YIELDed by the other Teams.