The sixth series final of Race Across the World will air on Thursday 21 May at 8pm on iPlayer and One, with the last leg set to decide which team reaches Hatgal first and takes home £20,000. After more than 11,000km through Europe and Asia, just 950km now separate the teams from the finish line.
For Molly and Andrew, the race has already delivered the kind of journey they will remember for different reasons. Molly said the last two home stays were her highlight, while Andrew said getting to Mongolia was the best part for him. He had wanted to go there since he was a young man, and said the finish line brings mixed emotions because the experience is ending even as his team still has a chance to win.
Andrew also said he has been away from home for a long time and misses his wife. Molly said Khiva was tough, and that the race itself was difficult because the teams were constantly wanting to keep moving. Andrew said the biggest challenge was the pressure of making decisions all the time and coping with a lack of sleep.
The route has taken the teams from Palermo to northern Mongolia, turning the final leg into the last stretch of a marathon that has tested stamina, judgement and patience in equal measure. The prize is relatively small beside the distance travelled, but the race for it has become more personal by the day.
Molly said their relationship has changed from father and daughter to very much a team, and that shift may matter as much as speed in the closing push to Hatgal. She said they are entering the final leg having thoroughly enjoyed the first seven and are willing to do whatever they need to do, adding that the next leg is about going for it. The only question now is whether that approach is enough to be first across the line when the final leg ends.
