The Amazing Race 1

The Amazing Race 1
The Amazing Race logo
Season Run	September 5 – December 13, 2001
Filming dates	March 8 – April 8, 2001
No. of Episodes	13
Winning team	Rob Frisbee & Brennan Swain
All-Stars	Joe Baldassare & Bill Bartek, Kevin O'Connor & Drew Feinberg
Season Stats
Continents visited	4
Countries visited	9
Cities visited	24
No. of legs	13
Distance traveled	35,000 mi (56,000 km)
Season chronology
← Previous N/A Next → Season 2

The Amazing Race 1 (originally broadcast under the name The Amazing Race) is the first season of the American reality television series The Amazing Race. It was broadcast for the first time on American television on September 5, 2001 and ended its run on December 13, 2001. It featured 11 teams of two, with a pre-existing relationship, in a race around the world.

Lawyers and best friends, Rob Frisbee and Brennan Swain were the winners of the inaugural Race. The complete first season set, featuring commentary from four of the teams, was released on DVD in September 2005.

The first season of The Amazing Race traveled 35,000 miles (56,000 km) in 39 days, spanning four continents and nine different countries. The season was hit with multiple filming delays, including an airport strike in Rome and a sandstorm in Tunisia, the latter of which forced teams to begin Leg 6 in Gabès, rather than the original Saharan desert Pit Stop.

Other aspects of filming were unique to the first season of the series. Host Phil Keoghan handed out clues at the beginning of some legs and only greeted the last-place team at each Pit Stop; all other teams were greeted and informed of their placements by local representatives. Each leg's Pit Stop mat featured a localized design; subsequent seasons have used a single mat design throughout the entire race.

During Leg 5, Paul and Amie got lost in the Sahara Desert after trying numerous routes; they found the desert oasis Pit Stop by luck, unknowingly skipping the roadblock and final route marker.

Amazing Race courses were planned so that the final three teams would all reach the finish line. However, Joe and Bill were so far behind that they could not catch up and did not finish the race. When they were still completing Leg 12 (which aired alongside Leg 13 in the final episode), Team Guido was required to have villagers bounce one teammate upwards using an Alaskan tapestry. According to the DVD commentary, the tapestry broke under the weight the day before, so a trampoline had to be used instead.

Eleven teams participated in the first season of The Amazing Race, ranging from best friends to couples, as well as a mother and daughter duo. Kevin and Drew made an appearance in Season 8, handing out clues from a hot dog stand in New York City. They also returned, along with Joe and Bill, to participate in the All-Stars edition among a cast of returning teams from seasons 1-10. Runner up Frank Mesa made an appearance at the starting line of season 25. Winners Rob and Brennan made an appearance at the starting line of Season 27.