The latest season of Race Across the World on BBC One reached an exhilarating conclusion with best friends Alfie and Owen clinching victory at the final checkpoint in Lombok, winning the £20,000 prize.
In a nail-biting finish, the duo, who are the youngest ever pair to win, emerged triumphant after a tense boat race.
They completed the grueling 15,000km journey across Eastern Asia, outpacing mother and daughter duo Eugenie and Isabel by just eight minutes.
Brother and sister team Betty and James secured third place, while husband and wife Stephen and Viv finished fourth.
The final stretch saw Alfie and Owen sprinting along the beach and into tropical waters, where they opened the guest book and discovered they had won.
Overwhelmed with joy, they shouted, “We’ve done it!” and hugged each other.
A jubilant Owen declared, “We came, we saw, and we succeeded.”
Alfie added, “Best moment of our lives. Undeniably. Can’t believe it.”
Eugenie and Isabel, arriving just eight minutes later, were gracious in their defeat.
Eugenie said, “We did it. We’ve come in a good second. If we were to lose to anybody, we always said that we would want to lose to Alfie and Owen.”
“They’re deserving of it as well, they’ve worked hard,” she added.
The next day, Betty and James arrived in third place, 24 hours and 34 minutes behind the winners.
James said, “We said no matter what, all we have to do is complete and to be third and not fourth that’s the bonus isn’t it?”
Betty added, “I think, coming away from this experience we’ve learnt how to communicate better, and we now both have an extra person to lean on if we need it, it’s amazing.”
Stephen and Viv, who finished fourth, 30 hours and 20 minutes behind the winners, expressed mixed emotions.
“Gutted we’re not winning, obviously, but we’re so pleased for the boys. This is the end of the biggest adventure of our lives!” they said.
The final episode began with Alfie and Owen leading by just 12 minutes ahead of Eugenie and Isabel, starting in Jakarta with over 1,000km to cover to reach Lombok.
Despite gaining ground, Alfie and Owen faced a setback in Bangsal, Lombok, where they had to wait until morning to catch a boat to Gili Meno.
This delay allowed Eugenie and Isabel to catch up, leading to a head-to-head boat race to Gili Meno at sunrise.
A determined Alfie encouraged his teammate, “All of the lessons we’ve learnt since leaving Sapporo 49 days ago, we’ve got to put them into action now! Everything has come down to this. Everything.”
As the first team to disembark their boat, Alfie and Owen navigated to the Masjid Mosque, then sprinted to the final checkpoint on a white-sand beach, where they secured their victory.
Throughout the eight-part series, the contestants travelled 15,000km over 50 days, crossing six seas and eight borders.
They were pushed to their physical and emotional limits but completed the epic journey from the northernmost part of Japan to the Indonesian paradise of Lombok, all without smartphones, internet access, or bank cards, carrying only the cash equivalent of the airfare.
A new series has already been confirmed, alongside a new celebrity special.
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