‘World’s Toughest Race: Eco Challenge Fiji’ Is The Reality Competition Series We All Need Right Now

At this point, saying that 2020 has been a disaster is putting it mildly. We’re all overwhelmed, underwhelmed, anxious, exhausted, fed up, uninspired … you get the picture. The entertainment we consume, whether in the form of music, movies, or TV, can go a long way in alleviating some of those negative emotions, and World’s Toughest Race: Eco Challenge Fjii on Amazon Prime is one show capable of not just making you temporarily forget the dumpster fire that is this year but of inspiring in you the slightest flicker of hope for the future.

On the surface, World’s Toughest Race is a standard reality TV documentary series. Hosted by Bear Grylls —I know, I know, stay with me here — and conceived in collaboration with Survivor’s Mark Burnett —I know, I know, stay with me here— it features 66 teams from around the world, all competing to finish a brutal, unrelenting course through some of Fiji’s roughest terrain. While there’s certainly an element of competitiveness among the teams, much of the race is internal, forcing the teams of four to push through terrifying and dangerous conditions as well as excruciating and brutal injuries to prove their metal to no one other than themselves.

Perhaps the show would have been less moving had it been released at any other time. After all, endurance athletes have been taking to complex and treacherous courses of all types for many years. But seeing the teams on World’s Toughest Race embark on this momentous, 11-day journey together and witnessing not only the strength of the human spirit but the sense of camaraderie and sportsmanship between them was, I have to admit, really special.

Of the 66 teams that began the race, only 22 did not complete the race. And yet, even those who bowed out early deserved applause, having taken on a challenge that the average viewer, myself included, couldn’t even fathom. There was Team Able Abels, comprised of a dad and his two daughters as well as a family friend. Together, they all reached a point midway through the race in which they knew they’d gone as far as they were prepared to go. There was strength in facing up to that reality, and it’s sure to be an experience the family will never forget.

Then there was Team Endure, led by Travis Macy who was racing alongside his dad Mark, a longtime endurance athlete how battling the destructive effects of dementia but still not ready to give up. He went as long as he possibly could, unwilling to concede, and no one could fault the team when Mark finally realized he needed to end his journey. These were just two of the stories viewers witnessed over the span of the show’s 10 episodes, and each and every one of them were exciting and poignant in their own ways.

On top of the personal stories, there was also the awe-inspiring landscape to take in. At every turn, racers navigated through freezing waterways, scaled mountains in the pitch black, hiked through dense woodland, all to make it to checkpoints in local villages full of smiling, helpful people happy to offer a floor to sleep on or a hot drink to warm them up. Then, it was onto more tumbling waterfalls and lush jungle, leaving the competitors and the viewers in awe of the beauty of mother nature.

Perhaps it’s just coronavirus making us all soft, but maybe that’s a good thing. If there’s anything the pandemic can teach us all, it’s the importance of slowing down and appreciating what’s right there in front of us because we never know when it won’t be there anymore. The participants in the World’s Toughest Race saw the opportunity as a gift, the ability to trudge forward even when it felt like they couldn’t take another step a privilege. In other words, it’s something we could all learn from and adopt in our own lives. Who knew a Bear Grylls show could make such an impact?

Jennifer Still is a writer and editor from New York who cares too way much about fictional characters and spends her time writing about them.

Watch World's Toughest Race: Eco Challenge on Amazon Prime