by Amanda Teo
Hello everyone, this is Week 5 of The Amazing Race/Survivor combined.
Following Shakespeare's syllogism that (s)he who sheds blood with me shall be my brother(sister), I now have twenty-three sisters (judging from the amount of blood loss today), thank you. For most of us, it has been a year since the last epic run and I swore I tried to manifest a convincing form of enthusiasm... until the ominous clouds were well overhead, reducing most of us to a solemn funeral march and pre-fitness diarrhea. As we sat in an apprehensive circle, Em encouraged us in goal-setting for the season that lay ahead, and more importantly the immediate runs that we were about to lose our minds over. As she explained the importance of a pre-game psych up (which never quite worked for me), Bel and I were absent-mindedly discussing over dinner plans (Blue mountain burger, grilled fish, carbonara perhaps?) but what caught my attention was when she asserted that as the weeks go by leading up to November, it was important to not only know what determined how we play as individuals but also to know how others played that will determine our collective performance. This is the fundamental premise of a team, our team- the whole must be greater than the sum of its parts.
You know, most of us do grunt and gripe alot before this, but really, as we readied ourselves at the line, it was evident in all of our faces: the dead serious expression of what we knew we must and can accomplish, whether out of uncertainty or perseverance, we just ran. In reckless freaking abandon. So off we went, round after round after cramp after dehydration after mild hysteria, we did it.
Amidst the commitment, I have to say that all this is insane but what's life without a bit of insanity every now and then, or twice a week for good measure. To be honest, I questioned the logic behind these runs as did others and it seemed so vulnerable with minimal scientific support and immense mathematical improbability. However, as I think back, logic and reason was never the primary cause of all our actions in a game; sure we had a plan, but when it came down to it, between the last line of the opposition's defense and yourself, there were no such thing as barriers. It was always broken. I've seen this in countless matches and Darwin was wrong: it was not always about the survival of the fittest but the fact that 'each of us are as strong as our weakest link'. We are a team, we play for each other, we cover each other's mistakes and in the light of tonight's runs, one die all die. Haha.
At the end of it all, our legs may be a little weaker but the eventual victories so much sweeter.
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