After six continents, 10 countries and over 90,000 kilometres, Westmead Hospital intensive care nurses Ryan Thomas —from Castle Hill — and Daniel Little raced to first place of The Amazing Race Australia.
The pair beat out nine other teams from Australia and New Zealand to collect the $250,000 prize.
‘‘It was like a Contiki tour on crack,’’ Mr Little said.
‘‘It blew our expectations.’’
Mr Thomas said that the pair timed their run to the finish well.
‘‘The race experience included highs and lows,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re very happy with how we ran the race.
They said that working as intensive care nurses helped to prepare them for the stresses of the race
‘‘We’re used to dealing with high pressure situations,’’ Mr Thomas said.
On the race, the duo had to complete challenges including eating fried tarantulas and getting friar tuck haircuts.
The pair said that they want to return to many of the countries they visited during the race.
‘‘We would like to go back and do the race over for six months, much more slowly,’’ Mr Little said.
While the competition between the teams was fierce, the pair said they got on really well with all the other teams.
‘‘It’s in our nature to befriend people. We still keep in touch with the other teams,’’ Mr Thomas said.
The biggest challenge the team faced was keeping their win a secret from their family and friends.
‘‘We didn’t tell our wives or girlfriends for five months,’’ Mr Thomas said. ‘‘It was massive holding in the secret.’’
Director of operations at Westmead Hospital Shaun Drummond congratulated the boys on their win.
‘‘Next time I travel I will be asking Daniel and Ryan for tips on popular tourist destinations, best barber shops and where to find a tasty spider for dinner,’’ he said.
