I think this is the best TAR 13 article I’ve read so far. It gives you some interesting insights on things to watch for and also some quotes from the TAR 13 cast.

“I love the fraternity brothers because they’re so young and such a contrasting team,” host Phil Keoghan recently told The Associated Press. “One takes his time to think things out. The other one loves to rush and go at a million miles an hour. There’s definitely tension between the two of them while they’re making decisions during the race.”

Another team competing is geeky best friends Mark Yturralde, 41, and Bill Hahler, 42. The Comic-Con treasurer and student aid administrator from San Diego have been pals for over 20 years and have auditioned for “The Amazing Race” since the long-running reality series’ third season. The superhero and gaming aficionados said they left their toys at home during the race.

“We’ve got really teeny backpacks,” said Hahler. “They are small. We wanted to make sure that there wasn’t anything to prevent us from putting that pack underneath the seat in front of us when we got on a plane. We didn’t want something to happen where we got delayed because of our luggage. We thought that would help us go faster.”

“We did extensive research on what to wear – what was lightweight and would help us move the fastest,” added Yturralde. “I think it was the longest I ever went without wearing a logo on my T-shirt. If you see me on the street, I’m usually wearing a Superman, Bizarro or Batman T-shirt on a constant basis, but we had to utilize more multi-use clothing for ‘The Amazing Race.’”

Married beekeepers Anita, 63, and Arthur Jones, 61, from Eugene, Ore., are the oldest – and perhaps most colorful – team on this season of “The Amazing Race.” Among the self-described hippies’ mottos: “Don’t worry, be hippie” and “The hokey pokey is what it’s all about.” Before the race, the Joneses worked out in hopes of keeping up with the other teams.

“We both tried to do some training, along the lines of going down to our little gym, but that was pretty much it,” said Anita. “We have an emerging farm, so we do a lot of work out there, splitting wood and taking care of the horses. We’re pretty physical, so we thought, ‘Hey, we can be in there with everybody else. It’ll be fun.’”

Ken Greene, a former St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Chargers defensive back, now 51, will race with estranged wife Tina.

Starting at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the 13th season of the Emmy-winning reality competition (premiering Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. EDT) will follow the teams as they travel over 30,000 miles in 23 days to countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, Russia, India and Kazakhstan. It’s the first time the series visited the landlocked country lampooned by Sacha Baron Cohen in “Borat.”

“We shot most of that episode in the capital,” said executive producer Bertram van Munster. “People were a little afraid we were going to pull a ‘Borat’ on them. I told them we weren’t doing ‘Borat,’ but what happened there is very, very funny. It’s not easy to shoot in places like that because they practically have no television industry.”

Van Munster, who is currently scouting locations in Asia for the 14th season, promised the 13th season will include a series of firsts for the reality competition, including a mistake that ultimately prohibited one team from joining their fellow racers at the finish line, as well as a memorable first-ever stop for “The Amazing Race” in Cambodia.

“The teams have no idea how to get from Point A to Point B there,” said van Munster. “They don’t know the language. It’s very difficult to get through this country. They get so stuck, but they find so many fascinating solutions of how to get through everything. One of the things the teams do there is go to a real-life floating village. It’s insane.”

There’s a really interesting article talking with the hippie looking beekeepers who just finished running the Amazing Race. It seems like almost every running of the Amazing Race has to have their token “hippies” and TAR 13 is no different. I guess the big difference here is that these hippies have probably been hippies since the 70s.

This is an absolutely unique couple which looks like they’ll be really entertaining to watch. However, they almost didn’t get to go on the Amazing Race. The producers really wanted them, but had concern over there health. Here’s an excerpt from a story about Anita and Arthur Jones:

So how did these two find fame on a reality show?

The avid “Amazing Race” fans say it started with a video tape.

“The production assistant called and said ‘We can’t get your video off our minds. We just keep talking about it, but we really don’t think you can do it,’ ” explains Arthur.

So why not?

“Well, because most folks on the show are like 22 years old, and we’re kind of older,” laughs Anita.

So to prove themselves, the active duo made another video tape skiing in a downpour.
Their lifestyle didn’t hurt, either.

“I don’t know if they wanted the hippie thing,” Anita says. “I mean this is just our lifestyle. This is who we are, and they saw our video and they’re kind of going OK.”

Then, the couple also made some comments (although limited since the show hasn’t aired) about their experience running TAR 13.

“It’s like you’re in a twilight zone,” Anita says. “You’re just floating through as fast as you can, it’s just so amazing.”

“I think a lesson is that it’s not that dangerous out there,” Arthur says. “People sort of have this, well, you can’t go into these countries. Certainly there are war areas, but by and large people are helpful. You stop people on the street and ask for directions, people are more than willing to help.”

“You are under so much pressure and adrenaline that sometimes you say stuff you didn’t mean,” Arthur says, “but it’s just because you’re focused. Eventually, you have to come out of it with some forgiveness and understanding that we’re all human and make mistakes.”

Nah really? I can’t remember a single episode of TAR where someone said something they shouldn’t have said to the partner. Ok, most episodes include some sort of snide remark. However, the hippies are usually the exception. That might be a first for the Amazing Race: hippies saying something rude.

Of course, this is why I could never go on the Amazing Race with my wife. However, my brother and I would absolutely LOVE to go. I wonder if they’d let me live blog my experience on the Amazing Race. Now wouldn’t that be cool? Then, they could post my blog comments at the same time as the show is shown on TV.