Eleven teams of two people travel from Los Alamitos, California to Stechelberg, Switzerland. At Locarno, they take a death-defying leap at the Road Block.

The nine remaining teams travel from Salzburg, Austria to Brasov, Romania. At the Detour, some teams scour the Transylvanian countryside for buried coffins. An unexpected plane landing sends one front running team to the back of the pack.

The eight remaining teams travel from Brasov, Romania to Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Another leading team quickly learns how it feels to be last, while a new twist leaves another team scrambling for their survival.

The four teams continue the leg in Beijing, China. One team struggles with the language barrier, becoming frustrated with their taxi driver. A trip to the toilet in sight of the Pit Stop costs another team a place in the final three.

The final three teams travel from Beijing, China to Maui, Hawaii in a gruelling final leg that tests their endurance, their memory and the karma of one person. The first team to arrive at the finish wins the US$1 million prize.