Seemingly always on the brink of elimination from the hit CBS show, “The Amazing Race,” Allison “Ally” Mello, 23, a Pitman High School graduate, and her partner Ashley Covert, 25, survived for yet another week.
Mello and Covert finished fifth out of six teams this week in a non-elimination leg of the race for $1 million. The Los Angeles Kings Ice Crew members barely survived last week's episode as well, putting them in last place entering this week’s leg.
“We are currently in last place but we’re kind of used to it, we’re kind of the underdogs,” Mello said.
This week, racers traveled from Vienna, Austria to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
When Mello and Covert first learned of their new race destination, they screamed with excitement thinking they were going to Dubai. Ally and Ashley had a bit of confusion as to where exactly they were going in the UAE, confusing Abu Dhabi with Dubai, which are two different emirates.
Once in Abu Dhabi, the girls arrived at the Sheik Zayed Mosque where they were given their first clue to go to the Irani Souk. Once there they were met with a detour challenge to “sort it out.” The teams were required to search through hundreds of dates, a Middle Eastern fruit, and create an elaborate display on a platter.
“This is my magnificent date and now we are ready to move on,” Mello said as she completed the challenge.
The girls finished the challenge in next-to-last place, just ahead of the “Baseball Wives.”
Next, teams boarded a yacht and traveled to a racetrack where they were met with a roadblock entitled, “Who want to drop in on a hot lap?”
“I want to drop in on a hot lap,” Mello said.
“Of course you do,” Covert noted
At the roadblock Mello had to zip-line 250 feet off a building and then rappel another 100 feet onto a the Yaz Marina Circuit racetrack, where a racecar and driver awaited her. The challenge turned ugly for Mello when she was required to read the name of the track’s record lap holder and his lap time, while traveling in the racecar at over 200 miles-per-hour.
It took Mello a half-dozen attempts before she was able to read the sign with the driver’s name and time. While she struggled, the Baseball Wife Kim DeJesus closed the gap for last place
With the pressure mounting, Mello finally got the information correct and the Ice Queens ran to the finish line just minutes ahead of the Baseball Wives.
Fortunately for the Baseball Wives, it was revealed that this leg was a non-elimination round and all racers would continue to next week. The preview of next week reveals a double U-Turn next week, which should raise the drama.
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