Race to Survive: New Zealand premiere- Recap and more details explored

After a grueling yet thrilling season 1 shot in Alaska, Race to Survive is back again, this time taking place in New Zealand. The show premiered on May 20 at 11 pm ET, on USA Network. The adventure show kicked off with a 75-minute long supersized episode, which was enough to introduce the new teams and see them crossing a 40-mile course, all in the span of 20 hours.

The nine teams this season consist of The River Guides, The Brooklyn Climbers, The Divorcees, The Hunters, The Cool Moms, The Ultramarathoners, The Rhode Islanders, The Smokejumpers, and The Oil Riggers. These will compete for the $500,000 prize money.

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What happened in the premiere episode of Race to Survive: New Zealand?

The First Race

The very first race was called Fire and Ice, where the contestants had to cross a 40-mile-long course through the natural wonders of New Zealand. The teams had to canoe across a lake and hike through a forest uphill, then cross a cliff, traverse a chasm, and again canoe down white water rapids.

At the end of the race, they would find a chest that would have the coveted medallion that would get them an entry to the Survival Camp. The only catch in this race was that the teams had to finish the course in less than 20 hours, which was difficult, given the 40-mile-long distance.

The first race also introduced the new twists this season. Unlike the first season, Race to Survive: New Zealand didn't give out food to the contestants at the start of the race. Instead, asked them to fetch their own food from the packages scattered through their course.

Their speed of crossing the course would get them special rewards, which would help them overcome the downtime between their races; so it was hard for them to decide if they wanted to take the food detour or stick to the main course.

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Winners and laggers

The teams had maps for each of the five zones they needed to cross, and they contained information on the whereabouts of the food. After the first obstacle of canoeing through the lake, three teams came out front namely, The Hunters, consisting of Bronsen and Ryan, The Smokejumpers which included Ethan and Tyrie, and The River Guides, consisting of Oliver and Corry.

Because of their lead in the very first obstacle, they remained the frontrunners in the rest of the course too. While several teams were able to finish half the course on day 1 itself, some took time to catch up in the very first race of the season.

Among the laggers were The Divorcees, Creighton and Paulina who had decided to separate only four days before the show started filming, so their camaraderie wasn't the best.

And even though they weren't the last duo to arrive, it seemed like the status of their relationship could weigh them down in the challenges to come. The two teams at the back were The Brooklyn Climbers and The Rhode Islanders.

While the first two teams had crossed the first half on the first day of Race to Survive: New Zealand, the two bottom teams were still in the hike-up-a-forest part. They even had to let go of food to catch up on their pace.

Among the three frontrunners, The River Guides took the lead, with the other two right behind. The episode ended before they entered their last course, the 11-mile-long white rapid stream. The upcoming episode of Race to Survive: New Zealand will determine who beat the others.

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New episodes of Race to Survive: New Zealand come out on Mondays, at 11 pm ET, on USA Network.