Cathie and Tricia won the Race Across the World after reaching the final checkpoint first after two months on the road.
The third season of the BBC reality series began with five two-person teams charged with travelling from Vancouver, British Columbia to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador on the opposite side of Canada on a shoestring budget.
It all came to an end when Tricia, 48, and Cathie, 49, defeated the rest of the competition and took home the £20,000 cash prize.
Mobeen and Zainib were the first to arrive to the Cape Spear Lighthouse, with Ladi and Monique arriving in third.
When they discovered what they had accomplished, the long-time friends embraced one other and burst into tears as they opened the guestbook.
Tricia said it was ‘wild chaos but great’ when they learnt they had won.
‘We’ve raced across the whole of Canada, with sod-all budget, eaten cream cheese and crackers, got lost in Stanley Park and we’ve come first. How bloody amazing is this,’ she said while holding back tears.
Cathie, who had initially stated that she ‘didn’t have any words,’ subsequently screamed over the waves, ‘We won.’
She later added: ‘I’m totally elated, I feel just total elation mixed with a bit of disbelief. I’m overwhelmed, it’s incredible. I think it’s the best way to say thank you to all of the people in Canada who have helped us get here. It’s just unreal.’
Their opponents also backed them up, with Mobeen and Zainib expressing they were ‘happy’ for them.
‘I am happy to have finished the face and for Cathie and Tricia to have won it. They are worthy winners,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Ladi stated that, despite not finishing in first place, reaching the finish line with his daughter was the highlight of the trip.
Many supporters rallied in favour of the victors.
‘Fabulous! Another uplifting series of Race Across the World. [I] loved following all their journeys across Canada as well as their personal journeys too. Pleased for Tricia and Cathie – especially considering they couldn’t find their way out of the park in the first episode!’ one person posted on Twitter.
‘YES!!! Cathie and Trish won!!! Aww, so well deserved and with one of them slowly losing her sight, what an adventure!’ someone else wrote.
Another added: ‘Amazing finale, loved all of them but so happy for Tricia and Cathie.’
Their victory came after father-daughter team Kevin and Claudia revealed at the start of the episode that they had pulled out of the race after becoming stuck in bad weather and not being able to secure a ride, which came after their limited budget prevented them from getting far with a taxi or public transportation.
Cathie and Tricia had likewise faced a diminishing budget and pushed themselves to their limitations during the previous eight weeks, with the latter’s visual ailment – chromo retinopathy uveitis – driving her even more.
Their last leg was a far cry from their start, which took them almost three hours to get out of the starting blocks in Stanley Park.
They did, however, win the second and third legs, escape a surprise elimination round, and overcome Zainib and Mobeen’s 14-hour advantage at the start of the fourth leg.
Race Across the World is streaming on BBC iPlayer.
