Episode 5 Recap - Churchill to Manitoulin Island

We left Episode 4 with the teams bunched very close together in Churchill, with the main separator being a 20% budget difference as leaders Kevin and Claudia kept splashing the cash on Kevin's unquenchable addiction to taxi travel. Leg 5 was the longest trip so far, and so saw the teams spending even more of their budgets on trains and buses as they traveled the 3,000 kilometers to Manitoulin Island.

Retracing their steps to the Churchill train the teams left together, and all ended up doing a overnight bus trip to Winnipeg a trip I don't think anyone enjoyed. Claudia and Kevin continued traveling straight on, showing they would be going for a speed advantage, while the others set to work to stock up their funds.

As with last week, the journey left little options for variance as their just wasn't that many ways to go. Their main distinction in the teams this leg was more in the the emotional journeys as after 35 days of travel more than a few cracks are starting to show.

Zainib & Mobeen mostly had smaller issues, resolved amicably enough but slowing their trip down a bit. I suspect over the next few episodes they'll start to hustle a bit more, to try and get higher on the leaderboard.

There were more serious external problems with Tricia & Cathie who started with bad news from home about Tricia's husband, potentially suggesting an early exit from the race. Cathie however helped Tricia through it, once again showing the strength of the ladies friendship. Their support for each other is probably their biggest strength, helping each other on even as times get tough.

Less resilient is Claudia and Kevin, who again seemed to struggle with the pressures of the journey. Claudia said they are getting to know each other 'but it's slow progress', hopefully their inevitable budget problems can be worked around as a team, rather than causing the two to fully fall out.

Monique & Ladi however are a high point, continuing with Monique in charge of things, a system that seems to be working out well for them. The process is clearly bringing them together, and watching Ladi tell Monique how proud he was of her was a great moment in their journey.

Funds were not given at the end of this episode, but it seems hard to imagine Claudia & Kevin are anything but running low. Although if my notes are correct they were the only team not to get a taxi in Espanola, so maybe Kevin's taking note of how light their purse is for once! They also managed to arrive nearly a day earlier then the others, giving them some time to spare to build up some funds again if they wish.

Episode 5 - Leaderboard

1st - Claudia & Kevin

2nd - Monique & Ladi +22.5 hours

3rd - Tricia & Cathie +23 hours

4th - Zainib & Mobeen ??