G & W - What did you think about Rex and Bob taking penalties by quitting two tasks?
Shawn - We didn’t know. We were dealing with our own issue on the race. And finding out they took a penalty, that was their decision and fortunately for them it worked out in their favour. We went through every option we could to get back in the race and keep playing but we ran out of time and we ran out of options. Good on them and let’s see what they do.
G & W - What actually happened on the surfboard?
Shawn - I was just paddling. I went out there to catch the wave and I was counting waves. And as I started to paddle to try my first attempt at surfing, my right shoulder dislocated after the second paddle. And so I fell off the board and knew I had to get help pretty quick.
G & W - How is your shoulder now?
Shawn - It feels good. I’ve dealt with this problem for awhile and it’s back to strength and feeling fine. It needs to be repaired for sure so I’ll probably get the done to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
G & W - Do you think if you decided to stay in the race would you have beaten Rex and Bob.
Jen - Absolutely. (Laughs). If we decided to stay in the race, we probably would have been Top Three or the winners. But we decided not to because of the injury.
Shawn - We were running a solid race at that point. We had a tough start that put us in the back of the pack, but we were clawing our way out of the back. That day, we were making progress, we were feeling good, we were finding our stride and what made that incident so tough was because we were starting to pull out of the back.
G & W - How does your son feel about the situation?
Jen - He’s 17 so he doesn’t really tell us much about his feelings. But he’s participating with us, we had a viewing party in Halifax and he was there. We had a viewing party in Toronto the other night with our friends on the other teams and he was there with us. I know he’s learning from it and he’s garnering experience from it. But he’s not that vocal about it yet and I’m hoping maybe in a few years he can express…
Shawn… and be willing to share (Both Laugh)
G & W - Are you going to be ready for an All-Star season because if there is one, you’re probably in the running for that.
Shawn - You know what, I would have to say yes. I’ve been debating getting my shoulder repaired for awhile and this is the last time that’s going to happen. Because if we get a call in a few years for an All Star Season, this shoulder won’t be the reason we go out.
G & W - What is the original cause of the shoulder injury?
Shawn - Way back when I was 19, I was lifting weights, not knowing what I was doing and it popped out. And it’s been on and off again, ever since.
G & W - Why would you recommend others to try to participate in Amazing Race Canada
Shawn - We felt so lucky to not know what was coming next and being able to travel the country and be able to do things we talked about being able to do. It’s an amazing, amazing experience and if you can do it, if you have the type of personality and the relationship with someone you can do it with, I would say, why not. I mean, we sat on the couch and talked about it for years and we actually applied for the US at one point. The only way to get on is to audition and we auditioned thinking the odds of getting on were slim and here we are.
Jen - It’s more about the race, it’s not about the challenges, it’s about the people you can meet, the Canadians that you connect with, the racers yeah, but also the Canadians you meet in different towns. It’s about letting go of your fears, of control, of not knowing what you are doing the next day. It’s so much more than the challenge.
G & W - You talked about letting things go and as a fellow parent and business owner, that’s hard to do. So did you find that hard, to be in the moment?
Jen - Wayne, that was the hardest part. The hardest is to prep your business and your family before you even leave. And to have a network of people that can support you and help you. And then being on the race, waking up everyday and knowing you can’t reach out to home, and just letting home be home and be what you are doing, what you are doing. Totally living in the present moment, which we don’t get a chance to do everyday.
Shawn - It was probably one of the hardest parts for sure. It’s kind of sad that that ability to let go and focus on something else is being forced but I’m glad it was. It broke us out of our habit and provided some new perspective, it was incredible.
G & W - Quick follow up on that, have you changed any parts of your lives, letting things go, living in the moment more, because of the race? Or are you back to the same routine?
Jen - No we haven’t got back to the same routine because it’s summer break and the show is airing. But I know for myself, little things that I used to worry about aren’t even an issue anymore. It’s just little things you just let them go and trust things will work out as they should.
Shawn - For me, it’s just a willingness to try stuff. Before the race it was ‘someday we should do this, someday we should do that’ but now we I feel like we can just go do it. I have a feeling we can do anything now, I feel amazing.