The Amazing Race 37 Mark Crawford and Larry Graham Interview

Gentlemen, I'm very excited to talk with you

Listen, it wasn't a long time, but it seemed like a good time. And so I think I'm excited to break down your fun day in Hong Kong

I want to start just by asking in general, you know, what got you in Hong Kong on the race in the first place

Were one of you or both of you fans prior to this? You know, what made you decide to go from watching to playing

So it started with me. my wife actually started watching the show back when it first began and she's the one to say no

that ain't happening you come here watch this look at what these fools are doing and so i started

watching and we became it became a a thing that we watch we love reality shows and i applied i

applied for survivor two or three times uh broken uh the uh um tough as nails and and this show a

few times and um it's it's actually it's pretty tough to get people to commit uh for number one

that you're you're embarrassing yourself on national tv but two it's it's a time factor

so i told larry you know buddy you you gotta do it with me and he's he's my buddy he's not gonna

let me down and and so uh he started watching it and caught up and i'll i'll let him finish the story

well we got Hong Kong in the 747

that's about it Mark showed up talking about let's travel the world

I thought he was talking about cruise ships and everything next thing you know we're trying to get

in shape so many thousands of people fly and I really never

thought it would happen I'd be dang it happened so it was pretty cool

So that day of the first episode started that morning in L.A

And we were doing videos, video, you know, we would retake several, several things

And then 3, 2, 1, let's go. So we raced around L.A., got to the airport

At midnight is when we caught our flight of the first day

So we were up all day. So then it was a 14-hour flight. when the flight landed in Hong Kong, then it was like, okay, guys, ready

Three, two, one, let's go. So if you work the clock, it was two straight days that we were just going

So fatigue and being absent-minded and doing crazy things, we were pumped up

All the teams were pumped up on adrenaline and fatigue but didn't know it

Yeah. Well, let's talk about how things started to where things ended here

because, I mean, it seemed pretty close between you and a couple of the other teams

Was that the sense that you got as well, that while you got out of the dance last

there was probably a lot going on with the Cavs and getting lost to the pit stop

and everything that you were minutes away from getting eliminated? Yes Oh it was We could literally see the other teams when we got out of the cab They were there So it was that close

And that's Phil claims that was three teams that finished closer than anybody ever has

Between the black team, the yellow team and us, probably 45 seconds

You know, I'll say less than a minute. because literally we were trying to get the cab to stop and there was a bus there and he wouldn't

stop and they were getting out of the cab the time we settled up the cab we were running behind

and that's that's how close it was wow wow well let's talk about you know what ended up getting

you in the hunt there but towards the back of the pack in the first place so you get this choice

at the fork in the road, sing or dance. And, you know, dance wasn't necessarily your forte

but it sounds like sing wasn't either. Talk to me about what made you decide on that

and how do you look back on that decision given everything that happened? Well, like I said on the show

we couldn't pronounce even the stop signs and just the signs of the streets

So we knew singing wouldn't probably be our best thing to do

and there was going to be two teams behind us, you know, at the dance

And there was one team we knew it was going to be about an hour or so. We were hoping they would be behind us so they would give us even more time

But it ended up they got in the other lane. We can call it like it is

I cannot sing and Larry's worse than I am. So it really wasn't a fork

It was just the direction we had to go. So then what ended up happening with the dance

Because obviously, you know, it was a lot of trial and error for a lot of teams

Was there anything in particular about the dance that had you guys struggling the most with it to the point that it put you in last place

I think the instructor, when you fail, you go back. And the instructor wanted to start where we screwed up, but we need to start from the front and do the whole thing

and he couldn't understand it and it's kind of getting a little bit frustrated but

you know it's a judgment call we we thought we did great the the first time we did it but

undoubtedly we didn't so um that's you know it's kind of just it's not like you can either jump

over a five-foot pole or you can't you know it's a lot of discretion and that kind of stuff

yeah so obviously you know while it was a lot of you running your own race you had as

as Mark was talking about this two day period where you could get to know some of the other

teams were there any particular teams that you got along really well with or got to know a lot

during all these times when the teams were interacting with each other during your time

in Hong Kong yes um so actually uh we and we we were the more talkative ones when we're supposed

to not talk to any team or or they gonna electrocute or something We did communicate with a lot of them When the first day just a little fun fact when we were sitting around

after one of the photo shoots and we were around each other and

able to communicate a little bit, Larry and I had this scheme planned that we were gonna

so we were gonna let them think that larry was somebody so uh when the who are the two young girls

uh uh yeah yeah bernie and kerrigan yeah and so so she's a little busy body just a little

jabber jaw so we we had her with her back to us and and and i said larry they still don't have a

clue who you are and her little ears perked up and so that turned into the rumor mill

and so for a long time through this entire show they were trying to figure out who is who

and who larry was and that turned into a big thing um even after we were gone it was still

going on to who larry was and in the end all he all larry is he's my friend that's who he is

but but that was a fun thing we did but we got along really really well uh we would have

probably teamed up pretty quick, and we had several teams that we were looking at

Melinda and Erica, they agreed, hey, golly, we hated y'all got out because y'all was our pick

Jeff and Pops, man, they would have been great to team up with

If Pops had a bad leg, like Larry had a bad leg. But there was, man, teaming up is paramount, even in this game

um but we were we were well on our way i i am so stunned so like i've now i'm in

were you giving clues away or larry were you trying to like walk around like you had an air

of superiority to you like you were waiting for people to recognize you no i had a beard you know

so everybody's trying to hide something to have a beard so uh that was that's the only uh but it

was so much fun because we knew she was trying to hear our strategy and then when we you know said

that oh it was on even like at the airport she goes i know who you are but don't tell anybody

else and she's like i won't and she walked up so it was fun oh my god that i love i absolutely

love that well let's go from you know the outward focus into the inward focus because

larry you have this really touching moment on the mat when you're able to get really emotional

and touching and open about your relationship with mark talk to me about where that came from

I mean, maybe it's to March point was it the adrenaline fading? Was it just like the special time in place that that had you talking about Mark in that way

Hell if I know. No, I mean, it's just you're in Hong Kong and we had done the best we could

And, you know, we're in the middle of the race the whole time. And a few getting slow taxis or whatever just messing up And and you know I here with my best friend i had already hurt my leg as soon as we got off the plane and you just have all those emotions why

this why this and it was just i don't know what happened to be truthful but yeah usually he's a

crybaby not me and that's the fun thing um i got to poke at him instantly uh you know i'm mr

unsensitive now but he when we were in our little week of quarantine you know he said yeah you're

gonna wind up crying so it backfired all right i want to go back to what you said though larry

you said you you hurt your leg i know that um mark had said you had had you know a bad leg i think i

heard you say something while you were going up the stairs to the pit stop at a certain point did you just like re-aggravate an injury or did something happen no what happened when we were

in Hong Kong we took off running for the taxis and it's kind of going downhill and there's another

team in front and she stopped and when I planted my foot I could feel my my knee like hyper extended

my my leg and um and I could feel the tendons and but it was type that it would hurt only if

you moved a certain way and it just um and it just got worse and worse started swelling on me and

About three days I had to wear ice pants. But that's just being old

Well, the last thing I want to ask is whether your international travel plans will be put on ice, Larry

Because you said this was your first time out of the country. And, you know, it was a short time

But it seemed like you guys, especially at the end, really took in just like the mere idea of getting to experience this, if even for a day

So what was it like for you for this to be your first time out of the country? Oh, wow

I told people last night, our first flight was 14 hours out of the country

Then I took another 14 hours back into the country. I'm about international, but Mark and I belong to a motorcycle club

We actually rode our motorcycles in September or so. We went over in Canada

I got to use my passport twice the same year, so that was pretty cool

Oh, well, this was such a delight to get the chance to talk with a real life celebrity and his best friend

I know it was a great time getting to the chance to, again, get a peek into your guys experience, because, again, we only got so much

It was a lot going on with that 90 minute episode. And I'm glad we got what we did. But I'm even more glad that I got the chance to talk with you today and truly get to get your perspective on not only what happened, you know, all the fun that was had on and off screen

but also very clearly the bond that you guys have had for years at this point

and will continue to have. And it's probably been even more strengthened by your time in Hong Kong together

So thank you guys so much for taking the time to chat with me today. Hey, thank you

Yeah, of course. All the best to you and yours and take care. You have a good one. All right

Tell Jackie and Lauren we said hi. I will. I will. I'll be talking to them in like half an hour

So I will send them. They are great. They are great. They're so much fun. I'm so excited to talk to them

All right. You have a good one, guys. All right. Bye-bye