‘Amazing Race’-style competition coming to O.C.
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Software engineer Benedict Choy began participating in the clue-centric Race/LA in 2012 with his wife because they enjoy adventure-type activities and are fans of TV’s reality show “The Amazing Race.”
“We used to watch the show a lot and wished we could do it ourselves but never got an opportunity,” said Choy, an Irvine resident. “Closer to home, we regularly do escape rooms and like doing fun and interesting outdoor activities — from kayaking, zip lines, obstacle courses, etc.”
Loosely based on the adventure and competition seen in “The Amazing Race,” Race/LA marks its 21st year in 2026. But instead of visiting Los Angeles County locales like the Watts Towers, Walt Disney Concert Hall, La Brea Tar Pits and Museum of Neon Art for challenges, this year’s participants will solve clues on foot, by car and by other means across Orange County.
“We have some really loyal followers who come back every year to do Race/LA — and so that has kind of kept me wanting to do it over and over again,” said Race/LA founder John Hennessy. “We try to make it different every year, but after 20 years of doing this around Los Angeles … I felt like I was just running out of places, and I didn’t want to repeat too much because of these people who come back and do it multiple times.”
The race has two separate event dates, May 16 and May 23, and will involve clue-based challenges in locations in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Irvine, Fountain Valley and Tustin. Teams of two will visit various locations in these cities, performing challenges and solving clues that lead them to their next location. The event spans about five hours.
“I’m so happy with the way it’s turned out,” Hennessy said. “I think it’s gonna be great. It’s super fun. I discovered places that I never knew existed.”
All locations are secret, including the finish line. The team reaching the finish line first is the winner and receives a $500 cash prize. First-, second- and third-place teams also get medals. The cost to participate is $320 per team of two.
Hennessy, who also owns an escape room in Los Angeles and has a background in theater, said the challenge and clue themes are often rooted in the race locations.
“This one thing we did in Los Angeles was we started in Venice Beach and they had to go to the Venice Canals and find a painter on a bridge,” he said. “And so there was a painter on a bridge with his easel set up, and he was painting the lighthouse that’s in Marina del Rey. And so that was their clue — that’s where they had to go next — to the lighthouse in Marina del Rey.”
San Diego resident Danny Butler first participated in Race/LA three years ago, after he had competed in “The Amazing Race.”
“I was itching to compete in something like that again because I had so much fun,” he said.
His team has won Race/LA twice and is returning this year to see if he can do it again.
“I had the joy of being on ‘Amazing Race’ Season 36 with my mom, Angie Butler. It was a dream since I was a little kid,” he said. “Race/LA absolutely rivaled some of the leg design in ‘The Amazing Race.’ The challenges were incredible and I felt like I was back on the show …Genuinely, the challenges got you involved in the culture of the city. I still remember racing through a marketplace practicing my Spanish and then getting to go to a temple and learn the language of the natives there.”
He said he likes the idea of competing in a unique race that anyone can win.
“Creating something that tests the skills of the whole person — from memory to physical to strategic — and then seeing who comes out on top is fun for me,” he said. “It is also such a unique experience to get to do. Like when else are you going to race on a boat deciphering flags and Morse code? Sometimes as adults you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone to make memories that will last a lifetime.”
Trista Gladden said she began participating in Race/LA around 2011 with her husband.
“About five years ago, post-COVID, we got a bunch of our friends together to compete in Race/LA for my birthday,” the Hollywood resident said. “Most did not take it as seriously as we do, but that’s the beauty of it — it is still a fun, bonding experience.”
She said they’ve done other scavenger hunt-type races and are fans of “The Amazing Race.”
“We thought about applying, but I think we’d kill each other,” she said. “We barely survive the half day of Race/LA. Our team name was once Gold or Divorce.”
But they keep coming back to Race/LA because they enjoy new experiences and her husband likes the competition aspect.
“There is nothing like this race,” she said. “You get to see parts of L.A. and the surrounding communities that you might not see otherwise. It is different every time. And then getting to do fun activities that force you to explore those places in depth and in an engaging way is always a blast.”
Gladden said they participate most years and look forward to it every time.
“I’m hoping we can repeat last time because we came in first. Usually we are in the top four teams,” she said. “But if we don’t win — I shouldn’t even put that possibility out there — it’ll be a little bit of a disappointment, but it’ll motivate us to do it again the next year.”
