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<\/a><\/p>\nVancouver\u2019s Jesse Harink and Jonathon Braun tackle the final memory challenge during The Amazing Race Canada Season 11 finale. (CTV)<\/p>\n
For Braun, the last sprint was filled with nerves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just like pure elation, also relief, because we were on our drive to the finish line, you know, we didn\u2019t know if we were going the right way. We thought we were, but we thought maybe we\u2019re messing something up,\u201d he told Daily Hive in an interview on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was just a lot of joy, a lot of elation and a lot of relief that it actually happened, and we didn\u2019t see any other teams on the mat already.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harink said the finish felt surreal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was all this anxiety and fear that you\u2019ve had for an entire season that you just see coming to an end, and an ending that you weren\u2019t expecting, and you\u2019re so excited. It\u2019s still\u2026 watching it, I get the shivers every time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Vancouver roots<\/p>\n
Although originally from Sherwood Park, Alberta, and Woodlawn, Ontario, the two now call Vancouver home.<\/p>\n
They first met years ago at a gym, where Braun remembered Harink as \u201cthe biggest cheerleader.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime I did like a really good workout or accomplished something new at the gym, Jesse was always the biggest cheerleader at the gym, and just really encourage you to keep going,\u201d Braun said.<\/p>\n
Their bond carried them through the toughest legs of the race, including the mosaic challenge in Episode 9.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the moment the most in the race, where I thought we were about to go home,\u201d Braun said.<\/p>\n
Harink agreed, \u201cWe just really had to lean on each other and be there for each other and support each other and just not get angry at each other. And it just allowed us to refocus on just trying to get the challenge done. And we made it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
A first for B.C.<\/p>\n
The friends are the first B.C. team to ever win the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels really amazing. We\u2019re actually the first B.C. team to win the race,\u201d Harink said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the fact that the second-place team, like Grace lives in Yaletown, and her brother Joe lives in Prince George, so the fact that we had B.C. go one and two was really, really special and really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weekly watch parties in Vancouver helped make the victory feel even bigger.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey really made it feel like we were winning for everybody, that they were part of our team and cheering us on,\u201d Harink said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it just felt incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next<\/p>\n
Both winners said that they\u2019re taking time to rest and celebrate with family.<\/p>\n
\u201cI work at a nonprofit that supports migrant workers in the city, and I really love that work. So, you know, I think the real answer is I\u2019m gonna get back to providing free legal services to migrant workers,\u201d Braun said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then as far as, like, fun things with the money, I\u2019m going to take my parents on a trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harink has his eyes set on something a little flashier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am waiting for Cher to announce her finale tour, and then I would love to take my mom to go see Cher,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is that, you know, but Cher, we got to see those dates be released, so we are keeping our eyes peeled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their advice for the next season of The Amazing Race\u2018s racers is to apply.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many people would do so well on this race, but they kind of get stuck at the \u2018Oh, I don\u2019t know if I should apply or not,\u2019\u201d Harink said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gotta put your hand up to be able to go on a wild ride.\u201d<\/p>\n
Want to stay on top of all things Vancouver? Follow us on X<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two Vancouver friends have made reality TV history, becoming the first B.C. team to win The Amazing Race…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,348],"class_list":["post-153681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}