Virginians First To Lose 'Race'

First Team Eliminated Keeps Spirits High

(CBS)  It was kids vs. adults at the premiere of "The Amazing Race: Family Edition." The Black and Linz families sprinted to the finish, both knowing that the last team to arrive would be eliminated.

But there were no long faces for the Blacks, who live in Woodbridge, Va., when they visited The Early Show to talk about their experience.

Dressed in their tie-dyed shirts and blue jeans, Reggie and Kimberly looked happy as did their children — Kenneth, 11, Austin, 8 and little Jordan on mom's lap.

"We're blessed we were even chosen to be on the show," Kimberly Black, 40, said. "It was an honor. Everybody was so nice."

Her 42-year-old husband added, "You have to look at it like that. How many people in America have a chance to do this? If we come here, if we act like we're unfortunate, that's a bad attitude."

The kids, except for Jordan who was not part of the race, remembered it as fun experience.

"We got to do a lot of stuff that we would have never done in our lives before," Kenneth said. "Well, at least when we were kids."

The 10 teams started out in New York City, crossed the Delaware River and ended up in Lancaster, Pa. As co-anchor Harry Smith pointed out, the selection process to be part of the show was longer than the time the Blacks spent participating in it.

"We know, Harry. We know this," long time "Race" fan, Reggie Black said with laughter.

So what went wrong?

"I think we were so excited about being on the race, and so excited about competing, you kind of lose track of: OK, if we don't hurry up, we might lose," Kimberly Black said.

"We were trying to be calm about it," Reggie Black added. But the strategy did not pay off. Watching the competition play out on TV, Reggie Black admitted he felt "kind of sad.

"I really did, because that's not us. We're winners here. But we just didn't come through that day."