After ten heart-pounding episodes, Race to Survive: New Zealand declared its winners: The Smokejumpers. Tyrie Mann Merrill and Ethan Greenberg managed to outlast and outrun their competition to secure the $500,000 grand prize. So, what’s next?
Reality Tea did a victory lap with Tyrie from the Smokejumpers to find out what’s next for the winners. Ethan couldn’t join the conversation because he literally just jumped into a fire in Oregon. It’s just one of the many reminders of the courage and all-around badassery that got these guys to the finish line.
The grueling final race
It still hadn’t totally sunk in for Tyrie that he and his best friend Ethan won a half-million-dollar grand prize on Race to Survive. They had been keeping the secret for months, waiting for the finale to air. However, they did feast on a steak dinner shortly after claiming their Golden Medallions.
“Nothing really changed coming back home. I got my own business. I gotta work. I’m just doing me,” Tyrie assured us.
Of course, the road to the grand prize wasn’t easy. They had to bushwhack, rock climb, paddle, and do all sorts of other incredible feats to earn their way to each Survival Camp. Looking back on the final race, Tyrie explained how it ended up being closer than it might have seemed on TV.
During the first day of Race 6, he and Ethan stood in second place to the Oil Riggers. Eventually, they passed them up, but Tyrie explained that the whole race felt unpredictable.
“I was surprised when I saw Nik and Kennedy [during Race 6]. I was like. ‘No way, dude,” Tyrie recalled. “Those guys went beat mode for sure, and they made some better turns than we did. That was cool. We were proud of them.”
As they pushed forward to the End Crate, Tyrie said he and Ethan weren’t looking back to see where their competitors were. They tried to stay laser-focused on their performance and never got cocky about their placement in the race. They wanted to remain focused on each other and not their competitors.
“I think at one point we saw Creighton and Paulina really close, and I just knew they were pushing,” Tyrie recalled.
“We had five races to get to know them. They weren’t always that far behind us, and being the fastest in this doesn’t mean anything,” he continued. “It was just a lot of adrenaline on that last day.”
Brothers until the end
The adrenaline may have been pumping on that final day, but it’s hard to intimidate two guys who hump out of planes and fight fires for a living. That’s part of what made the Smokejumpers such beasts in this competition. It comes with the territory, which Tyrie admitted was a bonus for them.
“We’re like Swiss Army Knives,” Tyrie said.
When you put the two Swiss Army Knives together in the bush, you’ve got an unstoppable duo. Tyrie added that their close connection inside and outside of their high-stress work environment allowed them to work together like a well-oiled machine. When you heard them call each other “brother” on the show, they meant it.
“Not only are we professional friends, but we’re friends in life,’ Tyrie explained. “We’ve snowboarded in the Swiss Alps. We’ve traveled the world together. Our connection is beyond and it’s been like this since the day we met.”
Tyrie’s humble plans for the grand prize
In addition to his work as a smokejumper, Tyrie is a small business owner. That means he has some practical plans for how to spend the prize money. He’s not blowing it all away on anything silly, but he does plan on taking his family out for a nice dinner.
“I’m an entrepreneur. I own a tree business. I’m going to make [the prize money] into profits and assets. I’m going to do what makes sense for me,” Tyrie affirmed.
Outside of the prize money, he shared how his experience with the show has been rewarding and “life-fulfilling.” It’s brought a great sense of pride to his community, and he wants to continue being a role model for young men. He’d even return for another Race to Survive if it meant being a light for his people.
He explained, “Seeing how much pride I brought to the reservation and my hometown is totally worth it.”
TELL US – DID YOU EXPECT THE SMOEKJUMPERS TO WIN RACE TO SURVIVE: NEW ZEALAND? DO YOU HAVE ANY CONGRATULATORY WORDS FOR ETHAN AND TYRIE?
