Race to Shore (also known as First to Shore, One for All, Medallion of Power, The Marooning, and Race for Fire) is a recurring opening challenge that first appeared in Survivor: Palau, and has since reappeared in Micronesia, Gabon, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Game Changers, Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, and Survivor 41.
Occurring at the very start of the game (sometimes even before the tribes are divided), the challenge typically involves a swimming and/or foot race to locate an object of importance, such as individual immunity, the Medallion of Power, or supplies (such as rice and fire).
Rules[]
Castaways must race individually to a certain marked area to find and retrieve an Immunity Necklace that will keep them safe at the first Tribal Council the person attends. In Nicaragua, the Immunity Necklace was replaced with the Medallion of Power. In every appearance of the challenge since Cambodia, the object of the challenge was to get to a reward before the other tribe, and the castaways worked together instead of individually.
History[]
United States[]
In Palau, the castaways were given a choice. Either row to shore with everyone else, or jump off the boat and swim across individually to the drop-off beach where two individual Immunity Necklaces (one for each gender) were waiting. The first man and woman female to reach the necklaces would win immunity. Stephenie LaGrossa and Jonathan Libby made a crucial mistake by jumping off the boat and trying to outswim it, but the boat went far ahead of them. In the end, Ian Rosenberger easily won the men's immunity over his closest competition, Gregg Carey. The race for the second immunity was closer, with Jolanda Jones barely beating Jenn Lyon for the women's immunity.
The challenge re-appeared in Micronesia once the Favorites were brought out. The castaways had to race across a lagoon and to the tribe boats to find the idols. Jon Dalton was the first person to locate the idols, but mistakenly grabbed the Airai tribe's idol, instead of that of his own tribe, Malakal. Yau-Man Chan saw this and beat Jon to claim Malakal's idol. Kathy Sleckman won for Airai when Yau-Man pointed out to her where it was.
In Gabon, the eighteen castaways raced through a series of marked hills to the top of a very steep slope, where an idol for each tribe was located. In addition, the first tribe to have all its members reach the top of the hill would win an extra bag of corn and beans. Marcus Lehman got the idol for Kota, and GC Brown got the idol for Fang. Kota got all its members to the top of the hill first and won the extra bag of food.
In Nicaragua, the twenty contestants (as yet undivided by tribe) were instructed to scour the island for the Medallion of Power, with the person who found it winning the item for their tribe. Brenda Lowe found the Medallion, and took it with her to La Flor tribe. However, the tribe chose to exchange the Medallion of Power (and thus give it to Espada) for fishing gear.
In Cambodia, when the tribes were gathering items on the boat during the marooning, several yards from the boat was a smaller boat where a large bag of rice was waiting. Kelly Wiglesworth from Ta Keo jumped into the water and swam towards the boat. Joe Anglim from Bayon then jumped into the water and quickly caught up with Kelly as she started to become exhausted. Kelly's Ta Keo tribemate, Woo Hwang, quickly jumped into the water and quickly passed Joe to get to the boat first, winning the rice for Ta Keo.
In Game Changers, several yards from the ship were two colored-coded knots that had a toolkit. Ozzy Lusth from Nuku took off and quickly swam to the knots, with no one from the Mana tribe initially contesting Ozzy due to his reputation as a strong swimmer. As Ozzy started untying the knots, Caleb Reynolds from Mana jumped into the water in an attempt to catch up, but it was too late as Ozzy had untied the knot, winning the toolkit for Nuku.
In Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, the tribes had to collect supplies and jump into their row boats. Once they get to shore, they had to hook their boat and untie a torch, before lifting someone up high enough to ignite it with a fire pit fifteen feet above the ground. The first tribe would win a fire kit, while the second received flint. The Soko and Levu tribes quickly pulled ahead of the Yawa tribe, which was struggling in the boat portion, and finished in first and second respectively. By the time the challenge was over, the Yawa tribe still had not reached the shore.
In Survivor 41, each tribe had to race to collect boat paddles scattered around the ship deck. Once they have collected all six of their paddles, they must jump off and swim to their tribe's boat. Once onboard and unclipped, they must then paddle out and around a buoy, return, and grab the flint dangling on a rope on the edge of the ship. Whereas Luvu and Ua managed to find their way to an early lead, Yase was stuck in a state of dysfunction in a futile attempt at finding the last of their paddles. Luvu was undone by their failure to notice that one of their anchors was still in place, keeping them back as Ua sailed to an easy victory, winning themselves flint.
Australia[]
France[]
New Zealand[]
Quebec[]
Russia (Unofficial)[]
In Serdtse Afriki, the challenge was used for reward. The pairs must canoe down the Limpopo River and reach the Indian Ocean, and the first man and woman to cross the finish line will win the right to pick their respective tribes. Roman Lebedev and Rada Razborkis were the first to reach the Indian Ocean. They were declared captains of the tribes.
South Africa[]
In Survivor, the 18 new castaways had 2 minutes to gather supplies from a bangka and evacuate onto their rafts before paddling to shore, where each tribe would have the chance to win their rice supply by releasing it from an elevated stand. Mindanao got to the beach before Luzon and ultimately won the rice.
In Immunity Island, the castaways, newly divided into tribes, were instructed to collect food and supplies from a field. In addition, two Immunity Necklaces were up for grabs, with the first person from each tribe to grab one being safe at their first Tribal Council. Dino Paulo grabbed Zamba's necklace, while Vuna's was left behind without an owner.
Sweden[]
United Kingdom[]
The challenge appeared as the inaugural challenge of the revived United Kingdom series in Survivor U.K. (2023). The castaways had to load a raft full of supplies and then swimming it to the shore. Upon reaching the shore, castaways must build a fire high enough to burn through a rope containing a crate full of supplies. The first tribe to finish won the supplies they collected on the ship, the other tribe's supplies and the contents of their crate. La Nena won the challenge.
Winners[]
| Episode | Challenge Type | Winners | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palau "This Has Never Happened Before!" |
Individual Immunity |  Ian Rosenberger |
 Jolanda Jones |
| Micronesia "You Guys Are Dumber than You Look" |
Individual Immunity |  Yau-Man Chan |
 Kathy Sleckman |
| Gabon "Want to See the Elephant Dung?" |
Individual Immunity |  Marcus Lehman |
 GC Brown |
| Tribal Reward |         Kota | ||
| Nicaragua "Young at Heart" |
Tribal Reward |           La Flor | |
| Cambodia "Second Chance" |
Tribal Reward |           Ta Keo | |
| Game Changers "The Stakes Have Been Raised" |
Tribal Reward |           Nuku | |
| Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers "I'm Not Crazy, I'm Confident" |
Tribal Reward |       Soko | |
      Levu | |||
| Survivor 41 "A New Era" |
Tribal Reward |       Ua | |
| Episode | Challenge Type | Winners |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Survivor (2016) Episode 1 |
Tribal Reward |         Saanapu |
| Australian Survivor (2017) Episode 1 |
Tribal Reward |             Samatau |
| Episode | Challenge Type | Winners | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palawan Episode 1 |
Individual Reward |  Érick Africaa |
 Jade Handi |
| Raja Ampat Episode 1 |
Individual Immunity |  Anthony Amar |
 Patricia Morel |
| La Nouvelle Édition Episode 1 |
Individual Reward |  Martin Bazin |
 Sandra Acabado |
| Johor Episode 1 |
Individual Reward |  Cédric Giosserand-Lucas | |
| L'Île au Trésor Episode 1 |
Individual Reward |  Jean-Luc Duboscq | |
| Tribal Reward |          Naga | ||
| Cambodge Episode 1 |
Individual Reward |  Mathilde Chevalier |
 Yassin Metiri |
| Fidji Episode 1 |
Tribal Reward (Individual Race) |
          Makawa | |
| Tribal Reward (Tribal Race) |
          Coravu | ||
| L'Île des Héros Episode 1 |
Individual Reward |  Benoît Fourmont |
 Delphine Hergault |
| Les Armes Secrètes Episode 1 |
Team Reward |   Candice & Hervé | |
  Aurélien & Laëtitia | |||
| Le Totem Maudit Episode 1 |
Individual Reward |  Alexandra Élizé |
 Jean-Philippe Masy |
| Episode | Challenge Type | Winners |
|---|---|---|
| Thailand Episode 1 |
Individual Reward |  Jose Maasdam |
| Episode | Challenge Type | Winners |
|---|---|---|
| Survivor Québec (2023) Episode 1 |
Tribal Reward |           Tiyaga |
| Episode | Challenge Type | Winners | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serdtse Afriki Episode 1 |
Individual Reward |  Rada Razborkis |
 Roman Lebedev |
| Episode | Challenge Type | Winners |
|---|---|---|
| Philippines Episode 1 |
Tribal Reward |          Mindanao |
| Immunity Island "Nothing Unites Like a Common Enemy" |
Individual Immunity |  Dino Paulo |
| Episode | Challenge Type | Winners |
|---|---|---|
| Robinson 2023 Episode 1 |
Tribal Reward |           South Team (Robinson 2023) |
| Episode | Challenge Type | Winners |
|---|---|---|
| Survivor U.K. (2023) Episode 1 |
Tribal Reward |          La Nena |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This challenge was featured in both seasons filmed in Palau.
- Ciera Eastin, Cirie Fields, Jeff Varner, and Ozzy Lusth have competed in this challenge twice. Cirie, Jeff, and Ozzy have won once, while Ciera has never won.
References[]