Amani & Marcus

Amani Pollard and Marcus LaJuan Pollard are a Married team on The Amazing Race 19.

Despite frequently digging themselves into a hole at the start of most legs, Amani & Marcus persevered and managed to stave off elimination, even winning two legs. They wanted to set a positive example for their children and making it to the final three, which they did. Although the final leg was held in their home turf of Atlanta, any hometown advantage they may have had was immediately negated when they struggled on the first task of the leg. This dropped them out of contention, leaving them to finish in 3rd place.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com^[2]

Amani[]

Age: 36
Hometown: Pine Mountain, Ga.
Connection to your teammate: Married
Current occupation: Business owner
Describe what you do: I own and operate Maize n' Grace, a country chic boutique.
How will these skills help you win The Race? As a mom and business owner I have mastered multitasking, sleepless nights and a schedule that constantly keeps me moving. Getting it done is what I do!
Three words to describe you: Creative, animated and competitive.
Favorite hobbies: Traveling, writing and painting.
What famous person reminds you of yourself? Raven Simone and Julia Roberts
What famous person reminds you of your teammate? Idris Elba and Kobe Bryant
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Raising four wonderful babies and opening my own business. In one year of operations we've received rave reviews.
What scares you most about traveling? Leaving my kids. I'm scared that something will happen to Marcus and/or myself.
What excites you most about traveling? I love seeing the world! Marcus used to say I want to travel too much, but I think now he appreciates getting away and seeing God's beauty.
Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: I can't decide if he has selective or bad hearing. I hope he hears what I am saying.
Pet peeve about your teammate: His sound effects while I'm driving. He'll say "uurrpp" when he wants me to break, "bammm" (as he hits the dash or window) if he thinks I could have hit something or "you see that car?" I'll be like, "the one right in front of me?"
What country and place would you most like to visit and why? Italy, because I love Tuscan architecture, the waterways, buildings, food, vineyards... It's beautiful. I'd also like to go to Africa – an African Safari. I'd love to photograph and experience nature at its simplest and most beautiful.
What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other then winning one million bucks)? An experience of a lifetime and time with my husband. Our marriage has been an amazing race – a honeymoon baby (although we intended to wait) set us on the go mark! We are very family oriented so, between the kids and his 14 year NFL career, he and I only get to steal moments for each other. It will be good to just enjoy each other.

Marcus[]

Age: 39
Hometown: Pine Mountain, Ga.
Connection to your teammate: Married
Current occupation: Retired professional football player/football coach
Describe what you do: Giving back to my community as an offensive coordinator.
How will these skills help you win The Race? I know how to study my opponents and put my players in the best position to be successful.
Three words to describe you: Good looking, charming and helpful.
Favorite hobbies: Golfing, fishing and traveling.
What famous person reminds you of yourself? Me
What famous person reminds you of your teammate? Halle Berry
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? I'm most proud of being a great father to my four children.
What scares you most about traveling? Getting lost.
What excites you most about traveling? Seeing and experiencing new places, foods and cultures.
Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: She often asks questions with a fragment. For example, she'll say, "Baby, money?" I'm like, "Money what!"
Pet peeve about your teammate: When she doesn't make the bed in the morning.
What country and place would you most like to visit and why? I'd like to go to China because I'm fascinated with the culture and the traditions.
What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other then winning one million bucks)? I want to be able to spend quality time with Amani that we never had because we had children early

The Amazing Race 19[]

Race History[]

Amani & Marcus's Race History
Episode	Leg	Destination(s)	Detour Choice (underlined)	Roadblock Performer	Placement	Notes
1	1	United States → Taiwan	No Detour	Amani	5 of 11
2	2	Taiwan → Indonesia	Shake Your Money Maker / Be a Ticket Taker	Marcus	9 of 11	^[1]
3	3	Indonesia	Rice Field / Grass Fed	Marcus	6 of 9
4	4	Indonesia → Thailand	Coral Reconstruction / Beach Preparation	Amani	6 of 8
5	5	Thailand	No Detour	Marcus	1 of 8	^[2]
5	5	Thailand	No Detour	Amani	1 of 8	^[2]
6	6	Thailand → Malawi	All Sewn Up / Not Grown Up	Marcus	7 of 7
7	7	Malawi	Dugout / Lugout	Marcus	4 of 7
8	8	Malawi → Denmark	All Hopped Up / All Churned Out	Amani	4 of 6
9	9	Denmark → Germany → Belgium	Bodybuilding Posedown / Unknown	Amani	1 of 5	^[3]
10	10	Belgium	Water / Waffle	Marcus	4 of 5
11	11	Belgium → Netherlands → Panama	Filet / Sole	Amani	3 of 4
12	12	Panama → United States	No Detour	Marcus	3 of 3
				Average	4.42
Legend: The team finished in first place The team finished in last place and was eliminated from the race The team finished in last place in a non-elimination leg The team that won The Amazing Race The team that crossed the Finish Line second The team that crossed the Finish Line third ϵ The team used the Express Pass somewhere during the leg ⊂ The team used the U-Turn ⊃ Recipient of the U-Turn ⋐ The team that used the second slot of the "Double U-Turn" ⋑ Recipient of a second U-Turn due to the "Double U-Turn" twist H This team was penalized with a "Hazard"
Notes: 1: Amani & Marcus initially arrived 7th, but were forced to return to the 'Aisyiyah Orphanage, as they failed to donate all of their money to the orphanage, before they could check in. This dropped them to 9th place. 2: Leg 5 had two Roadblocks and no Detour. The team member who sat out the first Roadblock was required to perform the second one. 3: Leg 9 contained a Detour, however since all teams chose the same task, it was edited to be a miscellaneous task on air. It is unknown what the other side of the Detour was.

Post-Race[]

Amani & Marcus attended Ernie & Cindy's wedding ceremony on March 10, 2012.^[3]
Amani & Marcus had to decline a return for The Amazing Race: All-Stars due to Marcus's job commitments.^[4]

Trivia[]

External links[]

Marcus's Wikipedia page: Marcus Pollard

Interviews[]

Joyce Eng at TV Guide Online (12/14/2011): "We Thought We Could Make Another Comeback"
Daniel Fienberg at HitFix (12/13/2011): "HitFix Interview: Marcus & Amani talk 'The Amazing Race'"
Digital Spy (12/11/2011): "This was a huge accomplishment"
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski at Reality TV World (12/16/2011): "Exclusive: Amani Pollard and Marcus Pollard talk about The Amazing Race"