Margie O'Donnell (formerly Adams) and Luke Adams are a Mother/Son team on the 14th season of The Amazing Race, the Unfinished Business season of The Amazing Race, and the second all-star season of The Amazing Race.
Profile
Season 14
This mother/son team is determined to show the world that nothing can stop them from living out their dreams. They enjoy hiking and traveling together and share a strong bond. Luke has been deaf since birth and Margie became his link to the hearing world. He uses American Sign Language to communicate.
Luke and his mother have developed their own short hand sign language and the ability to almost read each other’s mind – an ability that will undoubtedly come in handy on the road. One of the most moving moments they shared was when Luke surprised his mother by delivering a valedictorian speech at his graduation ceremony from Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind.
Margie is looking at this experience as a great opportunity to spend quality time with her son. She describes herself as competitive and a little controlling, but in a good way. She is willing to go anywhere the Race takes her and isn't afraid of adventure. She enjoys hiking and running while Luke also enjoys hiking and biking. Luke describes himself as talkative, determined and adventurous.
Luke hopes to be a role-model for deaf people everywhere while proving that the deaf can do just about anything and to never think otherwise. He believes his knowledge on the topic of anything and everything Race related - he’s one of the biggest fans of the show ever - will help his team win.
Margie and Luke are excited to see new places, experience new foods and learn about different cultures – all the while fulfilling a shared dream – to compete and win "The Amazing Race."
Luke is also openly gay. He came out his mother at the age of 19 (three years prior) via text message, and his mother accepted him immediately, much to his surprise. She says "So what? You're still my son!". At first they also told the producers about this, but eventually the producers choose to not to openly informing this, because they want to focus on Luke's appearance as a deaf person.
Unfinished Business
Margie
- Age: 53
- Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colo.
- Connection to your Teammate: Mother
- Current Occupation: RN, BSN, Clinical Research Associate
- Previous Season/Result: Season 14/3rd place
- Biggest mistake you made in your previous season: Not drinking enough water and becoming dehydrated in Thailand. I fainted.
- Most memorable moment from your first Race: Finishing in first place for the first leg of the Race.
- Favorite place you visited on your first season: Thailand, it was number one on my wish list for Season 14 so getting to go to both Bangkok and Phuket was fantastic.
- Why do you want to run the Race again? It was one of the most exciting and best experiences of my life. I am looking forward to all the new places we will go.
- How have you changed since the last time you competed? I am more confident and more willing to try new things.
- What are you passionate about? People being kind and accepting of each other
- People would be surprised to learn: Nothing, I'm pretty boring.
- One location that you hope to go on this adventure: Ireland, my grandparents are from there and I would love to see the country.
- Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on the Race together: Some of the challenges require you to be able to listen/hear/sign and when those challenges come up we have to pick the other challenge since Luke is completely deaf. He cannot hear or use oral language.
- What do you hope to accomplish by running the Race again (other than winning one million dollars): Getting to spend time one-on-one with Luke
- Pet peeve about your teammate: He is a very loud eater.
- What would you do if you won the million dollars? Retire a few years earlier than planned.
- Any strategic changes you will make heading into this Race: We need to be more careful about reading the clues.
Luke
- Age: 25
- Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colo.
- Connection to your Teammate: Son
- Current Occupation: Motivational Speaker
- Previous Season/Result: Season 14/3rd place
- Biggest mistake you made in your previous season: My biggest mistake was not being able to figure out what the last surfboard was during the final challenge!
- Most memorable moment from your first Race: The hilarious cheese hill task and the underwear marathon.
- Favorite place you visited on your first season: Thailand because the country and culture are just so beautiful. I would love to go there again someday.
- Why do you want to run the Race again? To win The Amazing Race! I want to make up for my big blunder in the final leg of the last race.
- How have you changed since the last time you competed? I stop more when I am traveling now to enjoy the scenery. I try not to rush things.
- What are you passionate about? Travel, my family and friends.
- People would be surprised to learn: I'm afraid of flying. I always have to suck it up whenever I'm on planes.
- One location that you hope to go on this adventure: Ireland, because it would be awesome to see where my family came from.
- Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on the Race together: Being sleep deprived!
- What do you hope to accomplish by running the Race again (other than winning one million dollars): It would be cool if we could visit five continents, avoid being u-turned and be the first team to make it to the final three twice!
- Pet peeve about your teammate: Nothing—she is an awesome teammate and mom!
- What would you do if you won the million dollars? Invest.
- Any strategic changes you will make heading into this Race: I don't think I will change anything since our strategy from last time worked well. Hopefully it will bring us to the final three again and we can win this time!
All-Stars (2014)
Margie
- Age: 56
- Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colo.
- Previous Seasons: Seasons 14 & 18
- Current occupation: RN and Sr. Clinical Research Associate
- Describe what you do: I monitor diabetes clinical research trials – new drug clinical trials.
- Biggest mistake you made in your previous season: Season 14 we did really well. We never finished lower than 4th place, but on season 18 we made a lot of mistakes.
- Most memorable moment from your first Race: Finishing in 1st place on the 1st leg, and Phil “signed” for Luke, “You are team #1.” So emotional.
- Favorite place you visited on your first season: Guilin, China – so beautiful. I would love to go back some day.
- Why do you want to run the Race again? I keep asking myself that same question, I am 56 now – just for the adventure and the friendships you form.
- How have you changed since the last time you competed? The first two times we were on the Race I was single. I got married in 2011 and I think that I am happier now than ever before.
- What are you passionate about? My husband, my grandchildren, my job, my free time and vacations.
- People would be surprised to learn: I married a man, at age 54, I have known since I was 6 years old.
- Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: Communication is always a challenge in the race. It is almost impossible to communicate when we cannot see each other, so there are situations where we do not communicate very well.
- What country and place would you most like to visit and why? We really wanted to visit Ireland; my mother’s family is from there and I have always wanted to go.
- What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other than winning one million bucks)? Getting to travel with Luke. He was living in Alaska, and then moved to Philadelphia, so I do not get to see him very often.
- Any strategic changes you will make heading into this Race: I will try to be more patient, I have to realize that Luke is a grown man.
Luke
- Age: 28
- Hometown: Philadelphia, Penn.
- Previous Seasons: Seasons 14 & 18
- Current occupation: Advancement Associate / Motivational Speaker
- Describe what you do: I help secure funding for and raise awareness of The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf through communications and marketing, outreach to the community, and coordination of administrative processes for the Advancement office. I deliver speeches about my life as a Deaf person to organizations, educational institutes and fundraising events across the United States.
- Biggest mistake you made in your previous season: Not being able to find the last surfboard in the final challenge on our first season, and not being able to find the tea on our second season!!
- Most memorable moment from your first Race: Winning the first leg on our first season!
- Favorite place you visited on your first season: Switzerland and Thailand were my favorite places to visit on our first season. Australia was my favorite place to visit on our second season.
- Why do you want to run the Race again? To win the million bucks! I had a great time seeing the world with my mom. It was such an incredible experience. I am just so happy that I get to do it with my mom for the third time and to be able to say that we are one of three teams who got to run the Amazing Race three times!
- How have you changed since the last time you competed? I stopped drinking tea!
- What are you passionate about? I am passionate about community involvement, in both the Deaf community and the LGBT community. I believe promoting outreach and raising awareness is vital.
- People would be surprised to learn: I lived in Alaska for almost a year. It's one of the best experiences I ever had.
- Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: I just hope that we don’t have to do any self-driving - it is pretty tough to communicate with each other when one of us is driving and one of us is sitting in the back. Not easy to communicate with each other!
- Pet peeve about your teammate: Nothing really bugs me - my mom’s pretty awesome and easy going.
What country and place would you most like to visit and why? I’d love to visit Ireland to see where my family came from.
- What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other than winning one million bucks)? Making it farther than we did on our second Race, and enjoying the experience with my mom one more time.
- Any strategic changes you will make heading into this Race: No alliances. Run this race on our own.
The Amazing Race 14
Race History
| Margie & Luke's Race History | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode | Leg | Destination(s) | Detour Choice (underlined) |
Roadblock Performer |
Placement | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | United States → Switzerland | No Detour | Luke | 1 of 11 | |
| 2 | 2 | Switzerland → Germany → Austria | Balancing Dolly / Austrian Folly | Margie | 4 of 10 | |
| 3 | 3 | Austria → Romania | Gypsy Moves / Vampire Remains | Margie | 4 of 9 | |
| 4 | 4 | Romania → Russia | Stack / Construct | Luke | 4 of 8⊂ | [1] |
| 5 | 5 | Russia | Russian Bride / Russian Snowplow | Luke | 1 of 7 | |
| 6 | 6 | Russia → India | Movers / Shakers | Margie | 4 of 7 | |
| 7 | 7 | India → Thailand | 100 Barrels / 2 Miles | No Roadblock | 4 of 6 | |
| 8 | 8 | Thailand | Broken Teeth / Broken Record | Margie | 1 of 5 | |
| 9 | 9 | Thailand → China | Choreography / Calligraphy | Luke | 3 of 5 | |
| 10 | 10 | China | Sync / Swim | Luke | 2 of 4 | [2] |
| 11 | Beijing Opera / Chinese Waiter | Margie | 2 of 4 | |||
| 12 | 11 | China → United States | No Detour | Luke | 3 of 3 | |
| Average | 2.75 | |||||
Legend:
| ||||||
Notes:
1: The U-Turn in Leg 4 was a Blind U-Turn; Margie & Luke did not have to reveal themselves to the other teams as having used the U-Turn.
2: Leg 10 was a double length Leg, with 2 Roadblocks and 2 Detours, shown over two episodes. The placements listed in the first column reflect the order teams arrived at the Leg's halfway point.
The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business
Race History
| Margie & Luke's Race History | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode | Leg | Destination(s) | Detour Choice (underlined) |
Roadblock Performer |
Placement | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | United States → Australia | No Detour | Margie | 7 of 11 | |
| 2 | 2 | Australia | Spirit World / Natural World | No Roadblock | 5 of 11 | |
| 3 | 3 | Australia → Japan | Prayer of Purity / Frog of Luck | Luke | 8 of 10 | |
| 4 | 4 | Japan → China | Hammer / Horn | Luke | 1 of 9 | |
| 5 | 5 | China | Honor the Past / Embrace the Future | Margie | 3 of 9 | |
| 6 | 6 | China → India | Hindu Art / Bengali Literature | Luke | 8 of 8 | |
| Average | 5.33 | |||||
Legend:
| ||||||
The Amazing Race: All-Stars (2014)
Race History
| Margie & Luke's Race History | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode | Leg | Destination(s) | Detour Choice (underlined) |
Roadblock Performer |
Placement | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | United States → China | No Detour | Margie | 3 of 11 | |
| 2 | 2 | China | Featherball / China Cup | Margie | 2 of 10 | |
| 3 | 3 | China → Malaysia | River Delivery / Run Through the Jungle | Luke | 4 of 9 | |
| 4 | 4 | Malaysia | Mix Master / Master Mix | Luke | 7 of 8 | |
| 5 | 5 | Malaysia → Sri Lanka | Did not perform | Did not perform | 8 of 8 | [3] |
| Average | 5.00 | |||||
Legend:
| ||||||
Notes:
3: Due to being so far behind the other teams, Margie & Luke were not shown completing the tasks on this leg.
Post-Race
- In Season 25, Luke was present at the Starting Line at Times Square to witness the start of the new season, but was not seen in the episode.[1]
Trivia
- Margie & Luke applied with two other family members for the Family Edition but was not cast.
- Luke, the first deaf contestant to participate in the Race in the American version.
- Margie & Luke are the first Mother/Child team to make to the final leg. They also have highest finish by a mother/son team, 3rd Place
- One of the three teams who participated in the race three times (joined by Flight Time & Big Easy and Jet & Cord).
- One of five teams to finish in the same position in two seasons, 8th place (with Oswald & Danny, 4th, Kent & Vyxsin, 5th, Leo & Jamal, 4th and Brendon & Rachel, 3rd).
References
Luke's Twitter: @LukeAdams14
- Season 14 Biography
- Unfinished Business Biography
Margie & Luke's Facebook: /DeafRacer
- Margie's Facebook: /margie.e.odonnell
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