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On Wednesday night, Caroline and Tom Bridge watched the Race Across The World final with 60 friends in a booked-out pub, but they were keeping a secret.
Since they returned from their travels after traveling 14,000 kilometers from the Great Wall of China to the most southern point of India, the mother and son duo have been sitting on £20,000, unable to tell anyone they know that against the odds, they triumphed over four other teams to be crowned the fifth Race Across The World champions.
‘It’s such a relief,’ Caroline tells Metro. ‘You just can’t lie through your body language and for the last two weeks people have constantly been asking if we’ve won and I’ve just had to change the subject [and] turn away.’
Tom says: ‘My go-to line became “only time will tell” but then people would just stare at you. They ask you the question to see if your face will move or not – people are awful.’
Their 60-strong party was among the millions who watched Caroline and Tom sign the coveted check-in book before their rivals in one of the most nail-biting finishes possible. They reached the final checkpoint just 19 minutes ahead of sisters Elizabeth and Letitia, and 45 minutes ahead of third place Finn and Sioned. Brothers Brian and Melvyn came fourth and were impressively hot on their competitors’ heels, catching up 15 hours – but it wasn’t quite enough.
Watching the final back, Caroline and Tom insist they deserved it. ‘Not at the expense of the others,’ says Caroline, even if she admits ‘we got lucky’.
Tom says: ‘It was just nice watching it back and you can see us slowly gaining confidence and understanding of how to travel without a phone and navigate. Opening that book and winning was the cherry on top.’
The £20,000 cherry on top, to be precise. Caroline and Tom still haven’t received a penny of their prize fund, and even with months to make plans they still don’t know how they’re going to spend the money. Caroline is being sensible. ‘I’ll put it in a premium bond until I know.’
Tom is cautious too. ‘I don’t want to be silly and waste it but I do want to go travelling for another year. I don’t want to come up with loads of plans though and then have no money left.’
Regardless, the race has opened Tom’s eyes to a potentially lucrative new venture, teaming up with a friend he made on his travels. During their time in India, Caroline and Tom stayed with Mr Chhotaram and his family who made rugs and had a go at making one of their own.
‘Mum bought the rug and got it imported and I fell in love with it,’ says Tom. ‘I had a couple of people who saw it and said, “Wow, this is brilliant. Where can I get one?” So I asked Mr Chhotaram, “Can we come up with a deal where I can import rugs from you and sell them back in the UK on your behalf? That’s the plan so far, we’ve imported 10, we’ve got a pop-up shop coming and launching a website. Every rug they sell the money goes back to the community.’
Caroline is also entering a new chapter inspired by the race. After giving up her career to raise her family, Caroline went into the contest wanting to prove to herself that she could be more than ‘just a housewife’. After a rocky start to Race Across the World finishing the first leg in last place, once they left China and landed in Nepal, Caroline and Tom both turned a corner but she was transformed after having her confidence shattered by a series of events.
‘We’d just downsized [the] house, which I really struggled[with]. I didn’t have a horse anymore and we had our dog put down. Tom was becoming more independent and I thought, “I don’t know what life is going to offer me now.” Luckily, Race Across The World came at the right time,’ she says.
After spending time with the generosity of the Indian people, their openness inspired her to take back control.
‘When I came back, I got my horse back again and I started competing. I have a much more positive attitude now. I still spend a lot of time outside with my animals but I’m not as frightened of being lonely.’
Naturally, after discovering they’re not just suited to travelling, they’re quite talented at it, and they’ve found their sense of adventure with varying degrees of ambition.
Tom is joining Fin on a one-day trip to Ireland. ‘We want to get the ferry there, have a pint of Guinness and then get the ferry back again that night.’
Thankfully, there is a bigger plan too. ‘We’re going to Kazakhstan together,’ grins Caroline. ‘We’re not going to do any research, just [fly] by the seat of our pants and just be impulsive, speak to locals and find out what’s good to do.’
Race Across The World is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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