150 km from the Arctic Circle. Their final destination was Nelson's Column, Trafalgar Square, London. This, the series pilot, was filmed between 26 August and 2 September 2000. Results 1st place: Melissa ('Mel') Moore (aged 22, from Manchester) and Ruth Wagstaff (aged 33, from Liverpool) with cameraman Alastair Cook (aged 29). They won the race by reaching Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London, on day 7. 2nd place: Camron ('Herbtree') John (aged 40, from London) and Tom Lawton (aged 24, from Somerset) with cameraman Neil Harvey (aged 33). 3rd place: Charlie McFall (aged 38, from London) and Sarah Hemming (aged 25, from Wales) with cameraman Matt Broad (aged 34). 4 to 6 DROP 2: Sahara desert, north of Timbuktu, Mali, West Africa. Once the teams determined which country they had been dropped off in, they were instructed to make their way to Dakar, Senegal, where they would be given onward flights to an undisclosed destination (Casablanca, Morocco). Their final destination was Nelson's Column, Trafalgar Square, London. Results 1st place: James Maby (aged 28, from London / France) and Harriet Bulwer-Long (aged 23, from London) with cameraman Will Dawes (aged 32). They won the race by reaching Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London, on day 9. 2nd place: Nana Amoatemaa-Appiah (aged 29, from London) and Stuart Lewington (aged 26, from Middlesex) with cameraman Luke Menges (aged 31). Abandoned race: Melissa ('Mel') Moore (aged 22, from Manchester) and Ruth Wagstaff (aged 33, from Liverpool), the winners of Drop 1, with cameraman Iain MacDonald (aged 30). They abandoned the race in Casablanca, Morocco, on day 12, on being told by British Airways staff in Casablanca that the other two teams had begged for and received free flights to London some days earlier (James and Harriet from Malaga, Spain; Nana and Stuart from Casablanca). Mel and Ruth had the most authentic journey, travelling the entire route as far as Dakar over land, unlike both other teams who undertook most of the journey on free flights (resulting in a ban on flights not expressly authorised by the production team in subsequent drops). 7 to 9 DROP 3: La Gran Sabana (The Grand Savannah), Venezuela. Once the teams determined which country they had been dropped off in, they were instructed to make their way to the Caribbean island of Martinique, West Indies, where they would be given partial funds for flights back to the United Kingdom.