The Amazing Race winners: Against all odds

No guts, no glory. Uchenna and Joyce Agu proved this old saw true all over again when they outraced former Survivor contestants (Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich), an ex-prisoner of war and his beauty queen girlfriend to win the seventh edition of AXN’s The Amazing Race 7 and go home $1-M richer.

The couple from Houston, Texas risked losing their jobs in the two months the race took them away from work. Uchenna was then working as an energy broker for Enron and Joyce was a sales manager for WorldCom.

It was not easy, Uchenna recalls. But they both took the big gamble of lagging behind in bills for two months, in the hope, in Uchenna’s case, of getting the job back after (he didn’t).

It was the biggest gamble, and the best decision they’ve made so far.

Gushes Uchenna in a phone interview, "The trade-off was so much worth it. We wouldn’t exchange the (Amazing Race) experience for a million dollars. The experience surpassed anything else we’ve encountered. The effect on our personal growth was huge!"

He may not have gotten his work at Enron back, and Uchenna and Joyce faced a mountain of bills when they got home. But that was nothing compared to what they learned in those two grueling months on the road.

"Traveling during the race made us see so much poverty and appreciate what we have in the US," Uchenna says. This, he explains, inspired him to finally start a long-standing plan: to start a real estate development company. Even as he is en route to a re-construction deal, Uchenna must already be thinking of the jobs he can generate, the properties his business can develop, and the lives he can improve.

As for Joyce, the outpouring of support from women in the same position as she is, is more hell-bent on getting in-vitro fertilization. And if it doesn’t work, she and Uchenna will adopt a baby. They can very well afford it, anyway.

"We will start the process (of in-vitro fertilization) as soon as things return to normal," promises Joyce.

Turns out they don’t have to shell out that much. A doctor from Texas offered a free round of in-vitro fertilization, reports Joyce.

Elsewhere, the couple basked in the warm reception they got from ordinary people. Uchenna is amazed at how complete strangers yell from the cab to say hello or just stop and talk to them.

"They’re actually excited to see us," an overwhelmed Uchenna relates.

Suddenly, there’s this two ordinary people who can achieve big things, mingling among them. And they can’t help but reach out.

Joyce puts it best: "Lots of people, especially those who don’t have kids, feel they can relate to us.: They shout `I love you’ from the cab!"

This steered the conversation to the cab driver from Miami whom Uchenna and Joyce failed to pay a certain amount because they ran short of cash. The guy, realizing who his famous passengers were, appeared on TV and announced how much the couple owes him. No problem, Uchenna says. His Florida-based brother promised to settle the bill.

Not only that. The Agus will take a step further. They will return to Miami, look for the same cab driver and follow the same path they took (from Miami’s Little Havana to Fort Lauderdale) "just to relive the moment." This time though, they will just enjoy every minute of their sentimental trip. No more competing with anybody, no more looking out for number one.

It was good while it lasted, though. "Who would have thought," says a short-haired Joyce, "that we would be pounding corn, or eating four pounds of beef when it’s not humanly possible to eat more than two pounds of food at the same time?"

Or that she would make the ultimate sacrifice by shaving her head in India?

"People recognized us as serious contenders after that," reveals Uchenna. "From then on, there was no stopping me from quitting (the race). I was compelled to stand up with her and go the rest of the nine yards."

It was not easy at first. Her shaved head embarrassed Joyce at first. But she soon learned to feel comfortable with it even until now, when she likes her hair short.

The couple’s athletic background also came in handy. Joyce is a kickboxer and Uchenna loves to hang out with guys younger than he is for a few rounds of basketball.

"But although we train physically all the time, nothing ever prepared us for the race. We thought were together as far as understanding each other spiritually is concerned," admits Uchenna. "But we were never tested this way before."

Simply watching the race in the comfort of your bedroom TV set cannot give you a fair idea of how hard things went for him and Joyce, says Uchenna.

No wonder the first thing Joyce did after finishing the race was to go to the nearest McDonald’s outlet "to eat real food." Once home, she and Uchenna took a warm bubble bath and just savored the moment with each other.

Will they join another Amazing Race or another reality show again?

A pregnant pause. Then Joyce speaks up, "Never say never."

Uchenna chimes in, "I like the idea that we were able to move people in a positive way. If there’s a way we can continue this, we’ll be open about it."

Never giving up in the face of adversity, good luck and good karma, these did the trick for them, says Uchenna.

It’s a modern success story with an old-fashioned moral lesson that has caught the attention of cable TV lovers all over the world.