As much as we talk about the omnipotence of the World Wide Web, and about tweeting and FaceBook, leave it to the Race to expose the ugly truth: There are some people who have no interest in the Internet, and get along just fine, thank you very much.

Don't get annoyed, just stay away from them and we'll all get along.

Especially, if you're running a race.

As we begin, the Notre Dame grad and his less educated girlfriend leave first and head to Los Angeles, the final location in the Race. They must head to the Long Beach port, Pier J for the next clue.

All the editing in the world couldn't make this leg of the Race suspenseful.

There were four teams heading into the finale and last week pretty much told us which three would make it in the quest for a $1 million.

This week it was confirmed fairly quickly.

The doctors leave Hong Kong first, heading to Seoul, South Korea where they are to drive to the border near North Korea, in the demilitarized zone, and look for a bridge where the clue box will be.

The Race and relationships -- it's a crazy mix. You could argue that it's a good way to test a couple's mettle. The stress of competition can show one's true nature. On the other hand, why would you want your relationship up for public debate?

Which brings us to the tattoo couple. As the Race winds down, it's time to pick a fav. I'd like to throw my support behind the tattoos -- she's so sweet and tough -- but he's a raging maniac.

We'll get back to that.

It's time to leave Bangladesh and the Notre Dame grad and his less educated girlfriend have that seven-hour lead, so they get the first clue that tells them to fly to Hong Kong, where they must then take a bus and a ferry to a cave for their next clue.

Six teams in St. Pete, Russia at the edge of the sea in a fortress.

The docs leave first and they are on their way to Muscat, Oman. There, the teams will receive a time to climb up to a shelter, where they'll find the next clue.

Blonde doc reminds us that she's a diabetic but she's handling it well. You know, just so we'll admire her even more.

The brunette home shopping host acknowledges her inferiority to her blonde friend; she'll never be as fast as blondie, she says. Or as cute and perky, says her friend, silently.

Next to getting the right flight, I'd say the other thing that trips people up most is rushing.

It makes you do dumb stuff like not read the clue.

The teams leave the sixth pit stop in Russia, St. Pete. The dating couple with Mr. Notre Dame leave first, traveling by taxi to a circus for the next clue. She talks about how he needs to learn to talk to her, not at her.

The home shopping host blonde is excited at the idea of the circus. It's where she belongs, she says. We concur. She hopes she gets to wear a leotard. We no longer concur.

Lives changed on the Race this week. That's the power of television!

We're down to 7 teams. The doctors (who let us know they are used to playing with boys and beating them) leave the west coast of Norway first, heading from St. Petersburg, Russia by car, train and plane. They rush off to the train station to find that the next train doesn't leave to the next morning. So all the teams will meet up.

On the train, the Notre Dame guy finds another moment to let his girlfriend feel inferior. She finds the sleeper cars creepy, and when she asks if he's ever been on one, he says, "Yes, of course. Everyone with a college education has." OK, the last part was subtext.

Often on the Race, teams seem to forget that it's a competition, and that being with  your friend or family isn't really the point. You can spend time with them at home!
 
So it was good to see one team go all in this week.

We started in Lapland, the land of the midnight sun. The now competent doctors are the first to leave for Narvik, Norway where they are to head for a gondola station, ride a gondola to a mountain top, and get to the clue box.

We get a few moments of deep reflection: The home shopping blonde tells us that she's the most dedicated, passionate person we've ever met and that if you put her and her partner together, we'd witness perfection. The father in the father & son team lets us know that because his son will leave home soon, this trip will be the last time they pee together.

Sometimes when you have a special power, the biggest problem is overthinking when to use it.

That's what happened in this edition of The Race to the dating couple with the Express Pass, which gave them the right to jump ahead at anytime without doing any tasks.

Before leaving Ghana, the teams helped renovate a school in Ghana. There was talk of realizing 'how good we have it', and those dang a cappella singers harmonized as they worked.

Then the singers were the first to leave for the Arctic Circle or Kiruna, Sweden, where they were to head to the Ice Hotel, which is exactly that, proving that extreme cold makes you crazy.

Don't you love living in the American lap of luxury?

We'll get to that later. We're down to nine teams in the Race, and we're still in Ghana.

The home shopping hosts arrive first and thus, leave first, heading across town to a boxing academy. They are delighted, we'll soon learn, because they box.

The son & father reveal that winning the million isn't the big goal for them, they want to experience different countries together. Then the son keeps up his poppa hate, pointing out his dad is 59, aka has one foot in the grave.

This week, the Race left England and headed to the Motherland, specifically Ghana, West Africa and the city of Accra. That's not pronounced like Akron, but Ah-CRAH.

The dating hairdresser and the Notre Dame grad are the first to leave. Despite his chi-chi education, he's not sure where Accra is. "I believe it's in Africa," he says.

The doctors tell us a little more about themselves with the blonde doctor, perpetuating blonde stereotypes by describing herself as the dinghy floating next to her ocean liner friend.