Deerfield Twins Embark on Global Race for $1 Million

Twenty-four year old twins, Liz and Marie Canavan, will try to make Deerfield proud while they compete for a million dollars on The Amazing Race. The CBS reality show, an Emmy winner last weekend, starts a new season on Sunday.

For the twins, who attended , and , their selection to be one of a dozen teams was a bittersweet moment, they told Deerfield Patch.

"Our dad passed away in December. He was always a big fan of The Amazing Race," Liz said. "We made a video in February, just talking about our lives and stuff. We had just graduated college (the University of Kentucky) and we thought this would be a good opportunity to try something different. "

The twins will be one of 11 teams racing around the globe. This season's racers are making first time visits to exotic locations such as Indonesia, Malawi, Belgium and Denmark. By the time the season ends, the winning team will have traveled through four continents and 20 cities and covered nearly 40,000 miles.

The global journey sets off from the foothills of Southern California where each team's problem-solving ability will be tested as they search for clues to their first destination, Taipei, Taiwan. On the first leg of the race, they will be sent to an 8th Century Buddhist temple in Indonesia and ride elephants through rain forests in Thailand. And then comes the first ever Double Elimination.

While viewers watch the globetrotting contest, the twins and the other teams will be mum, committed not to reveal how the race, taped earlier this year, concludes. However, they were able to say that competing as twins was an advantage.

"Being twins definitely helped us in the game because it was so easy for us to communicate with each other and understand each other's train of thought," Marie said. "Pretty much, we have the same train of thought. We knew each other's next move and what each other's reactions were going to be. So we didn't argue or anything."

Being on the show was nothing at all like watching it, they said. "When you watch the show, you may wonder why a team missed something or why they did something," Marie said. "But when you're running the race, it's just completely different. It's so much harder than you ever thought it would be."

The hardest part of all was the traveling, Marie added. "We worried about if we would be able to travel in different countries with a language barrier because we've never been out of the country before. That was our biggest obstacle."

The twins praised their education in Deerfield schools but couldn't recount any specific lessons that came in handy during the race. Liz now works as a marketing assistant at the Great American Group in Deerfield. Marie is employed at Pennies From Heaven, a baby and children's boutique in Lake Forest.

Among the things they enjoy most is breakfast at , meals at and just hanging out at the in Deerfield Square. These days, you are more likely to see them in the Travel section.