S'thorne couple excels on 'The Amazing Race'

JABREEN, Oman - Silverthorne couple Fran and Barry Lazarus beat four other teams to finish the Middle Eastern leg of the Amazing Race in first place last week.

The Lazaruses were the first retired couple to win a leg of the televised race around the world in the show's history, said the team's official spokesperson and friend Marsha Cooper. The Lazaruses are in their 60s, making them the oldest team in the race by several decades.

For their first place finish the couple won a trip to Rome. They will also get a head start in tonight's leg of the race.

The eighth episode of the CBS show began in Athens, where teams had to catch a flight to Muscat, Oman. The Lazaruses began the leg in fourth place, with five of 11 teams remaining in the game.

After arriving in Muscat, teams found their next clue in a giant incense burner, then drove 135 miles on rocky, and occasionally flooded roads, to a small fishing town to find their next assignment.

At this stage, the Lazaruses gained an advantage when they were one of two teams to quickly locate an Arabic message box kept in one of three watchtowers. They traded the box in for their next clue at a nearby silver shop, then drove 80 miles to a small village, where Barry was tasked with finding one of six traditional Oman meals buried under 117 mounds of sand.

He dug through several piles of sand in the scorching sun before finding the first spiced lamb wrapped in a dried palm leaf bag. The Lazaruses raced 150 more miles to the Jabreen Castle, where they finished first.