Roller Derby Moms Skate Through This Season's The Amazing Race
DENVER (CBS4)- Two Colorado moms took a break from the roller derby track to skate through this season's The Amazing Race.
Mona Egender and Beth Bandimere joined 11 teams on the reality show that features teams made up of two people who have some sort of relationship and they travel around the world to compete for $1 million.
Egender and Bandimere, from Castle Pines and Arvada, are members of the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls' 5280 Fight Club. Egender goes by the name Triple Shot Misto and Bandimere uses the handle Fiona Grapple when skating.
Both women relish memories of the entire experience.
"It was incredible. We said the whole time, we marveled at the fact that they actually picked us to do it," said Bandimere. "Although it was stressful and you're running, what an experience. We'd never been outside the country before."
"Amazing," said Egender. "This was huge for us to see the world."
They also said it didn't take too long to get used to living inside a reality show.
"At the beginning it is definitely and it's funny, you'll turn around and smack your face right on the camera because they're right there, but you get used to it pretty quickly. The camera and sound people are phenomenal," said Bandimere.
"Those guys are carrying around 50-70 pounds of equipment all the time. It definitely attracts a little more attention than normal when you're sprinting through the airport with a camera crew."
Their path to being chosen was not your typical reality show tryout.
"It did kind of fall in our laps," said Egender. "We put together a video very last minute, my daughter filmed it for us. Beth edited it over a weekend, sent it in and then it just kind of went on from there. "
"They actually were looking for a roller derby team. The whole process took about a year," said Bandimere. "The approached leagues all over the United States and said, 'Hey, if you're interested make a video, send it in.' We kind of went back and forth and thought, uhh... you know."
"We thought, oh, it's too much work. We don't want to make a video," said Egender.
When asked what they think made them different and stand out in the pack, Bandimere said, ""Our angle was we each have three kiddos. Which, there are a lot of roller derby people who have kids but we have half a dozen between us. I think they liked that."
Even though their children were a big hook for the team during the audition process, the glamorous world of reality television hasn't really sunk in yet.
"You know, I'm not quite sure that my younger two kids grasp it yet. My oldest daughter is 14 and she thinks it's pretty cool," said Egender.
The women weren't sharing how long they could stick it out or whether they walked away with it all. You'll have to watch.
The new season of The Amazing Race kicks off on CBS4 Sunday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.
