'Amazing Race' Couple Together At Watching Party
Tribune photo by WALT BELCHER
Tina and Ken Greene celebrate at a watch party for The Amazing Race.
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Published: September 29, 2008
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TAMPA - It's one episode down and how many more to go?
Tina Hunter Greene can't say how far she and her estranged husband, Ken, make it on "The Amazing Race."
But Sunday night the couple were holding hands and giving high-fives at a watching party where about 50 friends and co-workers gathered to cheer them on to victory.
Tina, who runs BioPharmMed, a Tampa-based executive recruiting firm, and Ken, a former NFL defensive back who is now a San Diego-based building contractor, are among the 11 couples selected for the 13th season of the reality series.
Sunday, viewers saw them make it through to the first leg of the 30,000-mile trek that will unfold over the next 13 weeks.
There were cheers, squeals of excitement and laughter at the watching party whenever Tina Greene was on camera. On the first episode, Tina was intense and impatient while Ken was laid back.
"It was the adventure of a lifetime and the hardest thing I have ever done," says Tina, the first contestant from Tampa to be on the Emmy-winning reality show.
"It was just amazing," adds Ken Greene. The Greenes can't say how far they went or whether the journey saved their troubled marriage. They can't speak to the media again until their "Race" journey ends.
In the opening episode, Tina, 49, and Ken, 52, arrived at the first destination near the head of the pack. An elderly hippie couple, Arthur and Anita Jones from Eugene, Ore., came in last and were the first to be eliminated.
The Greenes entered the race for more than the $1 million prize. The couple were seeking to repair their marriage. They separated last year after more than six years of marriage. It was revealed on the program Sunday that Ken had cheated on her. Viewers saw him admit that he made a mistake and wanted to make it up to her.
Ken is a former All-American college standout who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Diego Chargers before leaving the NFL in 1984. He coached at Fresno State, Purdue and Washington State.
"We are both in good shape and we like extreme outdoor adventure vacations," Tina says.
On the first episode, their skills were put to the test as the teams dashed off from Los Angeles and ended up in Brazil, where they had to climb 240 feet down a cargo net that stretched from the side of a building to the street.
The race was taped earlier this year and covers 23 days with stops in Bolivia, New Zealand, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, India and Russia before returning to America to wrap up in Portland, Ore.
Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813) 259-7654 or wbelcher@tampatrib.com.
