Ever watched the reality TV show The Amazing Race and said “I could do that”? Now there’s a way to find out, without having to fight for a place in the actual show.

Competitours is an adventure vacation service that, copying from the idea of the TV show, sends teams of travelers on an eight, ten or 14-day tour of Western and Central Europe, trying to accomplish and videotape challenges supplied by the company. The video clips are uploaded at the end of each day and judged by Competitours staff in Cleveland. After the competition is finished, the videos become publicly viewable online.

Unlike the TV show, which is a lot about speed and strength, featuring some rather extreme stunts, Competitours lets the travelers choose about five of 10 different challenges each day, and claims to be a slowed down version of The Amazing Race.  According to the company’s founder, Steve Belkin, every trip will be different. The travelers are first sent to one European city without knowing the complete itinerary, and then, after the day’s challenges, they learn where they are headed the next day. The cost of joining the race ranges from $1995 to $2950, but the prizes include free flights, hotel nights, and cash up to $6500.

It would be neat to see this concept make more use of digital media. The videos are one thing, but what about mobile, Twitter and other feeds? Some racers seem to have already started their own blogs. Maybe next the company can tweak the concept of the challenges a little bit and turn it more into a spectator sport that others can follow online as it happens.

Karri Ojanen