‘Race To Survive: New Zealand’ Winner Tyrie Mann Merrill Says “Experience” Was The Key To His Success: “The Other Teams Never Starved Before”

After a jaw-dropping 40 days spent traveling across New Zealand’s most varied and perilous terrain, Race to Survive: New Zealand finally has its winners: Ethan Greenberg and Tyrie Mann Merrill. The smokejumpers bested two fierce teams —exes Creighton Baird and Paulina Peña, and Canadian roughnecks Nik Milutinovic and Kennedy Taylor—to take home the grand prize of $500,000 dollars. Throughout the race—while other teams were spiraling—Greenberg and Mann were able to keep their wits about them and their bodies strong as they faced harsh conditions and rough terrain.

“While our job experience and survival training helped get us to the finish crate, I really had been preparing for this my whole life,” explained Merrill. Growing up on an Indian reservation, Merrill was no stranger to hunting, fishing and being out in the mountains. His military and survival training also gave him and Greenberg a bit of an edge. “It wasn’t that these people weren’t prepared to race on the course; it was the fact that they’ve never starved,” said Merrill. “For the other teams, lacking food while burning calories was tough. What they didn’t know about Ethan and me is that we like that feeling.”

Their win also puts a spotlight on the wild firefighting community. Merrill and Greenberg could not have been better representatives of the men and women firefighters who put their lives on the line every day. “A lot of people don’t know about smoke jumpers. There are only 350 of us,” said Merrill. “It’s cool to get the word out and represent the community.”

The show also gave Merrill the opportunity to explore New Zealand. While he had been planning a dream heliskiing vacation, he preferred getting to know the land up close. “I never had to land navigate in a jungle before,” said Merrill. Perhaps the highlight for Merrill was getting to meet with Māori people over the course of the race. “I was raised very similarly to the Māori growing up on the reservation,” said Merrill. “It was natural to embrace their traditions and show thanks to Mother Earth.”

DECIDER got the chance to speak with Merrill over Zoom (Greenberg was called away to a job) to talk about the show, his survival experience, and which of his competitors he and Greenberg bonded with the most.

DECIDER: Congratulations! How does it feel to have won Race To Survive: New Zealand ?

TYRIE MANN MERRILL: Thank you very much. I’m feeling good. I’m feeling great. My family’s proud, and everyone’s happy. Everybody’s eating good; so it’s awesome.

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What does it mean to represent the wild land firefighter community on the show?

It meant everything to be a living example of how hard those men and women women work, whether they’re part of helitack engines, hot shot crews, smoke jumpers…it does not matter. We all have seen the same difficulties. To have everyone I worked with—who know me—see me be my best is huge. It is big for the community because we finally have the spotlight. A lot of people don’t know about smoke jumpers. There are only 350 of us. It’s cool to get the word out and represent the community.

You and Ethan weren’t traditional endurance athletes. Was there any terrain or skill set you were not comfortable tackling at the beginning of the race?

I thought there would be more swimming, I really did. The race did get progressively harder. Every time we’d finish a leg, we’d think, “Hey, how can they make this worse?” Then it would be time for the next leg, we’d see it, and then go, “oh yeah, that’s how they’re going to make it worse.” [Laughs] While it was my first time being in such a crazy jungle—I never had to land navigate in a jungle before—it wasn’t our first time doing a lot of things required. We had run on a beach before. We’ve bear crawled and ran over tough terrain before.

Is New Zealand the first big place you explored outside of the U.S.?

No, I used to live in Japan, and I’ve been to 30 or so other countries just backpacking on my own. New Zealand was a place I was saving for some heliskiing with friends, but this was even better. I got the full ride. I love traveling and seeing parts of the world that I’ve never seen. This show was the best way to see New Zealand because the show paid for it. We were also paid weekly. On top of that, we also got to meet the Māori. I was raised very similarly to the Māori growing up on a reservation. It was natural to embrace their traditions and show thanks to Mother Earth and all that. That was super cool.

What was your secret to staying healthy, both mentally and physically, when the teams around you were crumbling?

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Experience? Through military training and survival schools I’ve attended, I’ve actually had to starve and take on other things. Ethan has similar experiences. Around the second survival camp, the other racers started to complain about hunger. When you’re out in the wilderness in a survival situation, complaining just rots your head. It just gets bigger and bigger. That did happen to all those folks. I saw a lot of them act in ways I hadn’t seen since my early military days. It wasn’t that these people weren’t prepared to race on the course; it was the fact that they’ve never starved before.

While our job experience and survival training helped get us to the finish crate, I really had been preparing for this my whole life. Growing up on a reservation and in the mountains, hunting, fishing… the fact that the river guides didn’t know how to fish [laughs]. If I had that fishing rod, I would have been doing some damage. Even without that tool, Ethan and I were still catching tons of fish. For the other teams, lacking food while burning calories was tough. What they didn’t know about Ethan and me is that we like that feeling.

Speaking of starvation, I do want to ask you about the situation with the river guides: Corry Jones and Oliver Dev. One of the most shocking events of the season was their disqualification. What was your initial reaction when you learned they’d be leaving the race?

They did what they did. It sucked. It was a bummer for all of us. It was a bad situation. I wish they had not done it. It put in a bad twist on everything. I don’t want to get into many of the details because I think the production did such a great job with putting out there. So, it is what it is.

I agree. Production handled the situation as best they could. I do want to give them another shoutout. While I was impressed by you and Ethan, I was equally impressed with the camera crew and producers who had to keep up with you! How do think they did?

Awesome. I thought they had the coolest job. All those guys in production have their own crazy stories too. They are phenomenal individuals and very self-driven. Ethan and I connected with them very well. One of them, specifically, was this guy named Ben. He’s a New Zealand guy. When we didn’t get him in the crew rotation, we would just be like, “we want Ben back.” When you’re out there, it’s nice to be able to talk to someone. We broke some walls between us and Ben. That was awesome. All the production people were beasts. I got nothing but great things to say about all those guys. They did the race in a healthy way. They rotated out, did things properly, and made sure their people were taken care of. It was a lot of fun meeting them.

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I imagine survival camp had to be a bonding experience. Which team did you each connect with the most and why?

Jeff and Coree. When some of the other teams’ complaining got to be too much [laughs], I would just go hang out with Jeff and Coree. We connected very well. When Ethan or I felt like talking, we’d go to their camp, maybe share an almond or two, pull up by the fire and crack jokes. We learned a lot about them. I thought they were very impressive. I view them as mentors now. I asked Coree for help in sharing my own story.

I had a lot of things on my mind during the race, but there were certain things I couldn’t talk about before without crying. As a black and gay endurance athlete, Coree has shared his story before. Also, he was on Eco-Challenge Fiji . He’s such a generous guy. Coree, Jeff, Ethan and I are on our own group chat. Jeff is phenomenal too. I’m going to go visit him soon. I want to give him a hug and meet his family. Those guys are down to the bone, and they got us for life, whether they like it or not [laughs].

Speaking of Eco-Challenge Fiji , I know adventure racing legend Nathan Fa’avae helped design the Race to Survive: New Zealand course . Did you get to meet him?

That’s one bad mofo right there. We tried to meet him, but it didn’t work out. He said we wouldn’t be interested in meeting an old burnt-out man or something like that. Yeah, it was his excuse, essentially saying we’re not cool enough to hang [laughs]. He’s such a legend.

My time is running out, but I wanted to ask: was there a particular craving, be it food or a comfort item, that was on your mind during the race?

No, I don’t think I allowed myself to really be hungry through the entire process. I just wouldn’t admit it. You don’t ever see us on the TV saying, “we’re starving” or “we’re hungry.” Also, I don’t need a lot. It is crazy. The rations that we got were a hundred times better than fire food; way better than MREs. I’m like, “dude, they’re feeding us good.” I was like, “we can make one of these rations last three weeks, bro.” Ethan agreed because we’re used to just eating tortillas with a slab of butter and some honey. I’ve had that before on fires and working a full shift. It’s just different.

I know you’re not a frivolous guy, but what’s the first big purchase you’re thinking of making with the prize money?

Maybe a stump grinder or a dump truck. Maybe a car for my mom [laughs]. I honestly don’t need much.

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