Previously on The Biggest Loser Rick got to see baby in his girl’s tummy! Well, pictures of it anyway. Pictures of the ultrasound version of the baby in his girl’s tummy!
And Phoebe won Immunity from Elimination for the next weigh-in…

Tonight the Half-Marathon begins!
It’s not going to finish tonight though (I think) so I could probably write the entire recap right now – people run. Then they run some more. Followed by more running. Then someone will crack the sads because they’ve been running so much and Michelle or Shannan will give them a pep talk so that they can go back to running!

It’s race day. Nice cool day in the National Park. Not sure which one, Phoebe didn’t say which, just that it’s quite a nice day for running.
Michelle and Shannan turn up with the contestants to meet Hayley beside a river? A lake? Billabong? Not sure.

Hayley reminds them of their 4km run, which was followed by their 10km run a few weeks later, now today they’re taking it a few thousand steps further and doing 21km!
And they’ll want to win. Really, really want to win. Because winning comes with a reward! Other than bragging rights they’ll get a unique opportunity which will see them do very well in this competition.

David, Lisa and Shannon didn’t compete in the 10km run and they’re still carrying injuries that count them out and now Rick is on the injured list.
David’s not even allowed to start, Shannon can do 200 metres, Lisa can do 30 minutes, Rick can do 7km and may continue on walking from there if he’s feeling okay.

Everyone’s done the training so they’re nervous but confident they can do it.

Everyone but David is lined up at the start line. Well, Hayley is also not running, she has the starter’s pistol. But Michelle and Shannan are doing the run, too.

Rick sets off at a good pace and Michelle says he’s obviously doing that so he can get his 7km done and with walking the rest he could maybe still finish in a good place.

Shannon gets over a bridge which marks the end of his 200m. During the 4km run he didn’t even make it to 200m, now he’s done 200m and he’s annoyed he’s not allowed to do anymore!

Phoebe’s doing pretty well, trotting along by herself.

Michelle’s caught up to Rick and is trotting along beside him. Trying to chat to him while running, though you can tell she’s also pushing herself to keep up. Rick’s answering with fairly short answers.
Michelle asks him what he’s had to be so negative about in the past few years, he’s only 20. Rick tells her that he’s lost 3 mates, 2 in motorbike crashes, 1 in a car crash, an aunt and an uncle and also his girlfriend had a miscarriage.
Michelle is impressed he’s come through all that and has worked out what it was that was leading him astray and is now stronger and more confident and so on.

Lisa makes it to the 1km mark and is quite happy to get there. She’s not jogging too much but is carrying on walking as best she can.
She’s coping okay without Jarna, but seeing her go and seeing how much it affected her made her realise she’s really not ready to go herself.
Three minutes to go. Shannan says they must be getting close to the 3km mark and Lisa says her hamstring is getting a little tight, but it always does. Shannan says to us that her courage has let her battle her demons and get to where she is now.

Phil’s caught up to Rick and pulls out around him while he’s walking. Phil breaks into a trot and takes his chance to head into the lead.

Phoebe’s still merrily trotting along past the 5km mark. She says she stopped and walked before this last time so she’s feeling pretty good. Shannan says Phoebe gives 100% in every training session, doesn’t break the rules, plays the game with respect and integrity and he can’t ask for more.
Phoebe tries to talk to Shannan while jogging along but it’s kinda incomprehensible for the most part. Seems to be along the lines of her knowing she’ll be okay when she goes home now.
Shannan says that Jenni obviously felt remorse for the way Phoebe had started to put on weight and she didn’t want her to have that pain of being overweight.
Phoebe’s Mum used to take her to weightloss places all the time and Phoebe hated her for it but she’ll get a big apology when she gets home. Awww!

Phil says he doesn’t think he’s ever really put his heart and soul into anything like this.
And as he rounds the 10km mark… Joe is right behind him, trotting along with Shannan.
Phil’s got it into his head that he needs to lift his speed up. You’ve got a long way to go mate!

Caitlin then makes it to the 10km mark, too! And she’s run it all, not stopped to walk. Until she gets to the 10km mark, she starts walking down the hill.
Michelle is super proud of her though. A 21km race is a massive challenge for anyone, but especially when you’re 130kg. It’s an impressive accomplishment.

Phil’s still in first place. Shannan catches up to him and wants to get the negative thoughts out of his head. He’s in front of everyone and he should be enjoying every minute of it!

Joe’s got 4 or 5km to go and he starts to fire up and try to catch up to Phil…

Phoebe gets to about the 15km mark, without stopping and was really happy with that. So she’s having a walk with Rick for a bit, who’s only allowed to walk now and obviously realises he won’t be able to win now, so he’s taking it a bit easier.
Phoebe had been feeling really good about herself but then it all went down really fast.
So fast that she’s had to sit down beside the trail. Rick helps her to the ground and checks she’s okay and waits for a bit, but he can’t stay standing around because his legs will cramp up so Phoebe tells him to get going and finish it.
Phoebe’s getting a bit teary as she really wants to finish. But she’s obviously really struggling…

Phil’s getting near the end of the course now. No sign of Joe in the background. So I guess we find out who wins tonight and what they’ve won tomorrow?

Phil trots back across the bridge towards the finish line to see Lisa, Shannon, Hayley and David applauding and waiting for him. And a lollipop person with a Stop/Go Slow sign in the back ground!
And as Phil crosses the line he’s commentating himself again like he’s part of the Bulldogs team. Anyone else think that’s getting a bit old?!

Phoebe says she’s hit a brick wall after 15km. The Medic (who’d been riding a bike!) checks her blood pressure and heart rate and so on and she’s fine to continue on if she feels up to it.
Phoebe says that in the past she would’ve stopped there but now she’s backing herself to actually finish, even though it might not be in a great time she just wants to get it finished.

Joe says he feels free when he’s crossing the finish line. He reminds us all that he weighed 179.9kg at the first weigh-in and was sobbing and crying and was a beaten young fella. Now he’s run 21km and he feels a lot of pride in himself, never felt anything like it.

Rick’s still trooping along, too. He trots the last 20 metres or so. He actually comes in at under 3 hours which is a pretty good time, all in all.

“You know those moments in life where you’re just like, I AM THE GREATEST!” Phoebe finally gets to the finish line in 3 hours 15 minutes. Not bad considering she pretty much collapsed!

Caitlin also manages to come jogging along the bridge and over the finish line. In 4 hours 16 minutes. Quite a bit later but she made it!

Hayley congratulates everyone who managed to finish.
Phil got home in 2 hours 24 minutes and 18 seconds. Very impressive!

Now it’s time to find out about the “unique opportunity”. It’s a challenge, of sorts, Hayley says.
And he’s going to need some help with it.
So Phil, choose one other contestant to confront this challenge with them. She can’t give him any information to help him make the decision. He’ll have to rely on his gut instinct. But the challenge will not only influence his long term prospects in the game, it will also affect the person he chooses.

Phil, who do you choose?

Tomorrow night, Phil chooses!
Then THE COMMANDO ARRIVES. For the next 5 weeks they’ll live and train at a secret location with The Commando. A very desert-y looking location, it seems. There may be camping involved!