There are so many well-known Survivor immunity and reward challenges. But, by far, my favorite Survivor challenge is the Hot Pursuit challenge.
This challenge is great because it requires an enormous amount of strength, stamina, and smarts. For those who don't know, the Hot Pursuit challenge features the tribes running a track in a single file line trying to catch the other tribe. It's one of the most grueling Survivor challenges.
For this list, I ranked the four best Hot Pursuit challenges in the series starting with Survivor: Gabon (season 17).
4. Survivor: Gabon (season 17)
The Hot Pursuit race in Survivor: Gabon was played on dirt. All of the players had to carry a giant snake. There was nothing special about this competition.
3. Survivor: Cook Islands (season 13)
The Survivor: Cook Islands Hot Pursuit challenge was interesting because the players had to tackle the other players into the water to win the challenge. It's not higher on the list because Yul Kwon even said, "Why don't we stop running and try to fight them?" It wasn't a bad idea, honestly. Why run and waste energy when you can stand your ground and fight?
I do love the fact that Nate Gonzalez was talking trash the whole time. Cowboy was also pumping his arms like Bugs Bunny to give himself energy. In the end, Yul tried to fight off three guys: JP Calderon, Nate, and Adam Gentry. I think Yul could've taken them (yeah, right), but they got Cowboy into the water first.
2. Survivor: Caramoan (season 26)
The Hot Pursuit challenge in Survivor: Caramoan wasn't a fair fight, but it is by far the funniest. And, it's the second-best challenge. Phillip Sheppard, aka a secret agent, Seal Team 6 member, and 'leader' of his tribe, decided to be the frontman. But, Phillip is the oldest and the slowest on his team. Phillip claimed he didn't want the girls to slow him down. Versus a Division 1 track team, led by Erik Reichenbach, Malcolm Freberg, Eddie Fox, Reynold Toepfer, Andrea Boehlke, and Sherri Biethman, they had no chance.
Michael Snow begs Phillip to run and make a move, but Phillip is so worn out he can barely walk. He blames the girls again, saying they will tire if they try to run. It was a strange strategy, Phillip. He was also too stubborn to take himself out of the game! Corinne Kaplan, Michael, and even Julie Landauer could've made the competition at least a little competitive.
Phillip ends up being the slowest, and Erik tags him for the out.
1. Survivor: Palau (season 10)
The OG. The Hot Pursuit challenge in Survivor: Palau was the first time it was featured on the show. The sun was blistering hot, and everyone carried 20 pounds of sand on their backs.
You get to watch Tom Westman carry the Koror tribe on his back. He carried the most sandbags and had the brains to sprint in the shallow area while pacing themselves in the deep end.
The Ulong tribe, unfortunately, had the exact opposite approach. Bobby Jon Drinkard is a manimal, but he pushed his tribe to sprint in the deepest part of the waters. If Jeff Wilson hadn't rolled his ankle the night before, I think Ulong would have taken their first and only immunity challenge.
And, why wasn't Bobby Jon in the front if he was the most physically gifted on his tribe? Ibrehem Rahman is strong, but he was winded halfway through the challenge. Bobby Jon was still good. Bobby Jon should've been the leader, and someone should've had the smarts to say, "Sprint in the shallows."
That's the ranking of the Hot Pursuit challenges on Survivor!