TMU alum races across country on The Amazing Race Canada
Filipe Masetti Leite’s journalism degree from TMU was never going to lead to a desk job.
Since graduating in 2011, he has built a career out of adventure. He rode a horse from Alaska to Argentina over eight years, wrote bestselling books and made an award-winning documentary.
Now, he's taking on his latest challenge: racing across Canada with his wife on season 12 of The Amazing Race Canada.
Leite and his wife, Clara Davel, are up against nine other teams for a chance to win $250,000 and a trip for two around the world. If they win, Leite says they plan to put the prize money toward a ranch. They’ve already picked a name for it – the Amazing Ranch Canada.
“Although some of it's tough, and there's a lot of anxiety and frustration as you're trying to do these tasks, it's a positive experience,” says Leite. “Every time that we were out there thinking we can't do this or it's really hard, we were always like, ‘think about the ranch’.”
Training for the race of a lifetime
Leite and Davel were already fans of the show before they signed up. They knew it would take more than enthusiasm to compete, so they hit the gym, went for runs, lifted weights and studied previous seasons to prepare for the challenges.
But Leite says their real training happened years earlier.
Leite met Davel during his horseback journey while riding in Argentina. Davel helped him on the last stretch of the journey.
Leite met Davel in Argentina, near the end of his horseback journey. She helped him finish the final stretch.
“I think based on everything I've done, there's a lot of skills that I have to bring to the table for a show like this,” says Leite. “Clara and I were used to being out there, adventures and fending for ourselves.”
More than a race
Between memory challenges and dance routines, the race pushed the couple further outside their comfort zones than they expected – and brought them closer together.
“I think these experiences, when you put yourself out there, it helps show that you're way stronger than you could ever imagine,” says Leite.
One moment stuck with him from the first episode: watching Davel cross a slackline strung above a canyon.
“To see her kill it and how brave she was, and how well she did, it makes you fall in love with that person again,” says Leite. “As a partner, that was really cool and eye-opening.”
The race also gave the couple an opportunity to explore Canada in a new way.
“It was a great teacher of how beautiful this country is. We got to see Canada from coast to coast — be in small towns, big cities and natural places,” says Leite. “We're both immigrants, and we had to fight really hard to get our permanent residency, so to do this was just a blessing.”
Carving out his own kind of journalism
Filipe Masetti Leite graduated from TMU’s journalism program in 2011.
Leite graduated from TMU’s journalism program in 2011, and he says the experience shaped both his career and his approach to life.
Rather than heading into a traditional newsroom, he built his own path.
I created my own pathway and form of journalism. I was reporting on the back of a horse, and it allowed me to be a journalist and tell a story that was very complicated.
That horseback trek turned into three bestselling books — published in Spanish, Portuguese and English — plus an award-winning documentary (external link) and monthly columns for the Toronto Star.
Today, he is a columnist for Western Horseman magazine in the United States and a motivational speaker.
His advice for students is to not let fear hold you back.
“What I learned from my own experiences is that fear is just a monster that inhabits all our minds,” he says. “Follow your heart, do whatever it is that you want to do.”
