“The whole experience feels surreal,” says the dynamic duo of Doug and Dylan Matter on their time competing all over the world on season 39 of The Amazing Race, which debuts September 30 and October 1 on CBS. Doug is Dylan’s grandfather, who affectionately goes by “Pop”, and at 73 and 18, they were the oldest and one of the youngest competitors on the longest running reality competition show.
Doug and Dylan are especially close and have watched The Amazing Race together for years. At the age of eight, Dylan began saying that they should run the race together. Although neither reside in Coronado, Dylan, who lives in South Bay with his family, has been a district transfer student since elementary school and graduated from Coronado High School in 2025. He was ASB Student Body President and served as a student representative on the CUSD Board. He also enjoyed playing right field on the CHS baseball team for four years. Fond memories include Ms. Shady from 4th and 5th grades and a lead villain role in the seventh-grade musical “13.”
Doug and his wife Debbie have always actively engaged with their grandchildren. He was a firefighter in El Cajon for 23 years, and a Fire Chief in La Mesa and Alpine. As an active outdoorsman, he enjoys backpacking trips. Although Doug lives in Alpine, he spent lots of time with Dylan and his siblings in Coronado, picking them up from school and attending school activities. The two have always had a strong bond and boast travelling to more than 40 national parks together.
Doug shares that they always asked their grandkids if they wanted a present or an adventure for their birthday. Dylan always chose adventures and for his ninth birthday, they flew in a 1927 biplane, soaring 80 mph in an open cockpit and tipping to see whales spouting in the ocean below. Another highlight, at 16, was a safari to South Africa and visiting Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
When Dylan first approached Pop about applying to be on “The Amazing Race”, Doug explains that “I thought it was cool that he was spearheading this, but I never thought they would take me at my age, so I didn’t get my hopes up.” As social media newbies, they never dreamed they had a chance when they filmed their audition video. Both have a competitive spirit, and say the application process was intensive, consisting of multiple interviews and testing over four months, to funnel it down to the finalists. “Every level got more exciting,“ notes Dylan, who remembers the thrill of getting the first callback while in Mr. Silverman’s class.
Once they got confirmation that they were on the show, they rewatched multiple seasons and organized their training based on that. They both agree that Season 35 is their favorite. The show gives no guidelines, so some of the random skills they practiced included archery, axe throwing, and mastering world flags and country capitals. Dylan learned to drive stick shift and read paper maps.
“Pop organized The Amazing Race type clues, and we raced all around San Diego, which was almost as fun as being on the show,” says Dylan.
Going in with the mantra, “Let’s remember to enjoy each moment,” their advance plan was to let Dylan take the more physical and memory challenges, while Doug was better at building things, cooking, and heights. On the show, they had to decide in the moment, just as you see on television, and go with their gut, hoping for the best. They discovered that the strategy served them well.
They revealed the cast was impressive, but there was little time for socializing. Most notable are Olympian and two-time world cup champion Ali Krieger, and former teammate Joanna Lohman. The other teams featured parents and children, couples, siblings, and friends. The two shared that there was not much time off camera, with many long days. Sometimes they would have to get up at 2 am and wash up in 15 minutes in an airport bathroom.
“It was exhilarating and frustrating times ten, and so much harder than it looks like when you watch from your couch,” they comment. “It creates a lot of stress, and you are exhausted most of the time, but it makes you really appreciate the world around you, and after a few days you almost forget about the cameras,” says Dylan.
When asked to sum it up in one word Doug says “stick-to-itiveness.” “We were pushed to the edge and agreed to never give up,” he continued Personally, as a big fan of show, I, along with our community and the world, will have to wait to see the challenges in the various countries and the outcome of which team wins the 1 million dollar prize.
Noting the lessons learned, Doug says “I was incredibly proud to see Dylan’s leadership in running the race strategically, and how he was accepted by the other racers.”
Dylan adds, “I felt incredibly lucky to be there and tried to enjoy the little things.” He laughs as he notes that it took about three days to get used to not having his cell phone, but after that found it to be a nice tech cleanse. Dylan and his Pop have a very close relationship and hang out and talk on the phone even more since the race, even with Dylan now attending USC.
The new season of The Amazing Race kicks off in Vancouver, Canada and takes 13 globe-trotting teams to five continents, nine countries, travelling 25,000 miles. For the first time in the show’s history, all the teams get an express pass and travel to Albania. Teams will also compete through Spain, Morocco, Sri Lanka, Laos, Australia, and New Zealand, finishing in Honolulu, Hawaii. Filming took place during September and October 2025.
Stay tuned to see how the dynamic duo fares and follow them @dmatt_7 and @dougmatter on Instagram. Check out “The Amazing Race” on Facebook and Instagram. For more details, visit cbs.com/shows/amazing_race.
