WALLA WALLA — When he was 14 years old, Danny Butler created “The Amazing Race: Walla Walla Edition,” as a fun game for his classmates and friends.
This year, Danny, now 27, and his mom Angie, 55, became contestants on the 36th season of the show.
“The Amazing Race,” a CBS program that premiered in 2001, features a group of contestants each season racing each other around the globe, completing physical and mental challenges along the way for the chance to win $1 million. It was Danny’s lifelong dream to compete on the show.
“I had a bunch of my friends racing around on bicycles to Bright’s Candies, the library, the BMX track — and we ended up doing one every year in Walla Walla,” Danny said. “Me and my mom have been super fans, and the race has been such a part of our lives.”
“I want moms to be engaged in their kids’ lives, all of their life,” Angie said. “Just because they’re an adult and moved away doesn’t mean you can’t continue to be part of their lives and their dreams.”
Meanwhile, Danny now lives in San Diego, California, and works as a resident director at Point Loma Nazarene University, where he oversees a hall of more than 200 freshman students.
“We get to do the hard together, we get to do the fun together and we get to do the crazy together,” Danny said. “So they’re stoked to watch me on TV — maybe to meme me, maybe to make gifs of me — I don’t know, I’m a little nervous.”
“It’s so funny because they’re kind of a generation removed from ‘The Amazing Race,’ but their parents and students from my past have reached out,” she said. “So a lot of their parents are more excited than the kids — the kids keep me grounded.”
While Danny and Angie weren’t able to reveal specifics about their experiences in the race, including where they traveled, both of them said the friends they made along the way were by far the best part.
“For me, I have this new family,” Danny said. “Like I called the twins, (fellow contestants) Bailey and Anthony, last night. They’re just awesome humans that we got to do a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with.”
Angie said everyone, down to the camera operators and producers, made the experience a dream come true.
“That was the gold medal right there,” Angie said.
During the race, the Butler team had a Bible verse that helped them keep going — “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).”
Angie and Danny said they want people to know that they love God and that they’re grateful for the support they’ve received from family, friends, their church and the Walla Walla community overall.
“As a team, we love God, we love people and we want others to be encouraged,” Danny said. “I want the little Danny who’s watching ‘The Amazing Race’ with his mom to say, ‘Maybe that can be me someday.’”
