For the past 27 seasons of the hit CBS reality show “The Amazing Race,” contestants have entered the competition with a globetrotting partner. But the 28th season, premiering March 30, presents a whole new challenge: Each of the 22 contestants, two with Western Pennsylvania roots, is pairing up with a stranger.

Michael Rado, 38, of Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood, met his race-around-the-world partner when he first arrived at the show's starting location. So did Becca Droz, a Squirrel Hill native who now works as a rock-climbing instructor in Boulder, Colo. They are members of the 11 pairs competing for the grand $1 million prize in a race that goes to nine countries and 17 cities. The 21-day race included travels through Panama City, Tanzania, Norway and Greece, CBS officials say.

Already, “The Amazing Race” — where pairs seek the quickest path via any means possible to a foreign destination, with plenty of adventure along the way — gives contestants immersion in the unknown. But not knowing your partner adds a whole new level to the unknown, racers say.

“All the excitement that you have built up to go on the race, and all of the preparation you do physically and mentally to go out and do this … at the starting line, we didn't know anyone's name,” says Rado, who grew up in suburban Cleveland and has lived in Pittsburgh since 2009. He and his wife, Katie, own Butcher on Butler in Lawrenceville.

“We didn't know anything about each other,” he says. “There was a lot of lip-biting and fingernail-chewing.”

Droz, a 2008 graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School, agrees.

“We met our partners, then started a race around the world,” she says. “There's not a lot of boundaries you can continue holding once you're working together for the highest-stakes scavenger hunt of all time.”

For Rado, a chef by trade, participating in “The Amazing Race” gave him the opportunity to indulge in a crazy adventure, sample a bunch of cultures, and “see the world through food, and see the world through people.”

“You really get a good sample of each place you go,” Rado says. “For me, that was one of the coolest things … wherever we go, it's going to be someplace I haven't been. Part of you doesn't want it to end.”

Embarking on this global race and meeting so many diverse people, Rado says, reaffirmed many of his beliefs, including the old proverb “Don't judge a book by its cover.”

“There's a lot of commonality within the whole human race,” Rado says. “We're not nearly as different as we like to think we are.”

Droz — who shows pride in her Western Pennsylvania roots by wearing a “Da Burgh” tank top in her show photo — agrees that the race experience was profound and changed her life.

“I really value learning more about different types of people, and I'm wanting to just continue to experience new things and not settle in life,” says Droz, 26. Her parents, Cathy and Dan Droz, live in Point Breeze.

Droz's skills as a rock climber came in very handy during the race, which includes physical challenges.

“Climbing is not only a physical sport, but one that also involves confidence and ability and willingness … to try harder than you think yourself capable of,” she says. “Those qualities were very transferable to many of the challenges.”

Kellie Gormly is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.

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