The Amazing Race Canada stops at Wanuskewin Heritage Park

The Amazing Race Canada is demanding for contestants, and it's just as tough to land a role as one of the featured stops along the way. 

"It was a lot of work," said Andrew McDonald, the sales and marketing manager at Wanuskewin Heritage Park. 

It took months of planning for the park and interpretive centre, which celebrates First Nations culture, to become one of the stops on the popular show on CTV. Planning began in February and the segment was shot in May.

McDonald said the park had three auditions, where they toured producers around the grounds and presented ideas for what challenges would take place. Viewers tuning into the show tonight will see the teams compete in hoop dancing and teepee building. 

"It was really challenging," McDonald said. "I think that every single person who did it, there was some anxiety, some anger between teams, lots of tension. Of course, this is week seven of the competition and so by this time I think they're starting to get on each others nerves quite a bit." 

Keeping it classified

Another challenge was keeping it a secret. McDonald said only three or four staff members knew The Amazing Race would be shooting a segment in the park. 

"It was really, really tough," he said.

"We had kind of a cloak and dagger happening throughout the office to keep things under wraps." 

It wasn't until the day of the shooting that staff could be told the teams would be competing in the park. 

In the end, he's hoping all the hard work will pay off by showcasing the unique park to people across the country. The producers of the show tell him to expect a jump in visitors after the show airs. 

"It's been a busy summer, but [we hope to] start to see even more or those national and even more international visitors come to the park."

They could be racing there.