They were once picked to be the ultimate winners of season 25 of The Amazing Race, but a series of unfortunate events has forced Boston firefighters Michael Ward and Scott Strazzullo out of the running for the $1 million prize.

An Ankle Injury Results In A Surprising Elimination?

And though the two initially seemed to be at a disadvantage in Scotland after Scott tripped off of a curb and sprained his ankle, the two had been making up time on the race-until bad directions to a wrong location cost them everything.

"We're not making an excuse of the ankle failing us," Strazzullo told TV Guide in a post-elimination interview. "I think a lot of it was the directions. If we had gone to the museum, everything would've been laid out for us. The bar owner had good intentions. Unfortunately [we drove] too far for us to recover. I really thought we were still in it...Time and how the race is running don't always fit correctly."

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Despite how things worked out though, the firefighters aren't letting the fact that they overcame an injury but couldn't overcome bad directions affect how they feel about being eliminated.

"It's like asking if you'd rather have cyanide or Ebola," Ward said. "When you're out, you're out. It's not a fun place to be."

Though that amount of bad luck isn't affecting them, knowledge that host Phil Keoghan initially had them pegged as the ones to beat this season does make their elimination a tougher thing to deal with.

"Aw. That's a tough one to swallow," Strazzullo said. "I think we were going to make a comeback. I felt the energy. We've been in this type of situation before with our backs against the wall."

The Amazing Race airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on CBS.

Tags: The Amazing Race CBS Reality TV