A dying self-made billionaire invents an adventure race between his four best friends from high school and his four former college housemates with the winning team sharing a prize of one hundred million dollars and the losing team receiving nothing. The Ultimate Challenge is aired live, twenty four hours per day on the Expedition Channel. The race takes the teams through a dangerous hike on the Appalachian Trail where a serial killer has been hiding for five years and is looking to make headlines. Both teams battle fiercely as they race across the county. They are two groups of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances. Mark Holland is faced with his own personal demons. He confronts his fear of performing in front of a live audience in Las Vegas, survives claustrophobia while confined to a tiny prison cell in Alcatraz and tackles his fear of heights by plunging out of an airplane at twelve thousand feet. The teams confront a serial killer, deals with sabotage, injury and fatigue in their quest for the fame and fortune that awaits the winners at the finish line. Do the teams cave in when the pressure on them is at its highest? How do they react when facing their worst fears? Will they stop at nothing to change their future with millions of dollars are at stake? The Ultimate Challenge delivers an explosive, plot twisting and suspenseful adventure that gives both teams an opportunity to completely change their lives. It also allows them to ponder the question of "what is the true meaning of happiness."