“It was an incredible opportunity,” Kilmer-Purcell said. “I don’t think people understand how difficult it is.”

Kilmer-Purcell, a 1991 MSU graduate, and Ridge ended up on “The Amazing Race” by chance. While doing a book signing in Santa Monica, Calif., Kilmer-Purcell met a woman whose husband worked for CBS. He inquired about being on the reality show, and two weeks later it became a reality.

Though “The Amazing Race” aired from September 2012 to December 2012, the race occurred during three and a half weeks. Kilmer-Purcell described it as an endurance test.

He said that the last leg of the race, which went from France to New York City, was the easiest.

“Winning or losing, we knew that at the end of that leg we could kick back, have a beer, see our families and go back to the ranch,” Kilmer-Purcell said.

Gary Wojnar, a Livonia native who is a good friend of Kilmer-Purcell and was eliminated from the 21st season of “The Amazing Race” in week four, said competing in other countries was a fish-out-of-water experience, and helped him appreciate the United States more.

“When you’re thrown into another country like Indonesia where the poverty is crushing … you think you’re prepared but you’re not,” he said. “I’m just realizing how great we have it here.”

Human biology student Zach Zurla said he was impressed by the commitment the contestants displayed.

“You have to be really determined to be able to do something like that,” he said.

At MSU, Kilmer-Purcell worked at The State News in both the advertising department and as a cartoonist.

Kilmer-Purcell wasn’t involved in agriculture or TV as an English literature major. He said those weren’t opportunities he actively sought out. His life changed after he published his first book, “I Am Not Myself These Days: A Memoir (P.S.)” in 2006.

In 2007, he and Ridge bought the farm in upstate New York. Kilmer-Purcell said the initial plan was to write more. He and Ridge also started their company, Beekman 1802. The company works with small farms and helps them brand and market themselves.

Television network Planet Green contacted Kilmer-Purcell about doing a reality show regarding their adjustment to farm life and running the company. The show, which became “The Fabulous Beekman Boys,” launched on Planet Green in 2010, and moved to Cooking Channel two years later.

Now that his stint on “The Amazing Race” is done, Kilmer-Purcell said he and Ridge are focused on expanding Beekman 1802. Kilmer-Purcell said when he was at MSU, agriculture wasn’t seen an ideal career path. Today, he feels differently.

“Being at MSU, there was the stigma of MSU being an agriculture school,” he said. “When I was there, a lot of people were embarrassed about going to MSU. Now I think farming is one of the cooler professions to be in.”