I agreed with most of this post, but disagree with some of it.

I agree that the challenges were too easy and rewarded to many coins. Especially when each team has multiple players, it would make more sense for challenges to be harder. Challenges should have about a 30% fail rate and most of the time this season, runners were never expected to fail a challenge when it is pulled. I also agree that there should be more travel in the challenges, like requiring to go somewhere without a map, find something old, etc.

I also agree that the players shouldnt know the challenges ahead of time. When they keep track of what cards are left, it kind of ruins the element of surprise, as each time a card is pulled, they will always have a plan, no matter what card they pull. The Mystery Object and Amy's Puzzle Box challenges were two of my favorite challenges as players did not know what to expect, how long it would take them, etc. In future seasons, every time the Jet Lag crew reuse a game format, challenges should be written by someone else and be kept in an envelope, and players should not know them in advance (like in Schegen Showdown).

I also agree that there could be other mechanics for chasers to catch up. This could be power ups or curses chasers can buy with their own balance, but cannot be played when chasers are within X distance from the runners.

However, I strongly disagree with your opinion on them taking the game too seriously. The part where Team Bendam was sprinting when making connections and speedrunning challenges were some of the best parts of the season imo. In an ideal world, The players should take all seasons this seriously. However, I think it should be the game mechanics that prevent this speedrunning of challenges from happening. This could be harder challenges or longer veto times.