by David McAlpine

Last night on The Biggest Loser, wind, rain, and even snow couldn't stop the Biggest Loser contestants from pushing through the pain and finishing one of the most grueling challenges in the show's history.

But first, let's rewind to the beginning of the show. The Black Team gets a visit from Season 11's Hannah, who tries to pump some inspiration into their group. She talks about falling into a comfort zone when she was fat, but she's much happier now that she has a new body, a new attitude and a new outlook on life.

Meanwhile, the Red Team got a visit from Season 10's Adam, who says he literally grabbed his life back after being on the show. So to couple with that lesson, Dolvett made the group sprint up a hill carrying sandbags. What a lesson plan, right?

The Blue Team gets their past participant visit from Season 11's Marci, who tells them that age is just a number. She keeps talking about this concept of a "powerful why," and finding their motivation. My "powerful why" is why isn't Marci leading this team instead of Anna, who doesn't seem to get that they're not professional athletes.

Dolvett starts to hone in on Courtney, who was facing almost certain elimination last week (and, let's face it, if the Red Team were to lose again, she'd probably be the one heading home). Apparently she was a stellar athlete in her younger days, so Dolvett plays a little game of one-on-one with her (that's basketball for everyone who is sports-challenged) and he makes a breakthrough.

Back to the challenge, which was supposed to be a metaphor for the "different conditions" the contestants would have to face in the real world. Each team had a box full of letters from loved ones from home that they would have to pass to each other, one at a time. Once you passed off the box, you'd move to the front of the line, kind of like a human snake. While on the course, the teams would pass through different weather conditions, and the first ones to finish would win letters from home.

Per usual, the Red Team takes off, but the Black Team starts to get the hang of it and catches up. It's neck-and-neck at the end (minus the Blue Team), and the Black Team comes out on top, winning letters from home. But since this is The Biggest Loser, everyone gets letters from home, and the Black Team each gets video chats (where crying ensues).

The last chance workout was trainer's choice this week: Anna took her team onto the tennis court, Bob dove in to the pool with the Black Team, and Dolvett does some off-kilter exercises in the gym. Which trainers' efforts would pay off? The weigh-in results were as follows:

Blue Team
Bonnie: -7 (-2.92%)
Mike: -5 (-1.83%)
Becky: -2 (-0.93%)
TOTAL: -13 (-1.79%)

Black Team
Jennifer: -7 (-2.42%)
John: -9 (-2.40%)
Antone: -8 (-2.06%)
Joe: -6 (-1.95%)
Sunny: -4 (-1.63%)
TOTAL: -34 (-2.12%)

Red Team
Ramon: -11 (-3.42%)
Vinny: -8 (-2.05%)
Courtney: -3 (-1.25%)
Jessica: -2 (-0.90%)
TOTAL: -24 (-2.05%)

So the Blue Team was headed to the elimination room yet again, forced to make a decision with only two options: Becky or Mike. Becky and Mike both make tearful pleas, and it's up to Bonnie to decide who stays and who goes. In the end, she votes for Mike, sending him off the ranch.

At home, Mike has lost a total of 70 pounds and intends to keep going to keep up his coaching ways.

The Biggest Loser airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

(Photo courtesy of NBC)

Reach David by e-mail for follow him on Twitter.