Pre-Race:

• Chip McAllister portrayed a young Muhammad Ali in the 1977 film The Greatest. Ali portrayed the adult version of himself.
• Alison Irwin of CBS's Big Brother 4 and Big Brother All-Stars was the first contestant on a previously aired reality show to take part in this race.
• Erika, Alison, Nicole and Christie competed against one another in various beauty pageants. Christie was a former Miss Teen USA champion, while Nicole was the winner of Miss Texas USA.

In-Race:

• Season 5 Was The First Season Ever To Have a yield.
• Natalia Rodriguez Lassiy, Miss Uruguay who competed in Miss World 2003, welcomed the teams in the Pit Stop of Leg 1.
• Nicole took 4 hours to complete the caviar challenge in Saint Petersburg in Leg 4.
• Marshall and Lance were the first team in Amazing Race history to quit. Marshall was suffering from a knee injury in the Roadblock in Luxor, Egypt, on Leg 6 and the team arrived at the task site after all others had left. They decided to give up.
• After Leg 6, Amazing Race 5 marks the most girls remaining on the show: nine.
• The production moved the Dubai legs of the race from the originally planned location of Istanbul, Turkey. The reason for this decision has not been disclosed.
• During the Detour of Leg 11, Colin in frustration of trying to steer an ox uttered "My ox is broken!" This saying has become a catchphrase for the Race, and inspired the title of the book "My Ox is Broken!: Detours, Roadblocks, Fast Forwards, and Other Great Moments from TV's 'The Amazing Race'" written by Adam-Troy Castro.
• The woman that welcomed the teams in the Pit Stop of Leg 11 (Rotorua, New Zealand to Manila, Philippines) was Luli Arroyo, the daughter of the current Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
• In Leg 12 where the teams are tasked to find the Philippine flag, the other two flags the teams chose were actually those of the Czech Republic and Equatorial Guinea, both similar in design to the Philippine flag.
• On the final leg (Leg 13), Colin ordered the limousine in Dallas by using a fake credit card number. Teams were only allowed to use their provided credit cards for purchasing airfare.
• A tire blowout in Dallas on Colin and Christie's limousine was not shown in Leg 13. This mishap essentially prevented them from winning the race.
• There were 36-hour pitstops in Leg 4; Leg 6; Leg 10 and Leg 12.
• Season 5 holds the record for having visited all six continents, and it is so far the only season to have accomplished this. It also has the longest distance travelled amongst all seasons so far.

Post-Race:

• Two challenges were edited out of the program since they did not affect team placement. The first was a nut finding Roadblock in the markets of Dubai; the second, a tipi building challenge in Banff, Alberta. The clam-hunting task in the Philippines, presented as a normal challenge, was originally one of two Detour choices. The yellow Detour clue is visible in several Racers' hands, particularly Kim's, and the second Detour choice was never presented on-air.
• Charla & Mirna appeared on MADtv in an Amazing Race parody.
• Colin & Christie gave one of their trips to Dennis and Erika.
• Charla & Mirna appeared in the audience of The Price is Right, but neither of them was chosen into Contestant's Row.
• Charla & Mirna and Chip & Kim appeared on Bravo TV's Battle of the Network Reality Stars. Charla & Mirna were each eliminated, but Mirna returned and ended up on the winning team.
• Charla appeared in the "reality stars" themed first game of Season 7 of Celebrity Poker Showdown.
• Colin proposed to Christie during the Early Show interview after the race.
• Charla appeared on HBO's The Comeback starring Lisa Kudrow.
• Charla & Mirna were featured in recap on various episodes of The Soup on E!.
• Charla and her husband are expecting their first child (news of September 2007).
• Erika is now a producer with the show and was on-hand during the Season 12 open casting call in Cabazon, CA.
• Charla & Mirna were selected to race in The Amazing Race All-Stars. Lance & Marshall sent them a letter in the mail-sorting Roadblock on Leg 4, where they called Charla & Mirna annoying in every language they knew, and hoped they would be eliminated very soon. Mirna later said, "At least we're not fat-asses who quit!"
• Colin & Christie were expected to be on the All-Stars edition, but they didn't make it because Christie was pregnant. They are now parents of a baby boy.
• Christian Dating couple Brandon & Nicole are no longer dating. Nicole is now engaged.
• Dating couple Alison & Donny broke up.
• Karli got married.
• Marshall got married, with Kami & Karli, Lance (his brother), Dennis & Erika, Chip & Kim, and Colin & Christie attending.