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GoFAR revolutionizes adventure audio through podcasted interviews with the world's elite adventure racers, mountaineers, climbers, triathletes, runners, expeditionaries, and industry leaders. GoFAR World-Class Adventure Podcasts For ten days in July of 2006, 89 coed teams of four from around the globe took on 400 miles of desert trekking, horseback riding, mountain biking, paddling, mountaineering, and ropeworks in an attempt to complete Primal Quest, the world’s longest, hardest, and most extreme expedition adventure race. Competitors faced extreme conditions and severe suffering in the desert and mountains around Moab, Utah. GoFAR World-Class Adventure Podcasts recorded their stories live from every section of the race. Inspiring, educational, entertaining, and, at times, heart-wrenching, GoFAR’s PQ 2006: Get Inspired, GoFAR gives you exclusive and revolutionary radio coverage of an epic event in the words of those who were brave enough to take on the challenge. On-course interviews and race commentary by professional adventure racer Travis Macy provide listeners with motivational material that’s perfect for audio action while training for a 5k fun run, a marathon, the Ironman, or PQ itself. Full of memorable moments and course descriptions from every section of the race, it’s a perfect memory album for those who competed. With extensive racing advice from the best racers on the planet, PQ 2006: Get Inspired, GoFAR is also the world’s most comprehensive adventure racing instruction manual. Check out advice about food, sleep, gear, mapping, navigation, hydration, ropes skills, altitude, heat, cold, mountains, deserts, paddling, riverboarding, shoes, bikes, feet, gear boxes, sand, umbrellas (seriously…they use umbrellas), and more from teams like Nike PowerBlast, Merrell/Wigwam, SOLE, Spyder, Salomon/Crested Butte, GoLite/Timberland, Supplier Pipeline, DART-nuun, Buff/Coolmax, Bjurfors, and Halti. Why wait until October when you’ll see five hours of PQ coverage on TV when you can listen to ten hours of coverage now? MP3 CD available for $14.95 plus shipping Get Inspired, GoFAR Soundtracks: Start to TA1: Desert Trek with Horse (22.7 miles) TA2: Transition from Desert Trek (22.8 miles) to Mountain Bike (54 miles) TA4: Transition from Whitewater Swimming (8.3 miles) to Kayaking (35 miles) TA5: Transition from Kayaking (35 miles) to Canyoneering (26.9 miles) TA6: Transition from Canyoneering (26.9 miles) to Kayaking (45 miles) TA7: Transition from Kayaking (45 miles) to Canyoneering (33.1 miles) TA8 to TA9: World-famous Moab Mountain Biking (65.7 miles) with Ropes 209-245 FRED TA9: Transition from Mountain Bike (65.7 miles) to Mountain Trek (37.5 miles) TA9 to TA10: Mountain Trek (37.5 miles) and Orienteering Course (5 controls, 9 miles) TA11: Transition from Mountain Bike (41.6 miles) to Desert Trek (15.8 miles) The Finish and Post-Race Reflections Thanks to the teams, PQ staff, and Don Mann, who so generously offered their time and thoughts to make these interviews come alive.
Course Brake-Down:
CP= Check Point. CP’s are pre-appointed points on the adventure racing course that teams are required to pass through during the race. The course is revealed when athletes receive the locations for the CP’s, along with instructions regarding the disciplines they will use to get there. Racers then plot the CP’s on their maps using UTM coordinates and use contour lines, roads, rivers, canyons, mountains, vegetation, and other markings on the map to determine the best route to get there. The PQ organization provided bottled water for racers at many CP’s along the course. Primal Quest featured 42 CP’s in 2006, and the total distance from start to finish was 417 miles. TA= Transition Area. Some CP’s also serve as TA’s, or points at which teams switch from one discipline to another. For example, teams transitioned from trekking with a horse to trekking without a horse at TA1; they then moved from trekking to mountain biking at TA2. Teams accessed pre-packed gear and food boxes at some TA’s along the course. PQ Four Days Away Most teams are in and around Moab now, and competitors can be found camping on the lawn at Red Cliffs, organizing gear, shopping at Moab's only grocery store (which I predict may run out of energy bars very shortly), attempting acclimatize to the heat and altitude that will be experienced on the course, and scouting possible routes in the area. While trekking in the LaSalle Mountains this morning, I encountered Team Deliverance from the UK and Missouri's Team Dynamic Earth. Both squads were in good spirits as they climbed towards the 12,791-foot Mount Beale as preparation for the toils ahead. Particularly attractive about adventure racing are the sport's international nature and community-oriented attitude. Primal Quest features teams from twenty countries, and most of the top professional teams in the world are present. Deliverance's Lesley Taylor commented on the atmosphere: "The international community is great. Although we're a mid-pack team, we look forward to watching the top Brits in the field go for the win." Mikael Nordstrom, Captain of the Swedish Team Halti and race director for the 2006 Adventure Racing World Championship in Sweden, added, "It's going to be hot and hard, and we don't expect many teams to finish."
Seventeen Hours Until Start At noon on Saturday, approximately seventeen hours until the epic ten-day adventure race known as Primal Quest begins, things here at PQ Headquarters at the Red Cliffs Lodge outside of Moab Utah are finally slowing down. After three solid days of gear check, skills testing, course scouting, and last-minute errands, most of the ninety teams entered in Primal Quest find themselves organized and ready to go. Race gear for trekking, mountain biking, whitewater swimming, fixed ropes, horseback riding, paddling, and mountaineering is packed in two forty-eight gallon tubs and four bike boxes per team. Each team uses and additional tub for race food, which includes a variety of items ranging from specialized nutrition products like Endurolytes (electrolyte pills), drink powder, and energy bars to dried fruit and nuts to high-calorie junk food like potato chips and cookies. Many amateur teams are finding themselves nervous for the course but determined to persevere. Scott Swaney of the USA/Canada Team myCitadell Wallet describes a goal I’ve often heard reiterated in pre-race interviews: “We just want to get through this with a positive attitude and finish the race.” While most of the field simply hopes to complete Primal Quest, a number of teams arrive here with the goal of winning. Mike Kloser of Team Nike/Power Blast—Power Blast, which makes an energy drink, singed on as a title sponsor for the three-time defending champion team yesterday—hopes to finish on top again and advises: “Race your own race. When you start doing someone else’s race, that’s when problems occur.” Kloser’s squad comes to PQ after winning the Raid World Cup Qualifier in Idaho, the Teva Mountain Games, and Mexico’s Camdex Adventure Race this spring, but a strong contingent will be knocking away at their armor. US-based Teams Merrell/Wigwam Adventure, Spyder, SOLE, Nike/Beaver Creek, and GoLite/Timberland—all of which have at least one teammate from adventure racing strongholds Australia or New Zealand—are ready to race. Also look for strong pushes from international Teams Buff/Coolmax (Spain), Bjurfors (Sweden), Halti (Sweden), and Altius-Abarth (Mexico). The course will be distributed this evening, teams boards buses to the currently undisclosed start location late tonight, and the race begins tomorrow morning.
PQ Course Revealed: It’s a Doozy! Race Director Don Mann revealed the course for Primal Quest 2006, and, as expected, it will be gorgeous and challenging. Race begins at 6:00am on Sunday, six hours from now. Here’s a quick summary:
PQ Day One: Hurry Up and Wait Primal Quest 2006 is finally in action here in the desert northwest of Moab, Utah. After prepping maps last night until midnight, racers boarded school buses and traveled four hours—primarily on heinous dirt roads—to the starting line in the San Rafael Swell southeast of Price. The start location was remote and tough to access, and most of the course will follow this trend. At 6:00 a.m. this morning, ninety teams of four racers and one horse lined up across an impressive valley here in the Swell. Nerves were high for humans and horses alike, and a number of the animals reacted by bucking and bolting, tossing their riders to the ground. Many teams were shaken up, but all were able to persevere, as explained by Team Pedro’s Boulder: “Our horse was crazy! It tossed us to the ground and took off full speed in the wrong direction. The wranglers had to chase it, and we lost a ton of time off the bat. But that doesn’t change our race plan, and we’re ready to go.” The gun sounded just after sunrise, and they raced two quick miles—most teams with one rider and three on foot—to a serious bottleneck where the front teams headed down a steep, rocky trail to the bottom of a drainage and all followers waited for their turn to descend the single-file trail. Some teams waited for over an hour at the bottleneck, costing them crucial time very early in the race. Spyder, Nike/Power Blast, and Merrel/Wigwam all arrived comfortably at the front of the pack through this first obstacle, but conspicuously placed in the middle of the pack were Buff/Coolmax, and GoLite/Timberland, which both found themselves waiting anxiously at the bottleneck. Mid-way through the day, the leaders had completed the 23-mile horse section and embarked on another 23-mile desert trek without horses. Nike/Power Blast, Spyder, Merrel/Wigman, Halti, and Suplier Pipeline (a top Canadian team) walked together, working as a single unit. Spirits were high and the pace comfortable, as these lead teams saved themselves for the race later on. Sure enough, the pace and temperature shot through the roof this afternoon, and a sufferfest ensued. Nike/Power Blast’s Mike Kloser called the trek, “The most grueling I’ve ever done in an adventure race.” Severe dehydration was the norm, and the top of the field was hammered upon reaching the transition to bikes. Heading out on a 54-mile mountain bike ride through the San Rafael Swell to the Green River, Nike/Power Blast leads by approximately thirty minutes. Nike/Beaver Creek (which put in a strong push and looks very fresh at this point) is in transition with Spyder, Merrel/Wigwam, SOLE, Halti, and Altius-Abarth. Teams at the back of the pack continue to face severe heat complications, and we expect a high rate of attrition for Day 1 of Primal Quest 2006. Day 2: The Race Begins The race really began to get going this morning here at Primal Quest in Utah. After forty-six miles of trekking (half of this with one horse per team and half without) and fifty-four miles of mountain biking on day one, the front of the field hit a dark zone—or pre-determined point at which racing is not allowed at night due to danger—at the start of the riverboarding section on the Green River eighteen miles north of the so-named town. Some teams got as much as eight hours of sleep before the mass riverboarding start at 6:00 a.m. Two hours later, they flowed in to the segment’s end-point as a tight pack. A quick transition later teams headed out in two-person sea kayaks for a 35-mile paddle. Racers were in good sprits five hours later at the Ruby Ranch transition, where the paddle ended. “This race is finally getting fun,” quipped Team SOLE’s Paul Romero, “and it’s a heck of a lot better than that trekking yesterday!” At approximately 1:30 p.m., Merrel/Wigwam and Spyder came out of the water tied for the lead as they rushed to the first food supply they had seen since the start of the race thirty-one hours ago. A characteristically fast transition by Nike/Power Blast made up for the ten minute deficit they brought into the transition area, and the three teams swam across the Green River together as they embarked on a canyoneering/ropeworks section predicted to take eight hours for top teams. Following closely were SOLE, Nike/Beaver Creek, Bjurfors, GoLite/Timberland, and Buff/Coolmax. Teams throughout the field face harsh conditions today, with temperatures rising above 100 degrees again, but should stay a bit cooler while riverboarding and paddling. Although the desert trek yesterday presented formidable challenges, most teams are persevering, accoeding to Race Director Don Mann: “We’ve only lost two teams so far, which is less than expected at this point. However some teams may require another two days to make it to this point.” Teams at the back of the field continue to tackle initial trekking and mountain biking sections as the leaders canyoneer towards the more exciting elements of the course.
Day 3: Naked in the River at 2:00 a.m. After a ten-hour lull in action at Ruby Ranch on the Green River outside of Moab, Utah, things really got exciting at about 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning as competitors began the third day of racing at Primal Quest. Ruby Ranch served as Transition Area (TA) 5—a switch from kayaking to canyoneering—and also as TA 6, where returning canyoneerers re-entered their kayaks to paddle down the river. The action early this morning exemplified adventure racing at it’s finest. Boulder, Colorado-based Team Spyder came charging out of the dark to swim across the 100-yard Green River. Cold, wet, and blistered—but fairly high in spirit—the team jumped in their boats to head downriver on a 45-mile paddling section. “This was a tough, sandy trek, and it wreaked havoc on our feet,” commented Spyder’s Darren Clarke. Moments after Spyer paddled away, four naked, backpack-toting bodies emerged from the river. In a move of classic adventure racing tactics, Team GoLite/Timberland opted to pack their clothes in drybags (carried in their backpacks) and swim the river naked. While Spyder arose from the river wearing soaked clothing and then began paddling to warm up again, GoLite/Timberland simply slipped into their dry clothes and slept in the scrub brush outside the TA until 5:00 a.m. “Can you guys get me a piece of cardboard?” inquired GoLite’s Sara Wallen, “I need something to sleep on.” Wallen found an empty pizza box and headed into the woods. Nike/Power Blast employed a third sleep strategy as they opted to nap on the opposite side of the river before swimming across and transitioning to paddling. The leaders took seven or more hours to complete the scenic 45-mile paddling section, and positions continued to mix throughout the night based on who slept when and where. Merell/Wigwam completed the paddle first and arrived at the Mineral Bottom take-out just past 10:30 a.m., where they transitioned quickly, walked down the road towards the imposing Mineral Bottom Canyon approximately one mile, and slept for another hour and a half. Spyder’s sleep strategy backfired as their chosen bed-place on the river bank turned out to be swarming with mosquitos, and they emerged from the water looking slightly haggered. Danelle Ballengee cringed in pain as medical personnel treated her blisters, and the team slept another hour at TA7 before beginning the trek. As California’s Team SOLE pulled their boats from the river in third place, the team looked remarkably strong and high-spirited; a quick transition put them into first on the trail as they passed a sleeping Merrell/Wigwam. Nike/Power Blast and GoLite/Timberland paddled in together. Another quick transition by Kloser’s crew put them out on the track after Michael Tobin received blister treatment, and GoLite followed shortly with a waking Spyder on their heels. Nike/Beaver Creek rounded out the top six, and the mult-national squad looked just as strong as—and even more composed than—Team SOLE. The group above currently travels within three hours of each other, and the race is anyone’s game as they head into an oven-like canyoneering section that features a rocky, sandy ascent of Mineral Canyon, a 400-foot jug up fixed ropes using jumars, a tricky desert track in desolate territory, an impressive rappel into Hell Roaring Canyon, and more challenging navigation back to mineral bottom. The loop will probably require ten to twelve hours of time from the top teams. The ever-escalating sufferfest is in full swing here outside of Moab. At least one person on each of the top six teams—SOLE excepted—is suffering from painful foot blisters due to sand in shoes. What’s more, Nike faces the trek in their light-weight, mesh-top, sand-soaking paddling shoes because they did not pack proper trekking shoes in the boats in anticipation of accessing their gear boxes at TA7, which did not happen. Stay tuned to Mountain Zone for more.
Day 4: A Shot in the Canyon That’s what fans, media, ropes professionals, Team GoLite/Timberland, and a trying-to-sleep Team Spyder heard this morning in Bull Canyon below the Gemini Bridges rock formation. The noise—which was truly deafening and left people running for cover—came from a Team GoLite bicycle wheel that became detached from its entangled frame suspended 200 feet above the canyon floor. The scene at Gemini Bridges was spectacular. A professional ropes staff spent eighteen hours rigging ropes to create two simul-rappels used by teams to descend 300 feet off the fifty foot long, ten foot wide, parallel, and breath-taking Gemini Bridges to the canyon floor below. Even more impressive was the rope-and-pulley system used to lower teams’ bikes, which was well-thought and seemingly fail-safe. Merrell/Wigwam, Nike/Power Blast, and Spyder—along with their bikes—descended the ropes system without incident, but things took a crazy turn when one of GoLites bikes became inextricably entangled in one of the ropes used to lower it. In an attempt to remediate the situation, ropes staff shook the lines, which caused the rear wheel to disconnect from the frame and fall through space until it hit the ground, exploded with a shot, bounced 20 feet back into the air, and landed on the rocky canyon floor, mangled and useless. Moments later, the still-suspended bike, which seemed to be traveling again—although missing a wheel—became stuck in the rope as a knot lodged itself tightly between the Lefty fork (a front shock with the “fork” only on the left side). Luckily, a vehicle was used as the anchor for the bike-lowering system, and driving it towards the canyon wall below the rope’s top point created enough of a sag in the rope for GoLite’s Sara Wallen to untangle the bike. The car reversed to its anchoring position, and an extra wheel donated by a bystander was lowered down to the Team, which pedaled away. GoLite lost about half an hour due to the incident, and will probably receive a time credit. Straightening out the problem required extensive yelling from the bottom to the top of the canyon, which no doubt interrupted the rest of Team Spyder, who were trying to get their first good sleep of the race just feet away from the noise. After rappelling, lead teams negotiated the world-famous Gold Bar and Poison Spider Trails. Every team to reach Checkpoint 28 here at the Poison Spyder Trailhead has commented on the excruciatingly draining heat. “The course is stunningly beautiful,” said Supplier Pipeline’s Bob Miller, “but the heat is making this really, really hard.” As if the sauna-like conditions and technical terrain are not enough, both checkpoints along this section were misplaced, generating an hour of delay for most of the top teams. The PQ organization seems to have fixed the CP problem by marking the trails to the ill-placed CP’s, and top teams may receive a time credit. Merrell/Wigwam holds a short lead over Nike, who are chased by Spyder, GoLite, and SOLE traveling in a pack two and a half hours back. Racers will be relieved to reach the cooler temps of the LaSalle Mountains late tonight.
Day 5: Surprises in the Woods The first one came when staff at Check Point 31 staff were startled by Team Merrell/Wigwam’s Neil Jones rambling out of the woods sans trousers as his troupe approached our location here in a gorgeous meadow at 10,000 feet on the base of Mt. Peale in the LaSal Mountains. The Team received the next shock when they were informed that before continuing on the forty-mile trek through the mountains they would need to complete a five-control, fourteen-kilometer orienteering course (in which four members of a team travel together over a relatively small area to find points plotted on a map) in the rolling, bushy terrain marked “Difficult to Navigate” on the Moab East map. Merrell’s veteran squad took the challenge in stride as they headed out onto the course with GoLite/Timberland, who had arrived simultaneously but from a completely different direction. Team Nike/Power Blast—leading the race since yesterday evening when they passed Merrell at the tale end of a grueling mountain bike leg—began the orienteering course in first place at about 10:30 Thursday morning; GoLite and Merrell followed two hours later. Thoroughly enjoying racing in the cool temperatures of the mountains, Nike completed the course in 4 hours, 50 minutes. GoLite made 4:52, and Merrel 6:02. “We found the controls OK,” remarked Merrell’s Robyn Benincasa, “but we were just moving so slow. We’re planning on sleeping soon.” Other teams will be forced to do so as well, and may already have rested during the day because attempting to sleep in the cold of the night up here may only create hypothermia. As of 9:00 p.m., Nike is trekking north through the LaSals towards the summits of Manns Peak (12,273’) and Mt. Waas (12,331’). Looking remarkably strong, GoLite trails by about two hours, and Merrell follows them shortly. Spyder, SOLE, Bjurfors, Supplier Pipeline, and Nike-Beaver Creek are now on the O-course in the dark. Spyder and SOLE should finish shortly, but the others may fall further behind as they attempt challenging pin-point navigation under a moon-less sky.
Day 6: Dramatic Shuffling of the Top Ten The face of Primal Quest changed considerably with the challenging orienteering course tackled yesterday and last night by top teams high in the LaSal Mountains. While Nike/Powerblast, GoLite/Timberland, and Merrell Wigwam made it through relatively unscathed during the day, the remainder of the top ten faced at least part of this tricky section at night, and the results were monumental. After racing calm and composed for five days, Canada’s Team Supplier Pipeline flew through the O-course at night in just over five hours, catapulting themselves into fourth place. Haggered but ever-persistent, Team SOLE stumbled out of the woods at 3:10 a.m. ready to ascend high into the mountains on LaSal Mountain Pass Road. “This is just epic. It’s unbelievable, but you can never, ever quit out here,” quipped a tired but excited Paul Romero of SOLE. Sweden’s Bjurfors relied on the expert navigation of world-class orienteerer Petri Forsmen to make it out at 4:34 a.m. in sixth place. Spyder and Nike-Beaver Creek arrived together in seventh and eighth place at 6:58. While Beaver Creek were able to keep track of their route, Spyder ran into trouble and had to sleep until daylight: “We pulled out the Nemo tent, crawled in, spooned one way for two hours, came out for some fresh air, and then spooned the other way for two hours. Cold was unimaginable for three four days in the desert, but we absolutely froze last night,” said Dave Mackey. New Zealand’s Orion follows strong on the road in ninth, and in tenth—far ahead of eleventh—are Salomon/Crested Butte, who elected to skip the O-course and serve a ten-hour penalty. Crested Butte got a full-night of sleep and were saved the mental and physical anguish of the O-course, and the Gunnison, CO residents will surely push hard as they pursue competitors in the mountains. At the front, Nike has reached TA 10 and mounted bikes for a trip down the Kokopelli Trail to Onion Creek, followed by a trek to ropes at the Priest and Nuns—billed as spectacular—and a short raft to the finish. They are pursued by GoLite an hour and a half back, and may finish this evening. The top three look set at this point (although order could still change), but the remainder of the top ten is still up in the air.
Day 7: Nike Goes Four for Four; GoLite Second Nike/Power Blast crossed the finish line this morning here at the Red Cliffs Lodge outside of Moab Utah at 5:45 a.m.—just short of six full days of racing—and in doing so won Primal Quest for the fourth consecutive time. Nike’s Monique Merrill, Michael Tobin, Mike Kloser, and Ian Adamson completed 450 miles of desert trekking, canyoneering, mountain biking, horseback riding, paddling, whitewater swimming, orienteering, and mountaineering in grueling and varying conditions that induced dehydration, heat stroke, hypothermia, and severe foot problems throughout the 90-team field. Nike’s win, along with their rights to the $100,000 first place prize, were not without drama on the finish line. Days ago on a mountain bike section, GoLite/Timberland spent 36 minutes searching for a misplaced Check Point 26. PQ staff was able to use a sort of “adventure racing instant replay” to determine the exact amount of time lost by analyzing the Team’s progress with data from the GPS tracking device carried by each squad. GoLite were given a 36-minute time credit to be applied at the finish line. The atmosphere at the finish was extremely tense when Nike crossed the line, and all present counted down the minutes to see if GoLite would finish within 36 minutes to get the win. After 23 minutes, Race Director Don Mann announced that GoLite had just begun the 20-minute, two-mile paddle to the finish, and he declared Nike the winner. “This was probably the hardest expedition race I’ve done, primarily due to the heat,” said Mike Kloser. Regarding his team’s hard push to the finish in pursuit of the win, GoLite’s Aaron Prince said, “We just couldn’t go any faster. We pushed hard, but we couldn’t bring them in.” The tight race for third unwound just after noon when Merrell/Wigwam bested Supplier Pipeline by just two minutes after making up a 20-second deficit on the final paddling section. Both teams worked incredibly hard throughout the course and are very deserving of their finishes. Salomon/Crested Butte are expected to round out the top five soon, probably followed by SOLE, Bjurfors, Orion Health, Spyder, and Nike/Beaver Creek.
Day 8: Money Teams All Through; Others Continue Toiling The top ten teams at Primal Quest 2006 have completed the course as of Sunday afternoon, and getting here continues to provide formidable challenges. Banking on an advantageous decision that gave them a 10-hour penalty, which was spent sleeping instead of attempting the orienteering course, Salomon/Crested Butte lowered the hammer on the final mountain trek power through the field and finish fifth. On the Team’s first high finish in a major international race, Crested Butte’s Jon Brown commented, “This is the first time we have raced smart for an entire race; the first time we actually stuck to our strategy. I guess it paid off, and this is a big step for us.” Bjurfors followed shortly on Saturday afternoon, with SOLE close on their heels. Relying on another strong late-race push, New Zealand’s Orion Health paddled in for eighth Saturday evening. Lightning delays on the epic ropes course in Castle Valley held off Spyder’s ninth place finish until 4:48 a.m. Sunday. A smiling Team Halti crossed the line this afternoon as the tenth to finish, but Nike-Beaver Creek (next across the line shortly thereafter) was declared tenth—the final prize money slot—because they were held up on the ropes with Team Spyder. Finish line comments continue to highlight the severity of the course. “We’re proud to make it though this one,” said Nike-Beaver Creek’s Richard Ussher. “It was really hot, hard, and long,” he added, “but I guess if you didn’t expect that then you’re probably in the wrong place. Everyone on this course will struggle at times—that’s just part of adventure racing.” Most teams on the course are now completing one of a variety of shorter “Adventure” category course options intended to allow teams to finish the race even if they don’t make certain cut-offs.
Primal Quest Day 9: Teams Recover and Enjoy Moab; Others Still on Course On the penultimate day of Primal Quest 2006, racers who have finished or dropped from the course are recovering and looking back on the race. The challenging course and extreme heat induced severe physical suffering, and competitors are dealing with blisters, swollen feet, suburn, and tiredness, among other ailments. Some athletes are taking an active approach to recovery. "We road Porcupine Rim this morning," said Team Dart-nuun's Jen Segger, "and we're going to check out Arches National Park this afternoon." After days of racing in the heat, others are seeking reprieve in the cool temps of the LaSal Mountains: "We're going to the hills to pickup the orienteering controls with John Howard this afternoon," said second place GoLite/Timberland's Sara Wallen. At headquarters and all over town, there's constant chatter about race stories. Teams laugh about their hallucinations and exploding wag-bags (due to the heat), and people from the world over enjoy the comaraderie of adventure racing. Some are introspective about their experiences: "You learn a lot out there. Your patience and teamwork are pushed to their limits, and it makes you a better person when you get home," said MPGear.com's Jen Jerabek. Twelve teams competing on the full "Expedition" course and abridged "Adventure" course are still in the field as of Monday night, and they have until 2:00 p.m. Tuesday to finish. All present look forward to the Cowboy Dinner and prize-giving tomorrow night.
Yeehaw! Primal Quest 2006 Comes to an End Tired and hungry—yet extremely happy to be at an outstanding closing ceremony and dinner—PQ racers, volunteers, staff, and fans inhaled a tasty wild west barbeque meal on Independence Day to wrap up the world’s largest, longest adventure race. The 417-mile course featuring desert trekking, mountain biking, whitewater swimming, fixed ropes, paddling, mountain biking, and mountaineering in Southeast Utah shut down for good at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday. PQ offered a few different courses: the Expedition category applied to those who completed the entire planned course, and teams who missed cutoffs but continued on abridged options were tagged Adventure finishers. Impressively, 69 of the 89 starting teams crossed the finish line; 28 completed the Expedition course. The race was uncommonly challenging and brutal, and those who crossed the finish line will reflect on this race for years to come. Racers and fans were treated to a very nice closing ceremony Tuesday that featured an exciting post-race video and impromptu speeches by professional racers Mike Kloser, Aaron Prince and Robyn Benincasa. “Trying to put a finishing position on a Primal Quest finish is like trying to time your Everest Climb—it’s just not really appropriate,” said Benincasa, Captain of third place Team Merrell/Wigwam. “This race is really about what you bring home from the experience, about being a better and more compassionate person in your work, family, and relationships.” The race will go down in adventure racing history as one of the hardest and most punishing courses ever, but its beauty and splendor—ranging from desolate deserts, narrow slot canyons, and huge river valleys to pristine alpine trails, technical singletrack, and epic ropes—were also unmatched. Team Odyssey Adventure Racing’s Ronny Angell put it well: “I got the start and I was like, ‘Man, this is awesome!’ Then I went around the corner and said, ‘Man this is even better!’ And we started paddling: ‘Man, it’s unbelievable!’ After a whole course of that, I can’t wait to get back to Primal Quest next year.” Congrats to those inspirational souls who made the most of life by competing at Primal Quest 2006. |
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