Primal Quest Adventure Racing

At some point in my life I will do an adventure race of some note. Akin to wanting to go from just thinking of being a triathlete, to doing a sprint race to completing an Ironman. I have never done an AR but previous to getting back into triathlons in 2004, I was getting my gear sorted out to start them.

I still follow the sport closely, though some slack has been taken out of it's sails the last two years. Ian Adamson is still my favorite overall athlete of all time.

At the end of June Moab Utah hosted the Primal Quest AR which is about as big a deal as the sport will have in America this year. Imagine if there was only one Ironman in the USA this year. Team Nike /Powerblast won in a somewhat contested finish. The team is a perpetual favorite in every race it enters with all members being a world champion or world record holder.

The link above is an overview of the race some of the entirely random pitfalls that can befall any endurance event. The snippet below is cut from the article and explains the course description. The blue words are my input.

All (four person co-ed ) teams who complete the course in its entirety, covered what will be remembered as one of the hardest races of all time, comprised of: a 29-mile horseback ride/foot section (one rides and three walk, rotating saddle time); a 21-mile desert trek; a 65-mile mountain bike; an 8-mile hike and whitewater swim in the rapids of Green River; a 35-mile river kayak; a 26-mile canyoneering leg; a 45-mile river kayak; a 29-mile canyoneering section; a 68-mile mountain bike; (300 foot rappel with bikes) a 65-mile mountain bike; a 38-mile mountain trek and 8-mile orienteering section; a 41-mile mountain bike; a 14-mile trek; six miles of rope work, ascending, descending and traversing; a 2-mile flatwater paddle. (Total distance is 425 miles over 6 days for the winners, ten plus for the final teams)

Someday...I still have three Ironmans on my schedule and yet to finish one of them.