If trends mean anything at all, Bob Miller and his team should do well at Primal Quest this year.

Canadian team Supplierpipeline finished a respectable tenth at PQ 2003.  The following year, they bettered that with ninth place at PQ 2004.  Then, in 2006 they moved right up to fourth place.  If Bob, along with teammates Denise McHale, Greg McHale and Scott Ford, can maintain this momentum, we should expect to see them cheering at us from the podium at PQ 2008.

“Our goal is to win!” affirms Bob.

Although the team will be racing under a new banner this year (they are currently looking for a new sponsor), the core group of Bob, Denise, Greg and Scott will remain the same.  Bob is the first to admit that there are some Canadian teams who have been on the international AR scene longer than they have, and also some Canadian racers who are doing extremely well competing on American teams.  But, as far as recent performance goes, this team is undoubtedly right at the top of the Canadian AR scene.

Bob explains that, after a strong year in 2006, this past year has not been a good one for the team.  “We attended Bimbache Extreme last March in Spain, where I managed to fracture my femur in a mountain bike crash.  I’m still recovering, and not yet able to run.  We’re hoping PQ 2008 will be our next big race together.”

Bob has been focussed on the Adventure Racing circuit since 1998, when he decided to slow down on all of the other things he was competing in – mountain biking, triathlon and running events – to devote himself to AR.

“AR caught my attention, since it combined the elements of the outdoors with competition.  I’d always competed in various sports growing up, like hockey, soccer, baseball, golf and snowboarding.  But it wasn’t until after university, when a friend and I decided to run a marathon, that I started training for endurance sports.  I ran my first marathon in 1997, and then began cycling, swimming and paddling shortly thereafter.”

Bob raced with Canadian team Running Free until 2003, when he moved over to Supplierpipeline.  He is also a Race Director  - for both the Adventure Racing Canada Series and the Keen Adventure Sports Games.  He used to work for a large Canadian bank on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as a trader and trading support analyst but, as he puts it, “That seems like a lifetime ago.”  Since 2001 he has devoted himself to AR - training and racing – and working in related activities to support himself.  In addition to his work as a race director, he has worked for a multisport store, and he also has his own distribution company.  “It would be tough to take a normal nine-to-five job, since we require so much time for training and racing.  In 2006, I was on the road travelling for over 3 months of the year.”

Bob’s main role on the team is as navigator.  “If I keep us on track, and look after myself physically, that’s pretty much all I need to do.  Our team discusses race strategy as a group, and we tend to adjust our strategy on the fly as the race and course unfold.”

Changing strategy “on the fly” was a big part of Supplierpipeline’s PQ 2006 experience.  After running in first place alongside team Nike for the early part of Day One, later that same day they found themselves stopped in a TA, eventually slipping back to 19th place as other teams continued on through.  One of Bob’s teammates was suffering from heat exhaustion, and the only option the team had to remain in the race at all was to stop, rest and rehydrate.

They did it right – after a few hours of recovery time, the team headed out again.  Over the coming days they slowly but steadily worked their way forward through the pack.  By Day 7, nearing the end of the race, they were closing in on third-place Team Merrell.  They were back in the running for a podium position!

In what ended up being the most exciting battle of the competition, Supplierpipeline and Merrell fought it out over the last kayak section.  The Canadians even led on the water for a short time, but a poor route choice that pulled one boat into an eddy gave Merrell the final advantage.  Bob and teammates missed third place by mere minutes.

The team will be back for PQ 2008, and they are looking for their place at the top of the podium.  “I’m sure the route will be every bit as epic as past PQ courses,” says Bob.  “I like the sounds of all the states they’re considering – mostly because I haven’t been to any of them, and I look forward to experiencing the new terrain.

Photo by Dan Campbell 

This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 8:54 am and is filed under Interview, News, Profile, Teams. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.