The Appalachian Assault got underway earlier this week, as ultra-runner Karl Meltzer attempts a speed run on the Appalachian Trail. The plan is for Karl to complete the entire length of the AT, all 2,174 miles of it, in just 47 days, averaging more than 46 miles per day in the process. Karl hit the trail Monday morning, and so far he’s been hitting his daily goals for mileage. After three days on the AT, he’s now completed 122 miles. 

To follow his progress, head over to WheresKarl.com, where you’ll find daily blog updates, a photo gallery from the trail, and satellite tracking provided by SPOT, whose Satellite Messenger was featured so prominently at Primal Quest Montana. 

Good luck Karl. Just 44 more days and 2,052 miles to go!

A new adventure racing website launched today, and it’s kicked things off with some great articles on Primal Quest. The Compass Adventure Racing site, can be found at ARYouReady.com, where you’ll also find a Primal Quest 2008 Recap, as well as an article on the Past, Present, and Future of PQ. Both articles are written by Craig Stein, whose writing and photos I posted about last week.

Compass Adventure Racing joins the growing list of AR focused websites. The site offers articles with advice for new and experienced racers alike, a nice introduction to the sport, a gear guide, and interactive forums. They are just starting to build content on the site, but it already shows a lot of promise. Be sure to drop on by and say hello and welcome them to the adventure racing online community. 

Photo by Will Ramos 

The Primal Quest articles, from media all over the country, continue. Here are two more:

Joliet grandmother likes an adventure (Chicago Sun-Times)

UCF professor challenges the limits of his body, mind (Central Florida Future)

Primal Quest has been over for nearly a month, and you’ve had time to return home, settle in, and reflect on your experiences. Now is your chance to share those experiences and win $500 in the process!

The team over at Peak.com is sponsoring a contest and they want to hear all of your stories from Montana.  Simply head over to their website, create a profile and write a blog post recapping the race. Include your name, as well as your team name and number, put PQ in the title of your blog, and write your thoughts on the race. Over the course of the next few weeks, Peak.com members will vote on the best blog entries, and the winner will receive $500.

Peak.com allows members to connect with one another, share photos, music, videos, maps and more. Peak.com is currently in beta and working on many improvements, but it is becoming one of the top spots on the web for endurance and adventure athletes.   Join the community at Peak.com, blog your best PQ stories and take home the cash. 

Craig Stein was one of the professional photographers and writers that covered Primal Quest Montana, last month and he’s put together an excellent page of stories from the race and a great slideshow of some of his photos as well. You can check everything out at his website found here..

The main part of his page on PQ has blog style stories about the event, some of which were posted here while the race was underway. There is also a brief interview wit Don Mann conducted shortly after PQ’s conclusion that discusses possible locations for next year. Craig also has an interview up with Tim Powell, who is directing the television coverage for Primal Quest, in which they talk about the complexities of shooting such an event, as well as Tim and his crew’s experiences covering adventure sports. That article can be found on the main page, or by clicking here. 

The highlight for me however, was Craig’s awesome “Best of Primal Quest Montana” slideshow. Not only does he show off his excellent work as a photographer, he managed to catch the essence of the race in his shots as well. If you like what you see there, be sure to head over to his home page to check out even more of his work. Nice job Craig!

The Badwater Ultramarathon went down a few weeks back, with some amazing endurance athletes racing 135 miles across Death Valley and ending halfway up Mt. Whitney. The following two videos are from the event. The first video recaps the race and gives a bit of insight into what it’s like, while the second video is an interview with Lisa Smith-Batchen, who we mentioned a few weeks back and now through the first section of her 810 mile journey to raise money and awareness for orphans in Africa.