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. 

Primal Quest is news even halfway around the world, as the Pacific Daily News has posted a story on the race. The article focuses on Ann Hall of Team Bones, who finished in third place overall. Here’s just a taste of the story:

Strained tendons in both legs didn’t stop Ann Hall from completing Primal Quest Montana 2008.

After all, she broke her back in 2004 yet eventually resumed her life as an adventurer.

Hall, 40, of Encinitas, Calif., not only finished the 512-mile Primal Quest course last month as a member of Bones, her team ranked third among the 39 teams that completed the race — billed as “the world’s most challenging human endurance competition.”

To read the rest of the article click here. 

The Primal Quest team received a very nice letter of support from the state of Montana following the race and we would like to share those kind words. The letter was written by Donnie Sexton, who was very instrumental in getting PQ to the Big Sky State.

July 24, 2008

Don Mann,

Primal Quest Director

 Dear Don:

On behalf of the State of Montana, we are very pleased that Primal Quest selected Montana as their race destination for 2008.  I have to admit that when we first started talking about this event in summer of 2007, I had no concept of how popular this endurance race would be and how much publicity it would garner for our state.  It has certainly turned out to be a win-win for all of us.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Wall Street Journal published a great article on Primal Quest Montana today which focuses on Team 28: Active Racing, captained by Kathy Roche-Wallace, but is an excellent overview of the race as a whole, but told from a very personal perspective. An excerpt from the article follows:

Four days and 263 miles into a backcountry race and Kathy Roche-Wallace isn’t even halfway to the finish. She’s limping on a big toe that is infected and swollen. She has a purple bruise the size of a grapefruit on her left thigh from a spill down a mountainside. Her sweat smells of vinegar and ammonia, a sign her fuel-starved body has started burning muscle.

To read the entire article, and to check out some great photos and video from the race, click here. 

Nearly three weeks after the last team crossed the finish line, the media continues to cover Primal Quest Montana…

Firefighter survives, completes Primal Quest (Muskegon Chronicle)

Doctors assess Primal Quest: disappointment and resolve (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Primal Quest 2008: A passion for pain (Summit Daily News)

Two more articles about Primal Quest…

They gain from pain (Sacramento Bee)

Doctor pushes himself beyond limits (Brookefield Now)

Lisa Smith-Batchen, who we first wrote about here, has completed the Badwater UltraMarathon, in a time of 47 hours and 17 minutes, which earns her the coveted “Badwater Buckle” for completing the race in under 48 hours, but more importantly, she has not finished the first phase of her “Lisa’s 810″ challenge.

As I’ve posted before, Lisa’s 810 is the ultra-runner’s goal of raising fund and awareness for the plight of children in Africa who have become orphans due to the aids epidemic on that continent. In the first stage of the 810, Lisa ran from Las Vegas, NV to Badwater in Death Valley, covering nearly 160 miles. Once there, she transitioned directly into Stage 2, which was running the Badwater itself, which is another 135 miles. Not content to stop at the Mt. Whitney Portals, like everyone else in the Badwater, she chose to 10 miles to the summit of Mt. Whitney itself. When she was done running, she had covered more than 300 miles in the process.

The third, and final, stage of Lisa’s 810 will be in October, when she’ll once again return to Death Valley to ride in the Furnace Creek 508, a long distance bike race through the lowest, and hottest, place in the Western Hemisphere.

When she’s all done, Lisa hopes to have raised $500,000 for the Aid’s Oprphans Rising fund, and she is reportedly half-way to her goal. To contribute to the cause, click here, and to read more about Lisa’s efforts, as well as her thoughts on the Badwater Ultra, check out her personal blog here.