Robyn Benincasa and Team Nike Out of Primal Quest Badlands
Posted on 07/31/09 2:17 PM| by Kraig
With Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT looming, big news hit the adventure racing community this week when it was announced that Robyn Benincasa, the captain of Team Merrell/Zanfel Adventure, would not be racing in South Dakota. But even more stunning, is the word that defending champs Team Nike has withdrawn from the race as well.
Benincasa has battled hip injuries over the past few years, and back in 2007 she was forced to undergo resurfacing surgery to repair damage to one of her hips. Yesterday, the adventure racing legend went back under the knife, this time to take care of her other hip, and that surgery will keep her from being able to join her teammates in the Badlands. Team Merrell will continue on without her however, as Denise McHale, who raced on Team Peak Adventure last season, will replace her on the squad.
While Robyn will no doubt be missed in South Dakota, the bigger story is the withdrawl of defending PQ champs Nike. Last week, team captain Mike Kloser suffered a crash while mountain biking, which left him with a broken collarbone, a collapsed lung, and five broken ribs, and while he is already on the mend, the injuried will obviously keep him out of the race. The rest of Team Nike reluctantly decided to pull out of Primal Quest rather than look for a replacement on short notice.
Obviously these injuries open up the top of the leaderboard in some very interesting ways. It seems for the first time in its history, Primal Quest will have a new winner, and the race will be wide open for any team to take the crown. Can Merrell break through at last with their leader on the bench? Or will anthoer team take the top of the podium? Either way, it’s going to be a lot of fun for adventure racing fans to watch. This could be the most competitive Primal Quest yet!
July 31st, 2009 at 3:10 pm
[...] Robyn Benincasa and Team Nike Out of Primal Quest Badlands [...]