Dakota Midday, hosted by Paul Guggenheimer, is a staple of South Dakota Public Radio and a few days back, Paul sat down with PQ Race Director Don Mann and Gary Haven of Team South Dakota to discuss Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT, which gets underway next Friday.

Guggenheimer introduces his audience to the basic concepts of adventure racing and Primal Quest in particular. He and his guests talk about hallucinations, pain, suffering, and 600 miles of fun, all of which are part of the race.

To listen to the show, play the file below and skip ahead to the 24 minute mark to listen to the segment on Primal Quest. Thanks to Paul and the South Dakota Public Broadcasting system for the coverage.

Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT is now less than a week away, but you can get into the spirit of the race by reliving Primal Quest Montana starting tomorrow on HDNet.

The first episode of last year’s race will air at 10:30 AM Eastern and then again at 2:30 PM, with new installments airing each Saturday in the same time slots for the subsequent three weeks. The 30-minute episodes were filmed in stunning high definition, which captures the amazing scenery of Montana as well as the intense action and drama that only Primal Quest cn deliver.

Enjoy the episodes and check back here for the live version that will be taking place in the Badlands starting on August 14th.

PQ is getting more attention from the press even as the days to Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT continue to countdown.

First up, we have this story from the Oakdale Leader profiles racer Mark Richardson, a member of Team Tecnu Extreme/Staphaseptic. While Mark is a new addition to the team, he will be serving as the lead navigator and has plenty of experience in adventure racing.

In other news, Adventure World Magazine has caught up with Team nuun-FeedTheMachine as they are putting the final touches on their preparation for Primal Quest. They discuss training, logistics, and gear preparation on the eve of the race.

With ust over a week to go until the gun goes off in South Dakota, expect plenty of more news and updates on the race. The teams are as ready as they’re ever going to be, and they’ll be descending on Rapid City soon.

Nationally syndicated colunist Stephen Regenold, also known as the Gear Junkie, recently wrote an excellent story for the Minneapolis Star Tribune that not only gave the the low down on the adventure racing scene in Minnesota, but also served as an excellent introduction to the sport as a whole.

The article is entitled The anatomy of an adventure race and it examines a number of aspects that make AR so unique, such as the requiried gear, multiple disciplines, and the impact of navigation on the outcome of a race. Regenold also how different races vary in length and references Primal Quest as an example of an expedition race, calling PQ a “sleep-optional ultra-endurance challenges that reels on for days and untold miles through mountains, deserts and swamps and on long sections of open water.”

The story also quotes racer Justin Bakken, who will be racing in South Dakota as part of Team WEDALI, and serving as the team’s navigator throughout the tricky terrain of the Badlands.

To read the complete story click here.

Team Endurox R4 either has a great sense of humor or they expect to leave quite an impression on the state of South Dakota when they arrive in the Badlands next week. Just checkout their redesign of Mt. Rushmore below for evidence of this sense of humor or confidence, either of which will serve them well in the race.