By Wouter Kingma / © Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.

Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT was an epic race in every sense of the word. With a course that was more than 600 miles in length, and stretched through some of the most amazing backcountry anywhere on the planet, the teams were pushed to the limits and beyond.

Following the race, it’s always interesting to look back on everything that transpired, and take in the entire scope of the event. And who better to write such a wrap-up than Assistant Race Director and Course Designer Rick Emerson, the devious mind behind the Primal Quest Badlands course that both delighted and punished the teams as the same time.

When reflecting on Primal Quest, Rick had this to say:

Testing the world’s best athletes with unparalleled diversity, beauty, and navigation, Primal Quest Badlands was likely the victor, while all the competitors are true winners. World class terrain coupled with varying epic conditions created a test piece not soon to be matched. Sitting with Yari Kirkland of Team Salomon Crested Butte, she shared “It was one of the best adventure racing courses ever – and I have done a lot of races.”

To read Rick’s entire report, which does a great job of covering every aspect of Primal Quest Badlands, click here.

Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT may have ended a month ago now, but the media is still writing about the race. Team Tecnu Extreme/Staphaseptic is once again the subject of media attention, this time from the Oakdale Leader, which has posted this story on racer Mark Richardson, who talks not just about his experiences in the Badlands, but his performance in previous Primal Quests as well.

The Mount Forest Confederate in Ontario, Canada, has also recently published a story on Primal Quest, this time focusing on husband and wife team mates Greg and Denise McHale, who raced as part of Team Merrell/Zanfel Adventure in South Dakota. The story notes that the team finished in third place and took on some of the best endurance athletes on the planet on one of the longest and toughest courses the sport has ever seen.

Thanks to all the great media outlest who continue to report on Primal Quest a month after the race has ended.

Photo by Wouter Kingma

Nearly a month after completing the full course at Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT, Team Tecnu Extreme/Staphaseptic continues to get plenty of attention from the media. This time, it is team member Mark Richardson’s turn in the spotlight thanks to this story from the Tracey Press.

Mark, who is a fire captain with the Tracey, California Fire Department, shares his experiences from South Dakota and dealing with the unexpected out on the course, including having his bike break down not far into the race and dealing with copious amounts of mud following heavy rains. He also discusses how he got started in endurance sports, as well as some of the valuable experiences he has gained while adventure racing.

You can read the full story here.

Photo by Mark Richardson

Team Endurox R4 continue to be the darlings of the media in Ireland, with yet more television coverage. This time, team member Eoin Keith gives an introduction to the sport of adventure racing and Primal Quest in particular. Eoin’s PQ Badlands jersey is even featured prominently in the video that runs nearly ten and a half minutes in length.

Eoin, another guest, and the host also discuss the rising popularity of the sport in Ireland, where a number of races now take place. They get into training, gear, and nutrition, and much more, including the importance of navigation, a segment that shows off the wonderful MyTopo maps quite clearly.

To view the full video click here.

In the two weeks since Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT, the race continues to generate plenty of interest in the media. Here is a sampling of some of the great coverage:

- Team Endurox R4 has been getting their fair share of attention, especially in Ireland, which two of the team members call home. Not only were they featured on the RTE news there, more than 385,000 viewers tuned in to to find out what Primal Quest was all about. The team was also featured in the Irish Times and the Evening Herald.

- The Rapid City Journal did a follow-up story on Primal Quest Badlands, noting that Team South Dakota finished the event in 14th place overall, moving up a couple of spots in the final rankings following the application of time credits and penalties.The entire state is still cheering this team on!

Read the rest of this entry »