While many of us were fast asleep Friday morning, the Director of Primal Quest, Don Mann, and Chief Operations Officer, Dawn Taylor Mann were busy climbing to the top of one of the Seven Summits.

We received this quick note from Dawn yesterday:

We’re back after a successful summit of Kilimanjaro at 6:45 am Jan, 11. All six people in our party made the summit despite the -5 degree wind chill on the top (after the sun came up). The entire 7-day trek was more wonderful than any of us ever dreamed of… although the 6+ hour steep summit push in the dark, windy night was a real soul searching experience… very difficult! The views, the people (guides & porters) and every aspect of the trip so far have made this an experience of a lifetime. We had sunny skies the entire trip. A rare commodity, as we understand.

Don and Dawn are following up their climb of the 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) tall mountain with a four day safari. We can’t wait to hear their stories and see their photos in person!

Photo: Flickr/pintaa Some rights reserved.

If expedition adventure racing had a patron saint, my vote would go to Primal Quest owner and managing partner, Denise Watkins. While not a household name (even in many homes populated by adventure racers), Denise and her husband Bill have done more and given more to further the sport of expedition racing than any two people in recent memory.

In November, Denise and her Team Beyond Sisters will participate in the Breast Cancer 3 Day, a 60-mile walk over the course of three days. Net proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust, funding important breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment. We all know people who have suffered from Breast Cancer won’t you consider supporting this worthy cause?

Visit Denise’s page to donate today!

Most in the adventure racing world know the story, but it’s hard not to be inspired every time you hear it:

In December of 2006, 35-year-old Danelle Ballengee lay helpless in a gulley in Moab after slipping on ice during what she thought would be a routine two-hour trail run with her dog, Taz.

The adventure racing champion and one of the best multisport women athletes of all time spent the next 52 painful hours wondering if she’d live or die, unable to move more than a quarter mile (to a puddle she’d drink from) by dragging herself across the canyon floor. She had broken her pelvis.

Temperatures dropped into the 20s during the two full nights she lay there, and Danelle, wearing only thin, long pants and a short sleeve shirt, did sit-ups to try to stay warm. Her dog Taz, a three-year-old German Shephard, Golden Retriever mix, lay his head on her stomach the first night, but the second night, Taz paced back and forth and wouldn’t come near his wounded owner. On the third day, Taz took off running, but returned with help.

Read the rest of this entry »

[thumb:1961:r]Primal Quest wants to know your adventure racing stories of glory and/or woe!

Tell us about your racing, training, and/or team support adventures. Simply fill out this form and your stories may be featured on the Primal Quest website – a great way to get your team out there for your sponsors-and potential sponsors!

Please forward this opportunity to everyone you know who is involved with adventure racing. Submit soon and submit often, the more stories we get by THIS FRIDAY, August 10, the better!

Jamie & Chris Webster (f/k/a Chris Rumohr)
Directors of Competitor Relations

Jamie.Webster@ecoprimalquest.com
Chris.Rumohr@ecoprimalquest.com

Primal Quest is happy to announce that photojournalist and race director Tim Holmstrom, a member of the PQ family from the beginning, has returned for another round of adventure.

Having served as Photo Director for the previous four races Tim is currently designated as “Race Management,” a catch-all title that allows us to take advantage of his many and varied talents.

Said Primal Quest Director Don Mann, “We are all very excited and fortunate that Tim has joined the PQ Management team. Tim brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in the sport of adventure racing. I have known Tim for many years. He worked with us at an early BEAST, and was one of the main photographers for The Complete Guide to Adventure Racing. As part of the management team, Tim will be contributing in the areas of photography, graphics, course design and race management.”

Since 2005 Tim has also been producing, promoting and staging his own events in Costa Rica and is the Race Director/Event Founder for The Coastal Challenge, Expedition Run, a race going into it’s fourth year in 2008.

Tim will return to Costa Rica in October for The Coastal Experiences, a much kinder and gentler version of The Coastal Challenge and a great way to be introduced to a staged running event.

Tim is also busy working on a couple long-term book projects including one documenting disappearing or endangered indigenous cultures such as the Ainu in Japan or the Inuit in Canada, as well as endangered cultures in Southeast and Central Asia, and Latin America. He also is working on a series of interviews with lighthouse keepers in the United States for a book titled “Light over the Water, a Quiet Way of Living.”

Photo Credit: Dan Campbell