For a relatively new team on the AR scene, New Zealand’s Orion Health have amassed quite a string of top-ten finishes in major international competitions. But, perhaps more significantly, they also have shown themselves to have a strong tendency for improvement year after year. In the Adventure Racing World Championships, they placed 5th in 2006 (Sweden) and then an even better 3rd in 2007 (Scotland). In the XPD Australia, an ARWS qualifier, they were 2nd in 2006 and then moved up to take first this year. They are also unbeaten in 24 hour races in their home country for the last three years – registering an astonishing 13 straight wins!

In PQ 2006, they surprised all by putting in a strong showing for such a new and inexperienced team, taking 8th. Now, with two years’ more international racing experience under their belts, they are hoping to continue that tendency to improve in PQ 2008.

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[thumb:1779:r]The 2008 location for Primal Quest is still a secret and won’t be announced until the fall of ’07, but you can get an insider’s view thanks to Devon O’Neil’s latest article in the Summit Daily News.

Hear from PQ Director Don Mann, PQ course designer and AR superstar Danelle Ballengee, and officials from the The Centennial State.

Primal Question
BY DEVON O’NEIL
summit daily news
August 23, 2007

SUMMIT COUNTY – Ever since he agreed to take over the most prestigious and richest adventure race in the world this past spring, Don Mann has wanted to stage the 2008 Primal Quest in one place.
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Michael Tobin’s Balancing Act
by Jacqueline Windh

Michael Tobin juggles the moment as he juggles his life – a few moments with newborn son Jack, a few words to wife Jenny, chatting with a nosy reporter on the phone… all as he packs up to leave for a five-day adventure race in China.

Michael entered the crazy world of AR relatively late, while in his mid-thirties. But rather than work his way up through the ranks, Michael (now 43) pretty much started out right at the top. And through the years, he has just stayed there. Since competing in his first adventure race in 2000, his impressive list of international AR wins includes EcoChallenge 2001, Raid World Cup 2004 and 2006, ARWS 2004 and 2007, as well as every edition of Primal Quest (Telluride 2002, Lake Tahoe 2003, San Juan Islands 2004, and Utah 2006). Some of his other titles include Xterra World Champion 2000 and 24-hour Orienteering World Champion 2004, as well as countless other victories in Xterra triathlon and duathlon.

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[thumb:1818:r]Professional adventure racer, freelance journalist, and coach Travis Macy just interviewed PQ Director Don Mann for the GoFAR (Go For Adventure Racing) World Class Adventure Podcast.

GoFAR revolutionizes adventure audio through podcasted interviews with the world’s elite adventure racers, mountaineers, climbers, triathletes, runners, expeditionaries, and industry leaders.

Check out the interview via the GoFAR site or on iTunes!

Reporter Jacqueline Windh managed to track down the ever elusive (but always accesible by phone) PQ CEO Don Mann for an interview about the 2008 race.

Primal Quest’s CEO Don Mann, just returned from a route-scouting trip, shares his thoughts about next year’s race…

Highlights include his thoughts about the route, funding, and the future.

Read the full interview today over on SleepMonsters!

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.

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