With less than two weeks to go until the start of Primal Quest Montana Presented by SPOT, the race has has started to garner more attention. Here is a sampling of the coverage.

The Whitehorse Daily Star posted this story on Greg and Denise McHale, who will be competing on Team Peak Fitness. The team has been racing together for three years, and preparing for Primal Quest, and they certainly don’t lack for confidence. Greg is quoted in the article as saying: ““We are going there to win the race. Without a doubt that is what we have been working towards for the last three years.”  The gauntlet has been thrown down it seems.

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Lisa Smith-Batchen is a very accomplished endurance athlete and ultrarunner whose powerful legs and incredible lungs have allowed her to run great distances under some of the most challenging conditions on the planet, but her heart might just be the most powerful muscle in her body.

With the launch of Lisas810.com, this incredibly gifted athlete has set her sights on raising funds and awareness for the plight of children in Africa who have become orphaned as a result of AIDS. To that end, Lisa will be running and biking 810 miles to support the AIDS Orphans Rising charity, which works hard to help the children whose lives are changed forever by this deadly disease. 

On July 9th, Lisa  will depart from Las Vegas, Nevada and run almost 160 miles through the desert to reach Death Valley. Along the way she’ll face scorching heat, cross mountains, risking dehydration and injury, just to get to the start of her race. Once she arrives at her destination, Lisa will take part in one of the most grueling endurance events on the planet by racing in the Badwater Ultramarathon, which is another 135 miles of running through Death Valley, one of the hottest locations on Earth, and the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. The race typically ends at the Mt. Whitney Portals, but Lisa will continue another 10 miles to the summit before she rests.

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Dear Primal Quest Volunteers,

I want to personally thank you for either taking time out of your busy schedules to come out and support Primal Quest Montana; or for having expressed an interest in doing so. We are all very grateful for your devotion to this sport, to PQ, and to creating an event that will change many lives, including yours! Primal Quest volunteers are widely known as being the most dedicated and experienced in the industry, and we truly owe the success of our events to you! One of the most frequent compliments we receive from competitors is how impressed they are with the professionalism and hard work of our volunteers.

My involvement with producing adventure races dates back to 1997. During that time we have produced hundreds of multi-sport events and have built, in my opinion, the most experienced AR team (staff and volunteers) in the world. For the most part, our staff all started as volunteers. Many of our best volunteers who had the desire, time and willingness to do more joined our staff ranks. If you have an interest and the time and would like to be more involved with Primal Quest and the Primal Quest Sprint Series, please be sure to let me know. Both PQ and the PQSS are going to expand and we are looking for some more great talent to join us for this expansion.

Don D. Mann
Director
Primal Quest Expedition Adventure Race
A Don Mann Production

The Blackwater: Escape and Evasion Adventure Race was announced just a few days ago, and already it’s building buzz in the AR community. Mike Bitton from CheckPointZero.com has written an excellent article about the event after speaking with Primal Quest CEO Don Mann who is managing this new race. The article takes a peek at what we can expect out of the Blackwater E&E and explores the potential role of Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater Worldwide, in the future of adventure racing.

The following is an excerpt from the article:

Don Mann, former U.S. Navy SEAL and the CEO of Primal Quest, is an adventure racing entrepreneur with an unusually rich history. During his decades as an “operator” on the Teams, Mann did countless things he can’t tell anyone. But here’s a little something he told me. Adventure racing has a new prince. And it’s a prince with a capital P.

Back when Mann was on duty at SEAL Team 2, prepping to lead fellow sailors through a Raid Gauloises expedition adventure race, he was approached by a member of SEAL Team 8, one Erik Prince, about what essentially amounted to a sponsorship for Mann’s adventure racing team. Prince liked the concept, Mann said, of a SEAL Team competing on a global stage. And, lucky for Mann and his AR teammates, Prince had just come in to some money. “He wrote me a check on the spot,” Mann recalled. The men have been friends ever since.

To read the entire story click here. 

Blackwater Extreme Racing and Don Mann Productions are proud to announce the Blackwater Escape and Evasion Adventure Race. An endurance event unlike any other, the Blackwater E&E is set to challenge adventure racers, triathletes, or anyone else looking for a challenge, in unique and exciting ways this November.

This 24-hour race will pit teams of two against one another in the traditional adventure racing disciplines of trail running, mountain biking, paddling, and orienteering. But as the name implies, there is more to this race than just reading a map and finding checkpoints. Racers will also be challenged along the course by a series of special events, and surprises that could only be made possible by the combined expertise of Don Mann and Blackwater Extreme Racing.

The Blackwater Escape and Evasion Adventure Race will take place November 7^th and 8^th in Moyock, North Carolina. Mark those dates on your calendar now and prepare yourself for an adventure racing experience unlike any you’ve experienced before.

Stay tuned for more information on this exciting event, including the launch of the Blackwater E&E website, news on registration, and more. For more information contact Don Mann at don.mann@ecoprimalquest.com

Today we release THE FOURTH OFFICIAL COMPETITOR NEWSLETTER FOR PRIMAL QUEST MONATANA. I encourage you to read this entire newsletter and ensure each of your teammates (including support) do as well, as it is full of very important information that is critical to your success at PQ Montana.

As we move forward in the final weeks before the start of Primal Quest Montana I first want to congratulate you. We understand and appreciate the energy, creativity, and hard work it takes to get to the start line of any race, let alone a serious endeavor like a 500-mile expedition adventure race. We applaud you!

Secondly, I want to ask you to carefully read through each of the newsletters we have sent as the information is important to not only the smooth running of the pre-race process, but also your team’s success in the race. Each team member, including support crew members, should know the information included in each of the newsletters.

As we close in on the start of PQ08, I encourage you to contact our competitor relations director, Chris (Rumohr) Webster, with any questions or need for clarification. It’s best to have all the answers before you leave for Montana. Please let us know how we can help.

Thanks and again, congratulations!

Don Mann
Primal Quest Director

Registration is now open for any and all members of the media who wish to cover Primal Quest Montana Presented by SPOT. Simply click here and fill out the form. You will be contacted shortly with more information about the event. Thank you for your interest in Primal Quest, and see you in Montana!

If you have any questions e-mail the Primal Quest Media Director Kraig Becker at kraig.becker@ecoprimalquest.com.