We recently announced the next Primal Quest would be held in Montana, but did you know we are already well into planning for 2009 and beyond?

Several countries are in the running for future Primal Quest competitions, and we are always looking for other ideas and leads. If you would like to see Primal Quest come to a country where you have connections, contact Director Don Mann.

Today Primal Quest released its second official Competitor Newsletter, and with it, the location of the 2008 race.

The full newsletter is now available on the Team Resources section of the website and contains lots of exciting details and updates.

The following is a letter from Don Mann announcing Primal Quest Montana…

Dear Adventurers,

It is my honor and great pleasure to welcome you to Primal Quest Montana, the “World’s Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition.” In less than 7 months you will gather at the starting line with many of the world’s finest adventure racers and set out to compete in an epic adventure. On behalf of the entire Primal Quest Management and Operations Team I want to express just how excited we are for your team to join us in the mountains of The Big Sky State.

Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Arizona were also in contention to host Primal Quest in 2008. While any of these states could have produced spectacular races, our Montana course, in my opinion, is second to none. I can promise that you will love this course and will never forget it!

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Introducing a New Primal Quest Partner Level, “The Primal Quest Prize and Swag Partner.”

Events such as ours would not exist without the support of generous contributions from sponsors. If you would like to donate prizes and/or swag for our 2008 event, please complete the form (PDF) located on the Sponsorship page of our site!

Thank you!
Sherry Simpson
Sponsor Director

Stockings need stuffing?
Still making your list and checking it twice?

The “Shop PQ” store on the Primal Quest site has many ideas for all good boys and girls. You’ll find a variety of gift ideas including:

• The Complete Guide to Adventure Racing
• Primal Quest 2006 DVDs
• PQ embroidered shirts by RailRider
• PQ hats from Headsweats
• as well as groovy stickers and tattoos.

Orders from the PQ store will be shipped immediately via first class mail.

Other great ideas for gifts come from PQ 08 Sponsor Partners including:

SportRaxx, Active.com, 0Bounds.com, TechSox, MyTopo.com, Timonda, The A List, Numa, AR Gear, Axis Gear, Boulder Performance Network, Headsweats, Restop, SEAL Training Adventures, Urban Adventure Racing, Zanfel, SweatVac, USARA, USFrogMann.com, and The Coastal Challenge.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

Your wait will soon be over!  In less than two weeks time, and with the publication of the second newsletter, Primal Quest will announce the location of the 2008 race site.  Stay tuned to this website for further details.

“I can’t say enough how lucky I feel to have raced with the same three guys for four years,” says Jari Kirkland. “I know that this is the exception to what a lot of people have experienced, and I would never take it for granted.”

Jari (whose name is pronounced “Yari”) races on Colorado-based Team Salomon Crested Butte with Jon Brown, Bryan Wickenhauser and Eric Sullivan. “They really are family to me. I look forward to a few more great years with them.”

Prior to getting started in AR, Jari had been racing Xterra. She met Jon at a race, “another 24 hour solo race where, in the middle of the night, you ride up to about 11,500 feet, put your bike on your back and hike over a 14,000 foot peak. It was a bit crazy.” Jon told her that his team was looking for a girl to compete with them in a race called Primal Quest.

“So I lipped off and said I would do it – when really I knew nothing about it. Then, less than three weeks later, I was in Tahoe at Primal Quest!” Jari had practically no training, and most of the gear that she raced in was borrowed. “But that is how it started, and it’s a perfect fit for me.”

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Did you catch this recent article in The Denver Post? Jason Blevins profiles several Colorado athletes aged 40+, including four time Primal Quest champion Mike Kloser, and shows that for many a “full-tilt racing career” doesn’t begin until a racer’s mid-30s.

And after a couple of decades of training, the older athletes learn a few tricks - like how to taper and how to make it fun - that keep them in shape while staving off dreaded burnout.

They have trained for so long, their fitness level is staggering and it stays high. They aren’t rolling off the couch to prep for a race. They are building on decades of work.

Follow the link to read the full story!

If trends mean anything at all, Bob Miller and his team should do well at Primal Quest this year.

Canadian team Supplierpipeline finished a respectable tenth at PQ 2003.  The following year, they bettered that with ninth place at PQ 2004.  Then, in 2006 they moved right up to fourth place.  If Bob, along with teammates Denise McHale, Greg McHale and Scott Ford, can maintain this momentum, we should expect to see them cheering at us from the podium at PQ 2008.

“Our goal is to win!” affirms Bob.

Although the team will be racing under a new banner this year (they are currently looking for a new sponsor), the core group of Bob, Denise, Greg and Scott will remain the same.  Bob is the first to admit that there are some Canadian teams who have been on the international AR scene longer than they have, and also some Canadian racers who are doing extremely well competing on American teams.  But, as far as recent performance goes, this team is undoubtedly right at the top of the Canadian AR scene.

Bob explains that, after a strong year in 2006, this past year has not been a good one for the team.  “We attended Bimbache Extreme last March in Spain, where I managed to fracture my femur in a mountain bike crash.  I’m still recovering, and not yet able to run.  We’re hoping PQ 2008 will be our next big race together.”

Bob has been focussed on the Adventure Racing circuit since 1998, when he decided to slow down on all of the other things he was competing in – mountain biking, triathlon and running events – to devote himself to AR.

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