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!

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Once you’ve got your team together it is never too early to start training. Check out this literally hair raising report from Team #40 CWC Stadium Dogs. Sounds like they had quite the adventure!

CWC Stadium Dogs - Training Day Report
Grotto Mountain scramble, November 10, 2007
Story by Mike Melnick, with Joey Roa and Marlene Wiig

100,000+ 95,000 feet of elevation at PQ2008 means we need to train for the gain, right…so let’s get started!

Grotto Mountain’s 4,000 punishing vertical feet sits just north of Canmore in Canada’s beautiful Rocky Mountains and we had 4.5 hours in which to complete this training session and still make it to that evening’s martini party. A tough mission to be sure – the scrambles book lists it as a 5-8 hour round trip in good weather. The mountain looked remarkably devoid of snow when we parked at the Alpine clubhouse and got ready for what the book described it as a straightforward hike, no exposure, little navigation, just physically challenging. It was going to be a simple, uneventful workout and true to case, we almost flew up the mountain. We kept up a pace of over 2000 feet per hour up to the ridge and the final 200 or 300 feet of elevation.

Near the top, I snapped a picture of Joey with the western sky behind him. I would look at the picture later and see the storm that moved in, but at that moment I was blissfully unaware that our simple hike would soon become a survival exercise. About 15 minutes from the summit, the snow eased in. Initially, just a little snow and some reduced visibility, so no big deal, right? Suddenly - Zap! Ouch! I had never felt that before, but once my hair stood up I realized I was being struck by lightning! In a snowstorm! I ran a few feet down the sketchy trail, twisting my ankle twice as I tried to get Joey to crouch down. I didn’t want to get zapped again and we were in a terrible spot.

Read the rest of this entry »

“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.”

Read the rest of this entry »

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!