Notes from the race course as Day 4 of Primal Quest 2008 unfolds.
- The top of the leaderboard remains the same, with Nike, Merrell, and TeamPeakAdventure.com continuing to hold down first, second and third respectively. All three teams have come out of the Crazy Mountains, and as of this writing Nike has moved on to the Bridgers. By all accounts, Merrell has caught that second wind, and are now feeling good and moving well as a team. Their sites are set on catching Nike at this point.
- Yesterday it was noted that Nike didn’t take their snowshoes with them into the Crazies, and since they are considered mandatory gear, they could have faced a penalty. However, after evaluating the course, PQ management has now made snowshoes as optional for the rest of the course, but when Nike left them behind, they were still considered mandatory. In order to not take a time penalty, Nike has been given an option to carry their snowshoes through the Bridger Mountains instead.
- Yesterday morning the sun rose on CP12 it was discovered that a mountain bikes belonging to one of the Dirty Avocados teams was inadvertently run over by a support crew in the night. The bike was damaged beyond repair on the course, but the team that it belonged to hadn’t arrived yet to claim their wheels. Fortunately, PQ Course Director Chris Caul came to the rescue, loaning his personal bike to the unlucky team.
- Bike troubles weren’t confined to the Dirty Avocados either, as Team Active Racing‘s support crew arrived at the same CP to find that one of their bikes were missing from the bike rack on the back of the vehicle. The last time they saw the bike was when they were in the parking lot of the local Walmart, but it was gone when they arrived at the checkpoint. It’s unclear if the bike was lost in transit.
- The Captain at Transition Area 7, Marcy Beard, sends this anecdote from the field. When Team Nike ACG/GoreTex arrived to the TA and underwent mandatory gear check. When asked to verify their bear spray Nike ACG captain Peter Courogen was over heard saying, “We drew it once, then we realized we were hallucinating and looking at a stump.”
- Another great quote from the course comes from Nike’s Monique Merrill who says: “The trek through the Crazies Mountain Range was the most beautiful hike I ever did.”
Photo by Will Ramos
Primal Quest would like to extend a huge thank you to the Ham Radio operators of Southwest Montana for all their help in maintaing communications throughout the course. Because of their efforts, and their outstanding repeater network, the PQ staff has been able to successfully render aid to 13 racers on the course who have been in distress. Thanks to the diligence and dedication of the local amateur radio community, lives have been saved.
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Throughout the race we want to take an opportunity to thank our partners, without whom there wouldn’t be a Primal Quest. Each of them plays a vital role in the success of the race and deserve credit for allowing us the opportunity to have this great adventure.
