Musing and Errata on the world of Adventure Racing from the Yak
presented by MPGear.com

The dates for the 2006 PQ broadcast on ESPN2 are Oct 9 - 12th (7:30pm - 8:30pm EST).

Each espisode is a unique 1 hour show with the finale airing on ABC on Oct 14th.

There's a video trailer on Don Mann's website, usfrogmann.com.

Gravity Play Sports has extended the early registration discount for the Moab Xstream Expedition until August 1st. At only $395.00 per person plus a 10% discount for 2006 Primal Quest participants it is a can't miss. After the 1st the fee goes up an additional $25 per person. Don't miss out on racing through this spectacular venue.

The October 5th-8th Xstream Expedition is now over 65% full.

For more info go to www.AdventureXstream.com.

Nike PowerBlast WILL compete in the Adventure Racing World Championship. Ian Adamson and Monique Merrill will be racing with Richard Ussher and Dan Weiland.

Richard achieved a Top 10 finish with Nike Beaver Creek at Primal Quest and raced with victorious NZ team Balance Vector in the 2005 ARWC. Dan is a regular member of Nike Beaver Creek, and raced with Nike to win the Nuevo Leon in Mexico last year.

The addition of Nike PowerBlast to the roster means we'll have three US teams to follow. In addition to the "winningest team in adventure racing", US heavyweights Spyder and Merrell-Wigwam will also be making the trip across the pond to see about bringing the title home for the Red, White and Blue.

We'll be carrying reports and photos from the course provided by race management and we'll have a spotlight on Merrell-Wigwam via Robyn's blog, The Dirt.

Tony Berwald, the accomplished race director that brought us the spectacular North Georgia Adventure Race for four years running, has resurfaced with the launch of OutsideElectronics.com.

This latest venture is an online store specializing in electronics geared towards the active outsider. Right now his product line is limited to a vast selection of GPS devices, but will soon expand to include bike lights, headlamps and watches. From there the store will continue to add new product categories over time.

To celebrate it's grand opening, Outside Electronics is giving away $1500 in store credit between August and December. All you need to do for a chance to win is sign up for the Outside Electronics Newsletter. Drawings will be held monthly with the stakes going up each time. The first winner will get a $100 store credit, the second $200 and so on up to the final winner in December who will get a $500 store credit.

My relationship with Tony goes way back. He tried to kill me in 2002 by subjecting me to sub-zero temperatures at the first running of the NGAR. Despite such a rocky start we've come to be friends and have worked together closely ever since. As such Tony has graciously offered a generous discount program for readers of checkpointzero.com.

The first 10 orders using the code CPZERO15 will get a 15% discount. Once 10 orders have been placed that code will expire, but don't worry. From this day forth you will always get 10% off by using the code CPZERO.

If you've been eyeing a GPS unit (I just bought the Garmin GPSMap 60csx and it ROCKS) now's the time to lay your money down. If you need an added incentive consider that in keeping with the NGAR tradition, 10% of all OE profits will be donated to charity.

OutsideElectronics.com

I recently managed to pry some details out of the dudes at Infiterra Sports about their plans for 2007. I'm happy to report that we can all look forward to yet another epic expedition adventure race in Michigan in 2007, but it won't be called the Coast to Coast (2006 Recap). The race will take on a new moniker...The MIX...as in MIchigan eXpedition.

Details are not yet ready for public consumption, but they did divulge that the MIX will be based in the eastern half of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Going a little further north to the "UP" will mean a more remote and wild course, furthering the expedition appeal.

According to Infiterra the MIX will vear away from the coast-to-coast course design of the last two years and towards a more traditional expedition format. They feel that logistically, a central HQ will make the race easier for both staff and racers (they're right).

Look for more information on the 2007 Michigan Expedition Race (MIX) to be released in the coming months.

Checkpointzero.com carries more news on the AR scene in the US than any other site on the web today. Not only that, but we also provide an easy way to make all that great content accessible from a growing list of AR related websites...the AR Newswire.

You've seen it before. On more than 50+ AR related sites like baarbd.org, teamcrestedbutte.com, soar-adventures.com, indyrootstock.com, riverratsar.com and trailblazerar.com you'll find the latest headlines from the AR Newswire linking to the race reports, press releases and AR articles that let you enjoy the sport when you can't be outside actually racing.

BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE

Not only do we provide an easy way for site owners to add the latest headlines from the AR Newswire to their pages (and reward them with a link on our homepage for doing so)...we also offer an easy way for you racers out there to grab them headlines directly for your newsreader or web-based homepage as well.

Stop by our RSS/XML page and see just how easy it is to add the AR Newswire to Yahoo, AOL, Google, Netvibes and a slew of other homepage destinations.

Oh ya, got news you'd like to share with the AR world? Send your press releases, race reports and articles to arnewswire@checkpointzero.com and reach out to the 2500+ racers that visit checkpointzero.com every day.

We're looking for quality material with a photo. Please don't send raw facts or links to content on the web. We need it ready to post (Word or plain text files are best).

There is simply no other way to reach out to so many racers so quickly for less money...it's free :-)

Registration for the third annual TrailBlazers' Midnight Rush Adventure Race is underway! With 6 weeks left until race day (August 18-20, 2006), the final details are being put on a great course that will take racers throughout challenging terrain in northeast Georgia.

The 12hr race is back, complete with mountain biking, whitewater paddling, trekking and navigation throughout. New this year is the premier 24hr course, which will add flatwater paddling and a memorable ropes section to the disciplines.

The Midnight Rush is a USARA sanctioned event. The 24hr race will be a USARA National Championships Qualifier and provide a regional sponsorship of $600 to the winning co-ed team.

Co-ed teams in both course options will be competing for cash prizes totaling $2000. Sponsor prizes will be awarded to top finishers in our all-male and all-female divisions.

For more information and to register, visit http://MidnightRush.TrailblazerAR.com.

Thank you to our sponsors! Checkpoint Zero, Athletic Training Services, Crank Performance Spin Studio, Sports Massage & Integrated Therapies, Hammer Nutrition, REI, Simon River Sports, Axis Outdoor Gear, Amino Vital, Athleta, Apalachee Cycle, Eyeprojector, PSS, Recover-Ease and Energ-Ease

The Green Mountain Adventure Racing Association is extending their early registration discount for the Bitter Pill Adventure Race through tomorrow (July 11th). If you beat the clock and register now you'll save $40 off the 2-man fee or $45 off the 3-man fee.

You also have the option of joining the association for $25 which gets you $20 off registration. So for a net $5 over the discounted registration fee you get to race and reap the benefits of membership.

As an aspiring event promoter (the first annual Checkpoint Zero Adventure Race is planned for March 2007) I have already learned the hard way how critical the calendar is.

You simply can't drop an event on top of another in the same region without an impact on attendance. Attendance equals dollars, dollars equal profits and profits equal better events.

I am personally of the opinion that far too many race directors do it for the love of the sport in lieu of profits. This is noble, but not good for the sport. I digress...more on this down the road.

The issue of scheduling and it's impact on attendance, more than any other, influenced my decision to take the plunge into event management now (ok, in 2007) because Raceday, purveyor of the North Georgia Adventure Race, recently announced that 2006 would be the last edition of the insanely popular, "de facto" season opener here in the southeast. That left a window for a 30-ish hour event in early spring. We're I to have waited, another promoter (I'm pretty sure I know which one), would have announced a similar event near the same date and I'd have been faced with the choice to compete for racers or look elsewhere on the calendar.

A more interesting example of the dynamics of scheduling an adventure race is found at the top end of the sport...expedition racing.

Given the lengthy preparations required, substantial cost, long distances to be travelled and limited number of teams in the world that are even up for an expedition race, it's an absolute necessity that you "space" your event apart from the others.

In 2003 and 2004 Primal Quest was held in September...so was the Raid World Championship. This year the Raid is still scheduled for September, but Primal Quest just wrapped up the first week in July.

The Adventure Racing World Championship has traditionally been held in the fall between August and November and this year is no exception. It's in August...threading the needle between Primal Quest and the Raid.

For a team hoping to go from PQ to the ARWC they've got just 6 weeks to recover, prep, train and get their ass and gear to Sweden. It's worth noting that as of today the official site shows only two US teams attending. No doubt Primal Quest is the reason.

If you don't think this is as big an issue as I'm making it out to be consider that just days ago the ARWC announced that the 2007 event is moving to the end of May. Assuming PQ shows up around the same time next year this will give ARWC the 5-6 week jump that PQ enjoyed this year. Now why do you suppose they did that?

UPDATE: I supposed it was by design, but it turns out it was just a fortunate circumstance (assuming you view a spot on the calendar ahead of PQ as fortunate). According to Geoff Hunt, the brains and brawn that drive the ARWC, the scheduling of the floating championship race is straightforward. It's a function of when the host event is scheduled. Most often this has been sometime between August and November. This year the race in Sweden was moved to August to avoid the World Cup.

If a 6 week spread is a problem then a 2 week spread is just plain unworkable. Such is the dilemma facing any team thinking of going from the ARWC in Sweden in late August on to the Raid World Championship in Quebec, Canada in early September.

I'm shining the Yak light on these three races in particluar because they are the big dogs in the sport in that they claim to bestow "world champion" status and/or offer a FAT prize purse (PQ I'm talking about you there). In years past where each fell on the calendar was of concern only to the promoters of the others. Clearly this is still of great concern to all parties and the jockeying for position goes on.

What has changed is that over the past few years a handful of ambitious race directors here in the US have moved to claim their stake the middle ground between the abundant sprint to 24 hour races and the rare, uber-crazy, 7-10 day nut busters that are just simply beyond the reach of most racers for the reasons stated above.

Bonk Hard Racing and Infiterra Sports both put on spectacular mini-expedition races (my words not theirs) this past May that were well produced, well run, affordable and by all accounts very successful.

The Mighty MO, produced by Bonk Hard Racing, attracted such top flight teams as Nike, Silly Rabbits and Dart-nuun in it's innaugural running. A noteworthy feat for any race, yet in total they had only 16 teams...not enough to justify the time, effort or cost of any savvy business owner. If we're lucky Jason will be unable to resist the sheer force of will directed at him from those of us that want to see him stick it out and bring the MO back for another go round in 2007. We promise you'll get more teams :-)

The Michigan Coast to Coast, produced and managed by Infiterra Sports, didn't reel in quite the same pedigree as the Mighty MO, but more than made up for it with a field of over 30 teams that included some of the best talent from the amateur/semi-pro ranks in the sport today. Still, they fell short of their advertised cap of 50 teams.

What was the primary reason for the less than hoped for attendance at these two diamonds in the rough? That's easy...it's all Primal Quest's fault.

The chance to tackle an event as epic as Primal Quest right here in the US was just too good to pass up for more than a few racers. PQ's gravitational pull created a singularity on the adventure racing calendar that no doubt trapped many a team that might have otherwise travelled to Missouri or Michigan...or both.

It doesn't end there. Primal Quest is now on the books, but it's impact on the remainder of the 2006 racing calendar lingers.

Gravity Play Sports has been offering the AdventureXstream Expedition race every October since 2001 in of all places...Moab, UT...the very locale that most recently played host to Primal Quest. They even set the precedent for using the Red Cliffs Adventure Lodge for HQ and basecamp.

In this case there is nearly 4 months separating the two events which may actually work to Gravity Play's advantage in that they can offer racers that didn't make it to Primal Quest or who didn't finish the race a second shot at the slick rock and canyons of southeastern Utah...in MUCH cooler temperatures.

So where does all this leave us? It leaves us with a balkanized mashup of event promoters all competing to offer better and better events timed to ensure the greatest attendence. Our little sport is suffering the inevitable growing pains that are the hallmark of a healthy and thriving capitalist eco-system (pun intended).

Rejoices adventure racers. These are EXACTLY the kinds of problems we want to see. In the end there are just so many days in a year. At some point these promoters will be unable to completely avoid stepping on one another's toes and I for one say GOOD. It will force them to do more than offer a race when no one else is. It will force them to seek out new venues, offer more prize money, provide better accomodations, adopt innovative technology and maybe...make attracting sponsor dollars a priority so that they can lower their entry fees :-)

The fifth annual Wild Scallion Urban Adventure Race will see 100 teams of 3 running, biking and navigating the streets of Chicago. Mixed among these standard AR disciplines racers will be faced with in-line skating, stair climbs (read Sears Tower), kick bikes and even one or more stints on the mass transit system.

As in years past the winners are expected to complete the course in the vicinity of 5 hours with the slower folks crossing the finish line in 8-9 hours.

Registration is open now.

The Mid America Extreme Adventure Race is moving to a new venue in 2006. Traditionally held in the Nicolet National Forest in N.E. Wisconsin, this year the event will move to Starved Rock in Central Illinois.

Another change this time around is the course designer. Mike usually handles this himself, but Tom Grow, his ropes guy is taking on that role for 2006 which means you can expect some changes from years past.

If your team is not registered for this event, now is the time, REGISTER TODAY!

The big focus now is on placing the T-shirt order based on the teams registered. If you register late you'll lose out an excellent (and highly coveted) moisture wicking shirt...I hear they are even better this year than last!

Army of Zero founding member Mike Bitton has done what no other has managed to do in 4 years. He's cornered and photographed...me...at the Media Center at Primal Quest. The photo, posted on his blog, is joined by words far too kind for the likes of this guy.

Thanks for the props hommie...clearly you haven't gotten to know me that well yet :-)

Primal Quest is winding down. I'm back home in Greenville. I'll be updating the PQ page with news as it's released by race management and Sherry is still on the course following the Dogs to the end.

Sadly, I wasn't able to catch up with the Rabbits even once past TA6 on day 3. I'll be touching base once they resurface in the real world and I'll bring you their story in full as soon as possible.

While I haven't had much time to reflect, I can already look back, before the race is even over, and easily say this was not only the best Primal Quest I've been to personally, but by far the best to date.

The setting, the course itself, the effort undertaken to orchestrate the event in realtime...epic, epic, epic. The plentiful and varied coverage provided by both race management and a veritable constellation of blogs, online newspaper features and podcasts was and is remarkable and exiciting. Jonathan Dorn's audio blog is particularly compelling.

It will take a little time before we get much feedback from the racers, but based on what I saw on the course with my own two eyes and after talking to dozens if not hundreds of them face to face, I can tell you that complaints and criticism are likely to be few and far between. That's not to say their weren't problems and won't be some sour grapes...this is adventure racing. Regardless, this event is sure to go down as a turning point in the evolution of the sport and will serve as the high water mark for any future expedition adventure race.

That people like Denise and Bill Watkins have the vision, means and spirit to even attempt something like this and pull it off so brilliantly is something we should all be thankful for. They are truly in it for their love of the sport and deserve to be commended for what they have given to all of us.

The exceptionally talented veterans they surrounded themselves with are nothing short of the best you will find in their respective domains of expertise. In the end their involvement is what made this the best PQ ever. Kudos to Rich Brazeau, Don Mann and the countless other specialists that gave this event the feel that no detail was too minor to deserve thorough scrutiny to be sure it was addressed in the absolute best way possible.

Not every race is Primal Quest, but after it's broadcast on ABC and ESPN this fall, this event, unlike any since Eco Challenge, is what the man on the street will identify with when he hears mention of adventure racing.

Primal Quest's day in the sun is here. Primal Quest is adventure racing.