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

Ok folks it's no longer a rumor. I just got off the phone with race management and can now say unequivocally that this race is going to happen. So me reporting it means you can bank on it. After all, if you can't trust a yak, who can you trust?

The above mentioned were gracious enough to provide me with a ton of details (this race is going to change the AR landscape) that I can't share just yet and a few tasty nuggets that you definitely need to know now:

• The race is scheduled for spring 2008 in Western Canada, eh
  
• It will feature the biggest prize purse in adventure racing
• Entry fee is $10,000 per team
• You will not need a support crew as the race is unsupported
  
• Entries will be capped at 70 teams
• Registration is set to open August 1st if not earlier

That ought to be enough to wet your whistle for now :-)

Obviously, the timing of this news is not a coincidence. With registration for Primal Quest set to open in just under 10 hours, it's clear that the group behind this new event considers it important that racers realize that they have options to weigh before they commit to anything next summer.

The question now is whether and to what extent interest in each of these two races will impact the other and what that will mean in the end.

I think the answer to that question is going to be pretty clear fairly soon.

Stay tuned.

WOW...this is HUGE.

Bigger than that...this is REALLY HUGE!!!

If you've read this blog before, you've heard me say "I know a guy" more than once. Well I get to say it again today and once again I'm gonna keep this guy's...or girl's...name to myself :-)

From the "not quite 100% certain but as close as you can get" desk, comes word that there is a VERY good possibility that adventure racing is on the verge of a much needed shot in the arm in the form of a new international series of expedition adventure races.

This has nothing to do with the ARWC, Raid, or anything else you've ever heard of.

This is something entirely NEW.

Rest assured, I wouldn't be blogging right now if I wasn't sure I was breaking news on something that IS going to happen. I'm sold. There are no absolutes in life, but this feels pretty close.

Think multiple (4 is the number I got) week-long stage races in venues spread across the globe, a healthy prize purse (as big as anything out there) and TV a la Eco Challenge.

My source tells me that the force behind this new venture has already procured land use agreements with foreign governments, substantial sponsorship commitments, TV airtime rights, etc.

I was told on a phone call today that if the trigger is pulled, we can expect an announcement in DAYS.

No doubt the timing is anything but a coincidence. There are only so many teams in the world that are up for competing at the top end of this sport. If you're going to attract them to a new event, you need to be sure they're not already committed to another big race.

I'm gonna go make some coffee, take a shower and charge my cell phone. I think it's gonna be a long weekend in the AR news world :-)

Email from Don Mann just crossed the wire server:

Primal Quest Expedition Adventure Race is set to return to a western mountain state in 2008!

Between June 21 and July 2, 2008 seventy-five co-ed teams of racers will take part in the World's Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition.

The 2008 edition features new leadership, as PQ 2006 Race Director Don Mann takes over the position of Chief Executive Officer. Mann, who has staged more multi-day, multi-sport races than any other individual in the world, continues to manage the event, bringing with him an experienced team of discipline directors, logistics coordinators, medical staff, ropes crew, marketing, and volunteer personnel. Mann's wife, Dawn Taylor Mann, fulfills the role of Operations Director, as she has done in nearly 100 adventure races, including Primal Quest, Expedition BVI, Odyssey events and the USARA Championships.

While the exact location of the race must remain a secret until the fall of 2007, several states are currently running neck and neck. If you do not have firm summer vacation plans, you may wish to visit places like (in no particular order of significance other than it is an alphabetical list) Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, or Nevada.

Participants can expect as epic a race as Utah and exposure to totally different environments. They will race for five to ten days over 400 - 600 miles of gnarly terrain. In addition to the classic elements of AR: mountain biking, trekking, and paddling, next year racers will face extraordinary sections of whitewater swimming and mountaineering.

Supporting the race will be a small army of 150 staff and volunteers who all share a passion for adventure. Those interested in seeing the sport of expedition racing from a totally unique perspective can register to volunteer online right now!

Race registration opens Sunday, July 1 and already interest in the race is proving overwhelming with hundreds of excited calls and emails a day. The new website is live and will serve in the months to come as the main location for all official Primal Quest information.

We hope to see you soon!

Don D. Mann
CEO, Primal Quest
www.ecoprimalquest.com

Ok, sound off. Where's the race going to be? I know what I think I know...what do all of you think?

4th Dimension Adventure Racing, purveyors of the excellent Beast series, have announced the return of 24 hour racing to Washington state:

Registration for the 4th Dimension 24 Hour Adventure Race is now open! We are super excited to have the honor of bringing you the first 24h Adventure Race in Washington State in over two years. Glen Rogers from team DART-nuun is working with us on course design and we are happy to report that the great new venue will be on the Olympic Peninsula.

More information can be found on their website at 4thDAR.com.

You'll need to read the full blog post by Grant Killian of UntamedAdventure.com to get all the details, but it looks like his plans for a race in New England next summer just got a bit complicated now that PQ has announced that the race is set for June 21st:

...I'm not under the impression that after our meeting, Don Mann circled the June 21st date with blood and summoned his pack of evil monkeys to start working on a June 21st race start for PQ. Don wasn't gunning for me or the Untamed New England race. He probably just forgot and/or doesn't care. Untamed and I just don't warrant the concern and respect, in their eyes. It's not the first time Don has been part of an adventure race date conflict, after all, and I don't think this is nearly the magnitude of what went down between eco-challenge and Don Mann's Beast in 2000. It's just frustrating, particularly when we've been trying to work with PQ in so many other ways (technology, GPS tracking, etc). So, it is frustrating to be disrepected so clearly -- even if it is unintentional...

Don's planning a BIG ASS RACE with a lot on the line. He's not going to steer clear of a date that works for the sake of another race. That's just business.

Race Management finally released the date of the 2008 edition in a press release earlier today:

While the location of next year's Primal Quest Expedition Adventure Race is still a secret, we are happy to announce the 2008 race dates.

Between June 21 and July 2, 2008* seventy-five co-ed teams of racers will take part in the World's Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition.

Primal Quest is an environmentally friendly, ecologically aware wilderness Expedition Adventure Race®. Teams of experienced back country adventure athletes journey across expansive terrain using only a map, a compass and combined skills. Successfully finishing requires much more than stamina and mental fortitude. It requires selfless teamwork, spirit and absolute determination.

Only co-ed teams of four are permitted to race. Team members are required to travel together at all times and must finish together in order to be officially ranked. Over $100,000 in Cash and Prizes will be awarded to the top finishing teams.

For continual updates on Primal Quest 2008, please visit http://www.ecoprimalquest.com.

* Dates subject to change

I have to point out the asterisk next to the date and the associated footnote that says "Dates subject to change" :-)

There's some new information about sponsorship and volunteer opportunities, but I didn't see any new details about the race itself.

Online registration opens in 5 days. So...who's planning on racing and who's sitting this one out? Drop me a comment and tell me all about it.

http://www.ecoprimalquest.com

I have no idea.

Neither will you when you look at Sylvan Sport's website, but don't worry...that's intentional. The company hasn't yet unveiled their new product yet.

What is clear from their recent press release is that they've been busy for 3 years working on a new ultra-light trailer...something they describe as a 'backpack on wheels'.


This new kind of...I hesitate to say camper though it seems it will address your need to sleep...lets go with 'thing you tow behind your car' for now...is designed to meet the needs of folks engaged in constantly evolving 'adventure activities'.

If they've come up with a better way for me to easily transport gear boxes, bikes, boats, etc....I'm all ears.

The company is planning to pull back the giant sheet (you know like at a car show?) at Outdoor Retailer in Utah this August. I'll be there to kick the tires and give you my take. From what I can tell so far this thing might very well be perfectly suited to adventure racing.

Once again Gravity Play delivers an exceptional video recap of their most recent event...within a week. Will...you're making the rest of us look bad. Nice work.

I've added support for comments to the Checkpoint Tracker National Points Series blog to make things a bit more interesting. I'm dying to hear what all of you have to say about the series at large and points chase in particular.

New for this year two races are being offered on the same weekend. A 12-18 hour wilderness race and a 2-4 hour urban race. See event web sites for more information.

This year's races are promoted by All Sports Productions, Inc., a multi-sport promotions company, which also promotes the Joe Martin Stage Race, Ozark Valley Triathlon, Har-Ber Meadows Criterium and the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival.

In an article published in the Summit Daily News, Devon O'Neil reports that Monique Merrill of team Nike is pondering retirement:

Merrill won't commit to when, or if, she will quit the sport entirely, saying only, "There's a lot of variables involved."

She intends to race at the Raid in Chamonix on July 1. Beyond that, she has no more races scheduled.

I've added support for comments to the Yak Blog.

For too long I've maintained a monopoly on opinions around here. Now I want to hear what you have to say about what I have to say.

Don't get snarky...I'm using comment moderation to silence the haters...you know who you are :-/

Once I'm satisfied that things are running smoothly I'll be adding support for commments to all the blogs. So fire up your attitude and start running your mouth. There's plenty going on in this sport these days to get fired up about...so FIRE AWAY hommies...

I've gotten a lot of emails lately from racers looking for more information about the race in general and registration in particular. I don't have a lot of details yet...that I can share anyway, but I can point you in the right direction.

Director of Web Services and Lead Photographer Will Ramos has got a temporary site rolling with a few more tidbits than was released with last months announcement. There's a registration information page that will give you an idea of how get your team signed up.

I'm expecting to catch up with Don sometime late next week when he gets back from climbing Denali :-)

The third event in the Trailblazers Sprint Series, Siege on Fort Yargo, is set for this weekend at the former Balance Bar Adventure Series venue in Winder, GA just outside of Atlanta.

The race will see over 100 teams mountain biking, trekking, paddling and navigating their way through a 20 mile course.

Designed to attract new racers to the sport, the Trailblazers Sprint Series is shaping up to be quite popular in the southeast. In addition to the Siege on Fort Yargo, the series includes 5 other events in South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida.

Checkpoint Zero, along with partner GoLite, is getting behind this race and ultimately the entire series. Members of the top ranked Checkpoint Zero/GoLite adventure racing team will be be captaining three squads of rookie racers to provide some "hands on training" while racing. The project, known as the Checkpoint Zero/GoLite Checkpoint Challenge, makes it's debut in Winder with plans to expand it across the entire series in 2008.

Back on April 19th I blogged about an interview on that orange site in which Corey Rosen of AdventureRacingTV.com lambasted me (obliquely) about an earlier post in which I speculated that the site had been shutdown. Turns out it was just a prolonged server issue and I was wrong. Mea culpa...again...

Corey stated that ARTV was still alive and kicking and went on to promise big things this year and next. He even had an event schedule posted on the site. You should see the email I got from Greg Yetter (an orange site guy) threatening to sue me for libel over the matter.

In fact...lets go ahead and show it to you now just for fun :-)

Dear sir,

You were given neither written or verbal permission to use whole or in part the story you have posted on your site regarding ARTV.com. Additionally, your posting is libelous to both myself and ARTV.com. This is a very disturbing situation. If the story in question is not removed from your site immediately I will have no recourse but to initiate legal proceedings against yourself and XXXXXXX for sponsoring this attack. Please respond within 2 days of this post.

Sincerely,
Greg Yetter

For what it's worth I should mention that I did not repost anything without permission. I quoted it with an attribution for the sake of commenting on it, as is common practice in all forms of media.

After all that ruckus it nows seems Mr. Rosen has had second thoughts won't be producing anything for ARTV afterall. I'm shocked.

Instead it seems he's got something new up his imaginary sleeve:

Adventure Racing TV is working on a new project with top Adventure Racing Athletes and Members of the Sporting Community to launch in 2008. While all the pieces are being put together, ARTV will dedicate its resources to the project at hand and not pursue any events for live television in 2007.

What could he be referring to you ask? When will we find out? Is the anticipation killing you?

Relax...Yak's gonna hook you up :-)

It turns out that I know a guy...actually I know a lot of guys. It just so happens that I've picked up a few tidbits through the old grapevine that might shed some light on this new project and crack it's veil of secrecy.

What I hear is that Mr. Rosen is planning...drumroll please...a professional adventure racing league...

Picture teams (with coaches and rosters and everything) based in major cities competing against teams from other cities in regularly scheduled events :-)

So the Balance Bar series didn't make it even with a $250k prize purse and TV coverage on OLN. Eco Challenge got shelved in favor of Survivor. The Raid has morphed into the Mountain X-Race. Primal Quest has shed it's veil as the "world's richest adventure race" and the TV spotlight with it.

Does anybody really think there is a market for this kind of thing? Check the Neilsen ratings folks. Professional hockey is damn near on life support. Anybody wanna claim that adventure racing can drum up a fan base, TV audience and product licensing revenue on par the NHL?

I've got more details I'm not going to spill just yet. Like who he's working with :-)

Stay tuned...

Next year we'll have video :-)

Our resident left coast blogger is looking for tales of woe from your adventure racing past. The submission that most scratches Gordon's sadistic itch will win schwag from Sugoi.

Read his latest blog post to learn the difference between puking like him and puking like a man and then send him your version of how bad things sometimes get.

Just got an email from Luke at Infiterra Sports:

Due to the time involved, Infiterra will not be producing an expedition
length race in 2008. We have not made set plans for the future, but it is
possible that in 2009 we may again produce an expedition race. We
appreciate the support that AR community has given us over the last three
years of producing an expedition race.

Sorry to disappoint, but the time commitment to put on a race of this
magnitude is huge. We simply need time to focus on family, our real jobs,
and our own vacations / adventures.

Infiterra Sports will continue to produce some sprint and one day ARâ??s.

All the Best,
Luke Osborn
Infiterra Sports LLC
www.infiterrasports.com

Press release issued at 4:50 this morning:

Mike Kloser, Chris Forne, Monique Merrill and Michael Tobin of the awesome Team Nike (USA/NZ) triumphantly broke through the finish line (Nevis Centre, Fort William) of the 2007 Adventure Racing World Championship at 06.07 this morning to become Adventure Racing world champions for the second year running.

Having raced non-stop and unsupported for almost 130 hours in extremely harsh conditions over the 500 km course (that contained some 25,000 metres of ascent) team captain Kloser flushed with excitement, said: 'Goals are a huge factor in this kind of event. We came to Scotland with the primary goal of defending our title and winning and we are delighted to have done so. It was a good race all round. Our one thought was always to push on, but the trekking was really tough - particularly towards the end - and the cold temperatures a big factor. It was one tough course. Our priority now is to have breakfast, take a shower and get some sleep â?? we've only had about five hours since the start of the race!'.

There to greet the team as they were showered with champagne was race director Phil Humphreys who said 'Wow â?? what an epic race! It was relentless, brutal and fantastic. To finish the full course is quite remarkable. Respect to Nike and all those other teams who cross the finish line'.

During much of the race - the toughest endurance event ever staged in the UK- Nike have been relentlessly pursued by the French/Swiss Team Wilsa HellyHansen, who are now firmly in second position around five hours behind Nike. Team Buff Coolmax (Spain), Team OrionHealth.com (New Zealand) and Bjurfors Adventure Racing (Sweden/USA) are battling it out behind them on the final stages of the race. Officials expect these teams to finish at various times during the day (1 June).

The event which involves a number of rugged sporting disciplines including mountain biking, sea kayaking, abseiling, mountaineering, river crossing, nordic walking, canyoning and open-water swimming and navigation started on Saturday (26 May) with a tough prologue on the Isle of Rum.

The official start was at 08.20 on Sunday (27 May) when 49 teams, comprising the world's toughest endurance athletes from 22 nations, left the island in a colourful flotilla of kayaks for the mainland via Eigg. The course was to take them across Knoydart, Scotland's last remaining wilderness, over a chilly Loch Ness, through the wild Monadhliath Mountains and across the centre of Scotland, from the A9 to the A82, on lochs and rivers against the natural flow of the water with the added challenge of carrying and pulling their heavily laden boats for more than 20 km on road and moor.

The final stages of the route saw the lead teams ascending all the summits in Glen Coe before traversing the legendary Aonach Eagach ridge and finally climbing the UK's highest mountain, Ben Nevis, never before summated in a UK adventure race.

Gary Tompsett, the man who planned the course, said: 'After many months of design and weeks of ground-work the Adventure Racing World Championship 2007 course has been well and truly proven. The teams have been telling me that it has been awesome â?? my job is done'.

A number teams are now spread out on a wide field and race officials report a mood of tough mental and physical determination as they battle it out to reach the finish before the competition finishes on Saturday (2 June).

There are now (06.45 hrs, 1 June) 27 teams on the short course. These are the teams who have not met imposed cut-off times during the race and they have a separate ranking. Six teams are unranked and twelve teams have withdrawn from the race.

Anyone else kinda tired of the team with the most money buying all the talent and winning every race? It's getting kinda old. I don't mean to steal Nike's thunder. Awesome is as awesome does and there is no way around the fact that this team as defined excellence in our sport.

That said I'm getting sick of posting the same press release after every big race. I think it's time the rest of the top racers in the world have a secret meeting and form an alternative uber-team to dethrown the Bulls Nike once and for all.