Primal Quest
reporting presented by Inov-8

The question of who will win the battle for third place at Primal Quest Montana may have been decided last night on the orienteering course above Storm Castle. Visiting the O-course control points is not mandatory. Instead, teams who visit the points earn time bonuses. Some control points are worth one hour. Others are worth two. Teams can earn up to 12 hours of bonus time, to be subtracted from their overall finish time, by spending some time on the O-course.

So here's what happened with Bones (that's them in the photo) and DART/nuun. Both teams told me when they returned from the orienteering course that Bones earned more bonus time up there than DART/nuun. Two hours more.

So on paper at least, Bones now has a full two hour lead over DART/nuun. Even if DART/nuun turns on the afterburners and beats Bones to the finish line, DART/nuun would have to come in at least two full hours ahead of Bones to steal third place. I'm not sure DART/nuun has it in them to pull that far ahead.

DART/nuun team members Cyril Jay-Rayon, Mari Chandler, Aaron Rinn and Aaron Matzke all seemed in fair shape when I saw them in transition. Bones team members Roy Mallone, Jason Quinn, and Walter Brumniach all looked well, too. Ann Hall was clearly suffering with foot issues, but her spirits were undeniably high. She joked and giggled through much of the transition. She's suffering, but she's far from beaten.

Will DART/nuun try to make up those two hours? I bet they will try. For me, this has been the most interesting battle to watch at PQ Montana. Great work, teams!

Labels: aaron matzke, aaron rinn, ann hall, bones, cyril jay-rayon, Dart, jason quinn, mari chandler, nuun, orienteering, roy mallone, storm castle, walter brumniach