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

OK, admit I'm stirrin' the pot a bit here, but do this for me. Point your browser over to YouTube.com and enter these words in the search field:

primal quest nbc montana

The video you want is titled "Primal Quest 2008: NBC Montana Coverage 2." In my opinion, these two guys from Butte/Bozeman NBC affiliate KTVM have provided the best coverage of PQ Montana. Their names are Jeff Friedman, who is the station's sports director, and Jake Zivin, a reporter. I blogged about them here a few days ago.

Jeff and Jake's "Coverage 2" video is two minutes and 18 seconds long (2:18). Let the whole thing load, it may take a while on a slow connection.

One minute and 11 seconds into the video (1:11), Jason Quinn of team Bones is seen talking to a driver in a car about a piece of paper the driver is holding. The clip of Jason and the driver ends at one minute and 16 seconds (1:16).

Does that clip show team Bones asking directions from a driver, or does it show Jason Quinn of Bones giving directions to the driver? It's one of those things that make you go Hmm.

Labels: adventure race, bones, bozeman, directions, jake zivin, jason quinn, jeff friedman, nbc montana, primal quest

At times like this, when there's an obvious battle for third place, I like to refer to a baseball skit performed long ago by comedians Abbott and Costello. It's called, "Who's on First." Worth a read considering we're all wondering who's gonna take third place when Primal Quest wraps up over the next few days.

Teams Bones and DART/nuun have basically traveled together for the past two days. When not literally together, they've been less than 20 minutes apart. The teams are together right now, up above Storm Castle, hammering out an orienteering course that could earn them up to 12 bonus hours when they cross the finish line.

As the athletes punished themselves in the peaks above us, I chatted with support crew member Ryan Flemming of DART/nuun, who said he thinks his team will pull ahead in the end. "DART and Bones both have amazing athletes," Flemming said. "But I think DART is just a little bit stronger. I think we'll beat Bones."

Right next door in the Bones camp, support crew were a little concerned about team member Ann Hall, whose body understandably is deteriorating under the stress of overuse. But the Bones crew was confident that DART/nuun will cross the finish line fourth, not third. Third is Bones' place.

I'd kinda like to see a sprint to the finish, wouldn't you? Oh, wait, they bike to the finish. They'll be coming in hot off the upper elevations of Big Sky Resort's grassy ski slopes. Maybe we'll get to witness a little jostling. Bring it on!

Labels: abbott and costello, adventure race, bones, Dart, montana, nuun, orienteering, primal quest, who's on first