Primal Quest has enjoyed quick rise in popularity

By Journal staff | Friday, November 07, 2008

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PIERRE — In less than a year, co-ed teams of four will race to the Black Hills and Badlands area for a grueling 600-mile race.

Primal Quest, an eco-friendly, non-stop adventure race will have competitors spelunking through caves, climbing over cliffs and paddling down rivers. This leaves many asking — where did this race come from and who started it?

“The origins of adventure racing date back to the 1980s and to New Zealand,” said Don Mann, director of Primal Quest. “In the mid 1990s the concept became popularized by events like the Raid Gauloises, Eco Challenge and the BEAST of the East.”

Primal Quest was introduced in 2002 and quickly earned worldwide recognition as the sport’s premier event. By 2003, Primal Quest became the first Expedition Adventure Race to ever be shown on network television. Since then, the event has received more than $20 million dollars in media coverage and has been professionally filmed and distributed each year. Media and TV exposure has documented the drama and excitement of traveling more than 500 miles, nonstop, day and night, through beautiful and unforgiving terrain using only nonmotorized transportation.

Racing against the clock, other teams and the forces of nature, teams must trek, climb, kayak, raft and mountain bike to successfully reach the finish line.

“History shows that the competitors must be in outstanding physical and mental condition to be able to continue on course for up to 10 days with little or no sleep,” said Bill Davis, Primal Quest race manager. “It is truly inspiring to witness the performance of highly trained and motivated athletes in a competitive and difficult environment. The top teams consistently show how this is done, race after race.”  

Another historic aspect of Primal Quest are the hundreds of volunteers who are needed to help support the race, due to the 75-100 co-ed teams from countries all throughout the world competing. People who volunteer and race come from countries all over the world, including Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.