Some of you know that I got into adventure racing since my return from Central America, and a few of you know that I am competing in an adventure race called Primal Quest in just 6 days. For the rest of you who have been wondering why I have been so lame at e-mailing this year, it's because on top of everything else that is life, I have been training 25 hours a week since October.
I'll keep it short and sweet, as I fully realize that a few of you will be genuinely interested in what I am talking about whereas most people simply won't give a toss!
Later this week my adventure racing team will be competing in the biggest and toughest adventure race on the planet. For those of you who remember Eco-Challenge, this is bigger, longer, tougher!
We are entered into an 800km non-stop race that will take place through Utah and Colorado. There is a 10 day cut off and in that time most teams will sleep less than 2-3hr per day. To sleep more than that is to seriously limit your chances of actually finishing.
It will have everything from desert heat to mountaineering and white water swimming sections...not to mention a horse stage...I am afraid of horses.
So, anyone who would like to follow this race can do so very easily. They make us carry a GPS unit and Satellite phone. The GPS can not be used by us, we will have to fully navigate the course by only compass and map. Instead it is to ensure that they can find us should we become terribly lost out there! The SAT phone is for calling 1-900 numbers during the night stages to help us stay awake.
We are team number 68, MindOverMountain.com. (a local adventure racing series)
The website is
www.ecoprimalquest.com and the best way to see exactly what is going on is to follow along on the GPS TRACKING section of the site. This will become live as of June 25th. This race has 100 teams from 20 countries including many the top teams in the world, and why not, there is $250,000 up for grabs! We'll be lucky to find five bucks on course.
To partake in this race we basically had to win a lottery of qualified teams. I guess 'qualified' was a loosely defined term! All teams of four co-ed must complete the entire course together, as a team, or face disqualification.
There's a guest book in the team section of the site. It'd be great to hear some words of encouragement and motivation...starting to get a wee bit nervous...it's going to hurt...a lot, and I tend to like sleeping every night!
I do hope that everyone is well and happy with wherever you are in your lives.
As always, we have a few spare rooms in our house and everyone is welcome to stay with us if you are ever in the area...as long as you are a dog lover...yes, recent addition to the family. I know, I know, dogs lead to kids. We will see I guess.
This is a link to a local news article this week. It has a bit more detail about the race if you are interested,
I will almost promise that I will stay in better contact following this race...or at least until I come up with another good way to waste all of my time and money!
Sorry I didn't spice this up a bit, but we leave immediately following the Edmonton Oilers winning the Stanley Cup tomorrow, and I still have a sh#^load of stuff to attend to.
Wish us luck!
Gary
