Update: Primal Quest has officially announced the race is on hold. You can read more information here

It looks like Primal Quest will go the way of the RAID; no event in 2007. I have no inside knowledge to the status of the event, but it’s almost 2007 and an event the size of PQ needed to announce the race a few months ago at the latest. What does the history of expedition adventure racing look like over the last ten years? Let’s take a look at some of the larger World events and those in North America.

Eco Challenge; Extinct
Appalachian Extreme; RD’s retired
USA Supreme Adventure Race; Extinct
Raid Gauloises; Retooled as the Raid World Championship
Raid World Championship; Retooled as a multi-day sports festival
Beast of the East; Event canceled in 2006 and not planned for 2007
Primal Quest; MIA for 2007
Southern Traverse; Retooled as a 24hr race in 2006. No word if it will be an expedition race again
Raid the North Extreme; Not held in 2006. Looks like it will be back in 2007
Expedition Mata Atlantica (EMA); Extinct. The RD got very sick after Eco Fiji and the event was never held again.
Elf Authentique Adventure; A Gerald Fusil project that was held in 1999 and 2000. At the time it was the longest adventure race ever.
Mild Seven Outdoor Quest; Extinct

It seems like expedition racing is going the way of the dodo. Though, it’s not to say there are no successful expedition races. You have smaller expedition races, 3-6 days in length, seemingly taking the void left by the 7-10 day races. Races such as the MIX and the Xstream Expedition are lower in cost and length and have been getting pretty good participation. So why is there an apparent lull in expedition racing? I have a feeling it’s mostly about money. The time and effort involved in organizing an expedition race is enormous, while the monetary gains are just not worth the effort. Why else would Mark Burnett drop the Eco Challenge? Because Survivor was half the work and triple the pay (not exact numbers but you get the point). With a few exceptions, I think the day of the large scale expedition races might be behind us. The expedition races that thrive will be those that keep the cost down but provide a good value for the money. Expedition races will always been around; after all something has to serve as the token carrot hanging on the back of the pack in front of you.