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.

The Raid World Championship will be on NBC this weekend. The RAID will be part of the Jeep World of Adventure Sports show on November 11th. Check your local listings for the air time and don’t forget to tune in!

The people who have brought you the Blue Ridge Mountain Adventure Race for the past 9 years will be hosting the 2008 USARA National Championship Race. 2007 with mark the 10th year of the race and I believe it may be the longest running adventure race in the United States. Blue Ridge has long been one of my favorite outdoor playgrounds. Blue Ridge, GA is within a short 1.5 hour drive from my house and features fun paddling, great single track, and plenty of trails and FS roads to ride and run. The race will definitely have plenty of hills!

The following is an email from Mike Kloser of team Nike:

Hi gang, I'm sorry to lump this together as one to all, but I'd like to ask
a favor from you. We've been informed, that if we can get a number of
individuals to take a moment and email this link

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?page=contact/espntv

with a few of positive comments on the programming, ESPN would likely take a
more vested interest in the TV programming and money they invest into the
sport.

Its a fill in the blank form, and only takes a couple of minutes. Maybe
just as simple as, Enjoyed the show, Found the show interesting, Great TV
production, Good racing action, Would love to see more of this on ESPN,
Best stuff since Eco Challenge, etc. You get the picture and if you thought
something should have been shown differently, add you thoughts.

This could really make a big difference in the sport for us.

If you know of anyone else who enjoyed the show, please pass this along.

Thanks for taking a moment,

Mike

I think what Mike suggested is a good idea. No one at ESPN will know how much we enjoyed the show unless we tell them. So start typing!

Also, ESPN2 is airing Primal Quest Utah again on the following dates:

ESPN2, Fri Oct 20 03:00pm EDT
ESPN2, Fri Oct 20 04:00pm EDT
ESPN2, Wed Oct 25 03:00pm EDT
ESPN2, Thu Oct 26 01:00am EDT
ESPN2, Fri Oct 27 02:00pm EDT
ESPN2, Fri Oct 27 03:00pm EDT

In case you have been in a hole, Primal Quest is on TV this week. The mini series started yesterday and will air every day until Saturday (except Friday). The first 4 episodes are on ESPN2 and the last is on ABC. Each show is in glorious HD! My favorite line from episode one: “I came to suffer”. Check your local listings for correct time and channel information.