Primal Quest Utah 2006

Well Primal Quest definitely turned out to be everything we thought it would be before hand, long, hot and sandy. The heat hit us as soon as we exited the car for the first time and it wasn’t until we left that we felt any real respite from the heat.

The usual gear and skill checking circus was stretched out even more than usual with it taking two leisurely days fro us to get through the whole process. Our team was also unlucky enough to have to share a cabin with another team, 8 racers, 2 beds and one couch so Gordon and I elected to sleep outside – Gordon took the car and I pitched the tent.

The opening ceremony highlighted how much Americans like to clap and it was comical to see many teams with little chance of finishing hooping and hollering like mad when course director Don Mann was talking about how many teams weren’t going to finish. Must have been looking forward to pulling out I guess.

Once we received our maps and course directions it was all hands on deck trying to plot as much of the course as possible. With 3 ½ hours until the buses left for the start line it was a frantic exercise, though much easier fully rested than it would be later in the race on just a few hours sleep.

The course at first glance looked a bit shorter than anyone had anticipated and if the time predictions were accurate then the winning time looked to be around 90 hours.

Just after midnight, we were crammed onto buses, which marked the start of a week of madness. By the time we reached the start area it was still dark, and as 2 members from each team picked up a horse the other 2 sorted the GPS tracking unit. 2 more hours of chaos and as the sun came up we were off. Horses bolting, riders flying off in all directions and then Gordon atop the largest slowest horse you’ve ever seen wandering off in pursuit of the leaders with the rest of us jogging along side.

The teams with fast horses were gone into the distance and for the next 6 hours, we towed Mr Ed (our horse) as fast as we could to the end of the stage.

The day was definitely heating up and out in the desert, we plugged through fine sand and into the heat of the day. With the temperatures soaring over 100 we past the 4 hour mark just over ½ way through the trek, a little disconcerting as the whole trek was due to take that long we were glad to have taken almost 6 litres of fluid each. We had gone into the trek 1 ¾ hours behind the leaders but as we closed on the end of the section we suddenly passed all of the leading teams bar Nike. Most of them had run out of water and many were throwing up as the heat took its toll. We gave a couple of teams some water as we passed, even more thankful for the fact now that we had carried so much, and as we walked into the TA we found ourselves in 2nd just 15 minutes behind Nike.

The following bike section promised a sleep at the end of it as we were bound to hit a dark zone and we passed through a small town and took the opportunity to tuck into some non-race food. Our only drama was a missing Waypoint marker, which we eventually gave up on and continued on our way, we later found out that none of the teams had found it so it didn’t cause us any dramas.

A 3-hour sleep in the first 24 hours of an adventure race is pure luxury and the next morning we started the river boarding section in good spirits despite our rather cheap looking boards, along with 10 –15 other teams. Team Eastwind from Japan briefly moved into the lead causing mass hysteria on the riverbank from their film crew but by the end, everyone was still together. A few hours of paddling on the next section took us to the start of our first canyoneering section and the first time we would see our food boxes. A group of 6 teams arrived at the first rappel together giving us an enforced rest on top of a massive cliff – baking in the 100 + temps again. We were the 5th team down and then entered a huge Canyon with walls over 100m high on either side. The sun and the heat still penetrated right to the bottom and we received little respite from the heat of the day. We were travelling well, not to worried about the pace the front and just focusing on keeping ourselves healthy. The Navigation was going well and we were sitting within an hour of the lead.

As night fell we entered an amazing slot canyon where we had to climb up and down narrow slots and chimneys and for a while the race seemed to stop for us as we followed this spectacular route for a couple of hours.

One nice thing about racing in such heat was it was also really hot at night and so we could sleep anywhere without getting cold. We chose some warm sand and got a couple of hours sleep on the way back to the boats and then it was off down the river towards some of the more serious treks.

Heading into Mineral Canyon, we were right were we needed to be, within an hour of the lead and feeling good. Martin and Gordon took time out to get medical treatment on their feet and once they were patched up, we were off.

An hour later though and our team was starting to feel the effects of the previous sections and the scorching heat. Sari’s feet started to develop some nasty blisters and our progress waned until barely above a crawl. It is amazing in an Adventure race how you can go from a competitive position to survival mood in such a short space of time. I was also aware that the reverse seems to be able to happen almost as fast, but we had found ourselves in the position we had been trying so hard to avoid and we weren’t even at the halfway mark yet.

Later in the night we passed through a Canyon named Hell Roaring Canyon, supposedly spectacular we couldn’t see much as we rappelled over 120 metres into it. A shame to miss it but an hour later it was completely lit up in an incredible display of lightning that lasted an hour and also brought a refreshing burst of rain.

Spirits were lifted a little with the first light and the thought of getting off the feet and onto the bikes was a welcome one for all of us.

Another scorching day and within 10 km, disaster threatened to finish our race. Martin’s free wheel on his bike had chosen today as the day to stop working. As we pedalled along Martin was stuck freewheeling on the spot as it failed to engage with the gears.

Sitting on the side of the road with no shade in close to 40 degrees, we found a bit of movement in the cluster and discovered if we kept it pushed in, it would engage as normal. The plan rapidly took place that we would try to build a spacer to push off the frame and hold it in place – hopefully resulting in normal operation. So, what do you build a spacer out of in the desert with a knife as a tool, some compulsory AR gear and no shops for 60 km? First, we tried a d ring from some climbing equipment, too big, then layers of plastic from bike number plates, too fragile. Finally as we about to tow Martin back to the TA to see if the bike boxes held any better options we spied the top ring on the neck of one of our two litre coke bottles, which we’d been using as extra capacity for fluid. It looked about the right thickness, had the right sized hole and would be durable we thought. After 20 minutes of cutting and then whittling and sanding with some rocks, we inserted the spacer and after a little lube, Martin hit the road for a first test run. None of could have believed it would be such a good fit and off we went with a new confidence that we could over come any obstacle.

The following bike was relatively drama free after that, although midday on the slick rock was a little hotter than anyone cared for and the trail was built for riders wanting maximum time on the trail – not fastest way to the finish.

Another day rolled into night and as we passed through Moab it was another pit stop at the local servo – shame there we no mince and cheese pies but it was still nice to have a change of food.

Morning found us at the transition to the Mountaineering leg. We were now getting to see that the remaining 4 legs were going to take about 4 days, and any dreams of a 90 hour winning time had long since vanished.

A bit of navigation to the first point and then onto a compulsory route, which in a sleep deprived state, was incredibly hard to understand. I felt like my brain had turned into scrambled eggs. Things were progressing very slowly as sore feet keep the tempo low and then a miss-plotted checkpoint cost us half an hour. And that’s where the section got interesting. For all who thought everyone was lost on the GPS – this was the orienteering section. The first two teams had just finished and the course times were around 5-6 hours. With a little daylight left, we set off and things were going well, 3 CP’s in and hour and a half. By now Sari’s feet were deteriorating badly and so we stopped to patch them up, not a short stop by any means as Doctors Martin and Gordon showed their prowess with a needle, some duct tape and some antiseptic. Everyone was also tired so we decided to stay put and get a couple of hours sleep. On waking, we collected the remaining 2 CP’s and trudged wearily towards the end of the section. Although we had taken 9 ½ hours with more than 3 hours of stops, we had actually caught team Spider and lost no extra time to the other teams around us. Funny how things work out. The remaining part of the Mountain trek took us on a long traverse with two 5,000-foot climbs to finish with. Here Kiwi Team Orion, who were racing smart and looked strong, caught us. Later that day we also saw Team Crested Butte who somewhat controversially taken a 10-hour penalty instead of doing the orienteering course. So armed with 10 hours sleep they were now storming through the field.

The second to last section was a fun ride down Onion creek, which included a short section on the famous Kokopeli trail and down to the final TA.

A flagged route took us in circles on the way to the final magnificent ropes course. At times, we were heading in the opposite direction to what we needed to go and it was hard to believe we hadn’t taken a wrong turn.

The finale was a group of towers on top of a tall spine. Castleton, the Rectory and the Pope. It was over 400 metres from the valley floor to the top of the spine and then each tower was over 100 meters high. As we reached the top of the spine, Sari was really in a bad way and finding the going very tough. When one of the climbing guides asked if she was OK to continue it all just about became too much and it took us a while to reassure her and convince her that she’d be able to complete the rope section and make it the final few steps to the finish. Just as we were finally getting set for the first ascent the sky started lighting up around us and the guides scrambled to get everyone down off the towers as lightning storm hit the area. We spent the next 9 hours huddled under a ledge trying to stay dry and warm until morning came and the lightning moved out of the area. As we ascended Castleton, the views were amazing as was the exposure. Back down the other side then another ascent up the Rectory. A short walk across the top and then a hair raising Tyrolean across to the Pope and an abseil to finish.

During the night, team Halti had been able to continue walking towards the ropes site and as we embarked on the ropes, they joined us. For us a bitter pill to swallow as we had been in 10th, the last place for prize money, and fairly secure with about 7-8 hours lead. Now only a few hours from the finish we had been caught and had no certainty that we would be credited any time for the hold up due to the lightening. The final couple of hours trekking saw a definite edge in the team dynamics as each member played out different scenarios for themselves. A final 2-mile kayak to the finish and after 7 days the finish line was just a few short minutes away. As we walked down the finish chute, the team collectively broke into huge smiles as the announcers confirmed that we had snuck into the top 10 and into the money. After just over 7 days racing, less than 20 hours sleep and 450 miles of racing it was time to relax, enjoy a beer and take in the experience.

Although the result was a huge disappointment for all of us on the team, we all took something positive from it. The reality in racing is things often don’t go as you plan them. That is racing. How you deal with them and the experience you have when it does turn to custard are often the basis of greater learning for future races and better stories for the campfire.