The G-Rant : Grant's Rants on Adventure Racing

June 2007 - Posts

• PQ-Untamed Date

  I got a bit of bad news last night, all revolving around PrimalQuest.  Despite a 60 minute  in-person sit-down meeting with Don Mann (the CEO of PQ) where he assured me that I could move forward with a June 21st, 2008 race up in New England -- the 60-hour Untamed New England adventure race -- and that PQ would be held in April or May next year . . . PrimalQuest announced yesterday their race will start on June 21st, 2008.  Don actually commented, in our April meeting, that bigger races need to cooperate on dates and it's important that we work together.  Now, I met with Don back in April and we discussed a couple of different things, but the whole date thing is really disappointing.  I get the impression PQ is struggling for direction and, if they don't find a sponsor to buy down the $12,500 entrance fee per team, they may not even have a race.  Maybe this race date issue is nothing to get worked up about? Don't get me wrong, I'm not under the impression that after our meeting, Don Mann circled the June 21st date with blood and summoned his pack of evil monkeys to start working on a June 21st race start for PQ.  Don wasn't gunning for me or the Untamed New England race.  He probably just forgot and/or doesn't care.  Untamed and I just don't warrant the concern and respect, in their eyes.  It's not the first time Don has been part of an adventure race date conflict, after all, and I don't think this is nearly the magnitude of what went down between eco-challenge and Don Mann's Beast in 2000.  It's just frustrating, particularly when we've been trying to work with PQ in so many other ways (technology, GPS tracking, etc).  So, it is frustrating to be disrepected so clearly -- even if it is unintentional.  Meanwhile, what do to about the race date for Untamed New England?  We were poised to launch registration in a few weeks with the following specifics: -Fee at $375/racer (around $1200 per team) -Fee includes 2 nights lodging (pre and post race) -No support crews allowed (we stage all gear), and we source all watercraft, PFDs, and paddles -A beautiful 200 mile, 60-hour course with real navigation, multiple rope sites (along the lines of tyrolean, rappel, mechanical ascending, etc), and truly untamed terrain -Race start around mid-day Thursday June 19th, race finish late Sat June 21st or ealy Sun June 22nd. There's three main directions to move in, the first being do nothing and forge ahead with a race weekend of June 21st, 2008.  There's no guarantee PQ will even hold a race, let alone keep the date they've advertised.  Plus, our event could get some additional publicity as the anti-PQ or "anti-quest" . . . the real grassroots race effort for June 2008. The second option would be to move it up a month into late May.  This might make the event appealing as a pre-PQ tune up for some teams, and let us have exclusive attention for the race.  This would also let me play nice with all the PQ folks and, honestly, the PQ staff I know are all  very good people . . . except, perhaps, for Will Ramos who is a bit of delinquent (that's a joke, in case you missed it) . . . but it would make those interactions much more friendly.  May has more unpredictable weather, however, and if I found 30-degree temps near the summits of some of the peaks on the Untamed course in June . . . May could feature snow and even more hypothermic conditions.  Plus, all our permits are in place for a June 21st race weekend and I'm not sure I can change them all, particularly for some of the alpine areas.  The third option would be to move the race later into 2008, but the Untamed New England region gets swamped later in the year and prices for hotels, outfitters, etc all climb dramatically.  I'd like to keep my per person race fee as close to $300 as possible and that may not be feasible with an Aug or Sept race date. So, what do I do?  You'll have to stay tuned, or add your two cents in the comments and let me know what you think.  What I'm doing right now is boxing up some bikes to be shipped to our new address in Zurich and focussing on packing up.  Tomorrow we fly to Switzerland so you'll probably be in suspense for a week or two regarding this issue . . . Posted Jun 27 2007, 10:20 AM by gkillian with 10 comment(s)

• Day 2 and counting . . .

  Cars are sold, just a bit of  fun to be had up here before we head across the Atlantic.  This area reminds me a lot of Denver and Boulder, Colorado.  There are always lots of bicycles on the roads and there is a vibrant outdoor-feel to the area.  It's very cool.  I'm wondering what the vibe will be like over in Zurich . . . and to what level I'll integrate into the culture.  I've been told that there is an international "brotherhood of orienteers" and that at the first O-meet I attend, after they realize I'm just a guy looking for some lactic acid and orange and white flags, they'll take me under their wing.  By the way, I may have some info to share soon on the upcoming Untamed Adventure Camp & Guide Service to be sweeping into Zurich later this year! Posted Jun 26 2007, 09:28 AM by gkillian with 1 comment(s)

• Day 3 and counting . . .

  With just 3 full days remaining between now and our flight over to Europe, our living situation is getting very interesting.  We're selling both our cars today, and I solemnly disassembled my roof rack last night -- someday I'll have another Subaru to mount it on.  Someday . . . We've got a full storage unit in Virginia, and a good start on filling Jill's family's upstairs and garage with our extra boxes and things.  Too many things.  And not just outdoor gear, too many clothes, books, shoes, bags, just too much stuff.  This move has been a great opportunity to eliminate all the excess stuff we've been storing in our homes and heads.  We're getting back to a more simple existence, like in college, where you can fit your entire life into one car.  We're going to carry our entire life onto a plane, including pets, and take it from there.  Except I'm cheating a bit by shipping two bikes and extra gear in those bike boxes.  And we might ship some linens and other things.  OK, we may end up cheating a lot but the point is we've reduced our immediate possessions down to a respectable 7 pieces of luggage and for an adventure racer who has (or had) gear up the wazoo . . . that's pretty good. So long as I have my bike over there, or a credit card to acquire a new bike, or a very generous Gary Fisher rep with an affinity for adventure racing, I should keep sane while we get to know Switzerland. Day 3 is also significant since I'll get my official direction for my new computer nerd work today.  I'll be working remotely to build out some of their software platform.  Yes, it will serve the adventure racing market but in my honest opinion I think it's wiser to focus on triathlon, marathon, and the other "big participant" sports where the business can build a bigger customer base.  Adventure racing is a passion of mine, but I'm realistic when I look at the market and winning 5% of the triathlon market means more revenue than 50% of adventure racing.  Our recent experiment with live tracking went very well from a technology standpoint, and I know future Untamed events will sparkle with interactivity and live race coverage; the end product on the public website needs some work in terms of performance, but I think my official marching orders from The Works will be in a totally different direction.  Just my hunch.  It may mean we don't pursue PrimalQuest as a client, but a start-up business can't put all its eggs into the PQ basket and there are some other areas more promising to move in. Posted Jun 25 2007, 08:51 AM by gkillian with 1 comment(s)

• Short race inside a long race

  We're weighing our options with the race next summer, and a comment to a previous post here continues to spur us on.  We're looking at a 55-60 hour course for Untamed New England and considering mixing in a 15-hour "short" course in conjunction.  The economics are smart: you get more teams on the course, even if it's just part of the course, and the event appeals to a wider range of participants. My question: is 15 hours "short" enough?  We have other options, like doing a 6-hour bike race or a 5 hour paddle race or a 8 hour trek-a-thon  . . . I think you get the idea.  There are lots of ways to split a 55-hour, 200 mile, event into smaller  marketable pieces but what is the right balance?  What can our staff support? Personally, I just want to run the long race so our focus isn't split.  I'm confident we can get 30 teams to the starting line of the long course, which would balance the books and let us just conduct one event. Posted Jun 19 2007, 10:00 AM by gkillian with 6 comment(s)

• Monday morning breakfast thoughts

  I'm about an hour from sending out the wrap-up email to the teams at the Untamed Virginia race . . . but I'm procrastinating just a bit as I drink my morning breakfast (Myoplex -- hope I can find it cheap in Switzerland!). You know it's going to be a good race when I lose a cell phone on the course (precedent was set with the first Storm the Eastern Shore back in 2005).  Well, I lost my phone during some Untamed New England fun and odds of a recovery are very slim.  No matter, we were ditching our cell plan once we moved to Europe so I just got a one week head-start.  If you're itching to reach me, use the toll free 1-877-486-8263 number and I've set it up to forward to Jill's cell for now.  Once we get to Switzerland, we'll be live with a Skype phone and we'll have a US number that will call my computer.  Those clever telecom folks, huh?! We'll have some Untamed Adventure gear for sale later this summer.  I'm ironing out details with a distribution channel up in New England (my sister-in-law) and Axis Gear to offer a high-end technical shirt (like the race shirt for Untamed VA) along with a less fancy t-shirt, probably highlighting Untamed New England and Untamed Virginia events for 2008 . . . Marshall Ulrich has drank the blog kool-aid and is right now racing the Gobi March in Mongolia.  He's started maintaining a web log and you should keep an eye on it for thoughts on endurance and a different angle on Untamed Adventure. It sounds like Primal Quest is back in full force, but with a $12,000+ entrance fee per team I'm not sure how many adventure racers I know will be competing.  They're also requiring a support crew, which I know adds significantly to the cost.  The next PQ is set for the Rocky Mountains in the Spring of 2008, but hopefully not too close to Untamed New England; right now, we're eyeing the weekend of June 21, 2008 for Untamed New England and it'd be nice to have a month or more between these two races.  Now, I'm not comparing Untamed New England to PrimalQuest or anything -- there is a huge difference in terms of scale -- but there may be some overlap of interested teams and North America doesn't get that many multi-day races, after all!  I talked with Don Mann (PQ's new CEO) a few months ago and we're on the same page as far as keeping our races on different schedules for the health of the sport -- plus it means I could potentially help out at PQ or, gasp, race it, but the price tag is way beyond my level of interest.  My epic race for next year could be Patagonia or something else in Europe.  OK, I've procrastinated long enough and need to return to the final captain email for Untamed VA.  It was a tremendous race and teams have been very patient as we sift through the results and move at the same time!  Posted Jun 18 2007, 07:50 AM by gkillian with 1 comment(s)

• Untamed VA Photo Teaser

  Teaser for Untamed VA race photos from Brian Knight (photographer extraordinaire): http://flickr.com/photos/outdoortype/sets/72157600337721904/show/ As I catch up on email (and wrestle the computer back from Jill), I should have time to polish off the Untamed VA race website and get a wrap-up email out to everyone.  More soon! Posted Jun 15 2007, 09:04 AM by gkillian with 1 comment(s)

• Notes from the cowboy hat

  During the last AR, I took to wearing a bright -blue-Kauai-souvenir-lost-in the-back-of-the-closet for-two-years-cowboy hat. I wore it for several reasons: I was feeling a little sassy, I hadn't showered in days, and it decreased confusion with folks trying to find me or the check-in within rather large TAs. For those of you that are concerned by Grant's change of tone, topic and tempo (and weren't at the race to view my beautiful hat first hand) this is his wife, Jill. Sigh, right? As a sidenote, I think that Grant needs some unique feature as well- aside from the floppy curls- I have a  hard time directing people to him. Grant's busy mixing up a protein shake and unloading our cars for the 4th or 5th time and I just can't do it again. My car unloading sprit is broken and I've bartered a short blog for Grant unloading my car instead. Deal. So, we've made it up to New Hampshire after clearing the course (thanks Pike!), sleeping, and playing a little on Bear Creek Lake with Grant's parents.Grant's rather water-phobic dad skippered his very first trolling motor-a day for many a wine glass clink for years to come. At present, we are still carrying cortisone cream with us like the precious (as I'm sure you are as well) and have nightmares about ticks, but are otherwise in good spirits and healthy. I have to say that the support crew, racers, and volunteers in this last race were the best yet-incredible attitudes, perseverence - an inspiring group at the least.  Kudos, cheers, clink, clink. We've hit the ground running (shocker, right?) and are moving ahead with Untamed New England; a couple permits down and a couple more to go! Grant's been generally shocked by the enthusiasm and help from the folks who make the decisions up here ("Really, you'll only be here for 5 hours and from midnight to 5 am? Why don't you check out these couple of logging roads, that could keep you here longer." HUH?). You’ll see more detail with race information as the course solidifies. Question: We are thinking a 50ish hour dream race (but I'm biased) with a 24-30 hour short course (same finish), and we are aiming for a Untamed-supported race (no support crew, we source boats for teams).     Would a short course make a difference with some of you making the trip or would you go for the long one if you participate? Does 50ish hours blow your mind or is NE just too far anyway? We'd love to have some familiar faces on the course. Ok, G's starting to hover with a blender in hand, that's my queue. Hope you are all safe, happy and healthy. -Jill Posted Jun 15 2007, 07:40 AM by gkillian with 10 comment(s)