2009 Primal Quest to Stay Domestic

Craig Stein / 22.11.2008

By now, most hard-core adventure racing enthusiasts know the location of the next Primal Quest, “The World’s Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition.” The 600+ mile, ten day expedition length, multi discipline race will be held August 15th - 24th, 2009 in the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota, USA. Don Mann Productions and the South Dakota Department of Tourism announced the dates and location of the 6th edition of this legendary adventure Friday, September 26th on location at Custer State Park.
After the extremely successful return of Primal Quest Montana in the Summer of 2008 the organization was focusing on taking the race to several international locations, but that was to change. “We have always enjoyed producing this event in the U.S.,” expressed Race Director Chris Caul. “We had a lot of racer feedback saying they wanted the race to stay domestic.”
Veteran adventure racer Robyn Benincasa, captain of Team Merrell/Zanfell, agrees that the Badlands venue is a positive decision. “I love racing in the United States... I’m so used to packing up everything for airline weight specs and paying way too much in excess baggage fees that driving to a race is a rare treat.”
Robyn, at the time of this interview, had just returned from the Furnace Creek 508 in Death Valley to her home in San Diego, California. She finished the non-stop bike race in 33 hours: 10 minutes. “This was actually my first bike race, believe it or not.” Robyn revealed, “Interestingly, all of the girls on the podium were in the 40-plus age group. Nice to be reminded that we ultra types are actually just hitting our stride in our early 40s! Definitely not a race for the youngsters.”