Will Burnett Bounce Back?

Rob / 28.07.2004

A picture of Mark Burnett, staring boldly at the camera, wearing his trademark broad brimmed hat is the cover shot of the August issue of Adventure Sports Magazine, but it’s the headline about a 2005 Eco-Challenge which grabs your attention. Will it happen again – is Burnett bouncing back?

The feature is about the 20 most influential people in the history of adventure racing, and Mark Burnett comes in at No.1 (ahead of Gerard Fusil, whose Raid Gauloises concept inspired him to make Eco-Challenge). And in his brief profile is the comment that he’s told the magazine Eco-Challenge will be back in 2005 ...

There is no more detail, just that one comment, followed by some qualifications, “…if he’s true to his word”, “… maybe on one of the 4 major networks”. It’s not a story confirmed or released elsewhere yet. The Eco-Challenge web site (which is virtually unchanged since the last race in Fiji in 2002) has this brief statement on the front page reading: “There is no information available at this time regarding future Eco-Challenge events.” And enquiries to former race staff remain unanswered so far.

No doubt their in-boxes are flooded with similar enquiries, because the return of Eco-Challenge would be big news, and a boost to adventure racing around the world. The race is still the best known worldwide, and many racers who promised to do it ‘one-day’ and thought they’d lost the chance, can now hope they will get the opportunity to fulfil that ambition.

Of course, things have changed in adventure racing since the last Eco-Challenge in Fiji. The World Championship format has returned and starts next weekend in Newfoundland with an impressive entry from around the world. The Raid World Championships is now established in place of the Raid Gauloises, and Primal Quest have just announced a TV deal with CBS for the second year running. (One of those 4 networks Eco-Challenge never made it onto.)