World-class adventure race coming to South Dakota

In August, 38 teams of adventure racers from around the world will decend upon South Dakota to participate in Primal Quest.

Primal Quest is an annual race that this year is called Primal Quest Badlands. The event Web site sums up the race this way: "Primal Quest Badlands is an expedition-level adventure race in which endurance athletes from around the world will compete with one another and against a 600-mile (965+ kilometer) wilderness course."

According to information from the state Office of Tourism, the 600-mile South Dakota Primal Quest course is the longest in the race’s history. The race begins Aug. 14 and will take coed teams of four through the Badlands, Black Hills and Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.

The ultra-challenging nature of the race is revealed in this quote from Paulette Kirby, leader of the team from South Dakota: “This group has one goal in 2009 and it is to get all four of us to the Primal Quest Badlands finish line,” Kirby recently told the state Office of Tourism. “No home team has ever finished a Primal Quest race and we certainly hope to do just that.”

To learn more about South Dakota’s team, visit their Web page at http://sdprimalquestteam.wikispaces.com/.