The Primal Quest Website has re-launched today, just five days before online registration opens for the 2008 race. Along with the site re-design, the dates for next year’s race has also been announced. PQ 2008 will kick off on June 21st and run through July 2nd. 75 coed teams of four will be racing for the $100,000 prize, which is down from the $250k prize in years.
It’s good to see PQ taking steps towards returning next year. I’m sure the top teams will be registering for the race, as it has earned itself a reputation of being the most challenging and grueling of all the major races. Primal Quest returns with a new sponsor, but will continue to be raced in the United States somewhere in the western states. The location and course have yet to be announced, but you can bet that it’ll be a long, tough race.
The new site looks good. It’s lean, easy to navigate, and offers up some good info. I’m sure they’ll be posting more updates and info in the months ahead. The real question remains though, can anyone win this race other than Nike?
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I’m astounded at the cost of this race over last year. I’m sure they won’t have any problem selling it out again, but I wish that they would explain why the cost went up by more than 50%. Plus requiring a support crew means getting 6 people to the race not just 4 which will drive up the cost even further.
You’re not the only one. I saw a number of comments over at Check Point Zero questioning the same thing. That’s a pretty substantial increase in fees, and when you consider a lot of teams are international, you have to wonder if it’ll have an impact on the teams that enter. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.
So they raised the entry fee substantially, and cut the prize money by more than half. Hmmm…
Hopefully the scaled back website isn’t any indication of things to come with the race. Among the things that made Primal Quest special were the t.v. coverage and being able to follow teams live. Looks like both of those are gone.
I wouldn’t judge too quickly on what we seen on the website currently in regards to team tracking and TV deals. They have nearly a year until the race gets under way, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few things fall into place by then.
I think the TV deal will be a tough sell, as ratings weren’t great on ESPN last year, but one of the smaller networks might pick it up. I think it would find a good home on the VS. network, which was formerly the Outdoors Channel. I always enjoy their coverage of the Iditarod, and it doesn’t take them months to air it.
I think we’ll see some form of team tracking on the website by the time the race gets underway. All the major races offer that now, and it’s been a staple on past Primal Quests.