2004 Subaru Primal Quest

[ODB]

I wanted to post this race report since it covers many extrodinary events that happened in the adventure racing world during the biggest adventure race in the US last month.

2004 Subaru Primal Quest

Captains report by Nathan Fa’avae

We left New Zealand 5 days before the race and travelled through Seattle to Anacortes, a small seaside town in Washington State. Because the race this year was not expected to have high altitude it meant we could do all our training and last minute preparation at home.

From what we had read and heard, we were expecting lots of sea kayaking in the race, and once we got there we could see why, off the coast was hundreds of islands including the Orcas islands which is where we learnt the race would start and finish.

With our support crew we travelled by ferry to the Orcas Island and started getting ready for the race. With the gear check and skills testing out of the way the next day was the race prologue, a short 2-3 hour multi sport race which would decide the start order for the main race start. Teams would go off in groups of six in 2 minute intervals based on their finish order of the prologue.

What this translated to was that the last team would start a maximum of 20 minutes behind the first team, which in a 130-140 hour race, is totally insignificant.

We decided the best place to finish the prologue was in 6th place, this meant we would start the race with front group but expend minimal energy to do so. Even at a very relaxed easy pace we finished the prologue in 3rd .

The next morning was race start, which began with an 80km sea kayak back to the mainland. Having been given the entire course we estimated the winning time to be about 130-140 hours. With that in mind we developed a race strategy that would be extremely conservative for the first 60-70 hours. We would not run during those first 2-3 days to look after our feet, we would sleep 2 hours each day and we would not get caught up in the racing. Although it is a risk to race conservatively, we have learned from experience that most of the time it pays off.

By the end of the first day the race was starting to shape up. Teams AROC and Montrail had opted for the go hard approach and build up a lead in which to protect, while us and Team Nike has chosen the slow start option with the hope we would be racing very fast over the final 50-60 hours. Our team believed we could shut down a 5-6 hour gap in 48 hours if we had to so our plan was to not get any further back than that from the leaders, and to try and stay in the top 6-7 teams.

The thing about race strategy is there is no one answer to success, it’s is more about making a plan that suits the team and race and sticking to it, sometimes it will work, and sometimes it won’t.

The first part of the race was very challenging. The sea kayak leg was fantastic, linking islands back to the mainland. We did this section at a leisurely pace making sure we stopped regularly to eat plenty of food, and setting the tone for our conservative race start. Although we came off the paddle in second place, we were not racing. This was followed by a trek which was made challenging due to the maps not being an accurate representation of what was really there, and then we were on to the section of the race I am embarrassed to admit we do, the scootering.
At the end of day 1 us, Montrail and AROC were all together. Before heading out on the mountain bike leg our team took a 1 hour sleep. Montrail and AROC continued.
The following leg was quite possibly the worst mountain bike ride I have ever done, and I am still unsure of why such a leg was included in the race. We ended up carrying our bikes nearly the whole time and suffered unnecessary bike damage.
Due to unsafe snow conditions the climb up Mount Baker was cancelled so we completed the ride before doing a lake walk to the next TA.

Before entering the TA Nike caught us up and both teams stopped for a 2 hour sleep.
Montrail and AROC having not slept were building a lead of 3-4 hours.

Kristina discovered that donuts were now her favourite race food and endeavoured to do the rest of the race fueled by the sugar coated fat rings.

The next mountain bike ride was quite possibly the 2nd worst ride I have ever done, and I was regretting having such a nice bike for the race. We spent much of the night with Nike carrying our bikes through forest. The course was challenging, no doubt about that, but it was not rewarding, and it was really a struggle to stay positive about what we were doing. At the next TA we decided to sleep once again for 90 minutes before biking to the orienteering section. At this point Montrail and AROC had about a 6 hour lead on us, but because we had had 5 hours of sleep, we were not concerned at that stage. We decided though, that if we could, we would not let the gap get any bigger.

We biked up a very long mountain road to reach the orienteering section. Shortly before we reached the TA Nike came biking back down the hill and informed us the race was closed, there had been accident. We knew this was extremely bad news.

When we got back to the TA we were informed that Nigel, a friend and respected competitor was killed in rock fall. The race stopped for the night. Our team was very upset by the news and spent a very sombre night together with our crew.
At the time of the accident we were in 4th place, 2 hours behind Nike and 6 hours behind AROC and Montrail.

The next day there was a flower ceremony for Nigel and the teams had a chance to express their views on what they wanted to happen. The decision was made to continue the race, and that it would start at midnight. With Montrail and AROC out of the race it meant Nike were in first and we were second. However, because the race could not be restarted at the original time gaps for logistical reasons, time adjustments were made. This meant we started 30 minutes behind Nike.

The next stage was a mountain bike ride which we totally screwed up and spent 2 hours in a river at night with our bikes, in a very dangerous situation. We ourselves were very lucky that no one was injured or even worse, killed. This put us back into 10th place. Although this was bad news, we were so thankful to all be safe we didn’t care about the placing, and continued racing with a celebration that we were all alive. As the day went by we passed teams and a 12 hour hike and rope skills leg enabled us to move back into 3rd place. However, we were 2 hours behind Nike after this day, due to being stuck in the river. This part of the course was great and a credit to the course designers. We thoroughly enjoyed these parts. We could ride our bikes, the hiking was beautiful with good navigational challenges, and the ropes were spectacular.

The good news for us was that it was a dark zone, and Nike could not get on the river until the next morning, so both teams were in the TA by 8pm and had to wait until 6am to start the final kayak to the finish. For us this meant we would more than likely win the race. Nike had to no way of beating us in a kayak of that length so we went to bed that night thinking the next day we were doing a kayak race with a winning prize of $100000USD…with no competition since Montrail and AROC were out of the race.

We started 5 minutes behind Nike and soon caught them. However, on the way down the river we talked as a team how we were going to win the race and how that would feel, in light of Nigel’s death and also the fact that Nike had been severely disadvantaged with the time adjustments. We decided that we didn’t deserve the win and that Nike had been kicking out butt for 2 days. When we caught Nike we offered them a draw, a share of first place and the prize money. Short of letting them win the race and us taking second, it seemed like the best sporting gesture we could do, because at the end of the day, it’s not our fault we are such a strong kayaking team.

Out of respect for Nigel and AROC, and team Nike, we raced side by side all day to cross the finish line together.

Our goal was to win Primal Quest, and we felt in control of our race until the tragic accident, and although it feels great to have crossed the line with Nike, first out of the remaining teams, it does not feel like we achieved our goal.

The 2004 Primal Quest goes to Nigel.

Our team spirit was high and we performed well together, we supported each other and worked hard. In light of all that happened, we still had fun and enjoyed the adventure, because even though Nigel has moved on, lucky for us…life still goes on.

I am back home as my wife Jodie is due to have a baby in the next week. The team are heading to New York for the second Balance bar before we go to Outdoor Quest at the end of October to defend our title from last years victory.

It is often said that sport is a metaphor for life, and that an adventure race is a condensed version of life where you pack a years worth of thoughts, feelings, experiences and emotions into one week…the 2004 Primal Quest was one of those weeks.