This past Friday, Andy Thompson of the Richmond Times Dispatch wrote a great article on the first Primal Quest Sprint Series event held at Pocahontas State Park, not far from Richmond, VA last weekend. An excerpt follows:

All I could think about, waist deep in a swamp in Pocahontas State Park, was the ominous prerace briefing from race director Joe Moerschbaecher: “We saw a lot of snakes out there, so be careful.”

That and a scene from the classic’80’s movie “Stand By Me” that takes place in a mucky marsh similar to the one I was in and ends with this realization: “Leeches!”

To read the rest of Andy’s PQSS race report click here. 

Photo by Will Ramos 

The GoFAR Podcast has posted another great interview today, this time with John Stann of <a href=”http://www.racedayfilms.net/”>Race Day Films</a>. John talks about his experiences with adventure racing, both as a competitor and as a videographer. Amongst John’s recent projects was filming the first Primal Quest Sprint Series race in Pocahontas State Park, Virginia last weekend. The interview gives us a glimpse of what it takes to cover an adventure race event such as PQSS.

Click here to listen to the interview in it’s entirety.

Photo by Will Ramos

Another excellent race report from the first ever Primal Quest Sprint Series. This one comes from Caroline Brosius and offers up even more great insights into what racers can expect in future Primal Quest Sprint Series events. And when you’re done reading Caroline’s report, check out the full results from Saturday’s race on our Results Page.

A typical Don Mann production: PQSS #1 off with a Splash!

Saturday morning, driving south on I95 from Northern Virginia in a torrential downpour, Chris Rumohr (A-list Ambassador) and I were beginning to wonder what we would find at Pocahontas State Park, just south of Richmond VA. Weather reports were of 4”+ of rain and it wasn’t looking promising, but we had faith.

After doing OAR events for nearly 10 years I am nearly convinced Don Mann has an “in” with the weather gods; torrential rains to “prep” the course and the absolutely perfect weather to race in.

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UPDATE: RESULTS NOW POSTED! 
Photos by Will Ramos are now available online. Visit www.waramos.com for more info. Enjoy!

The first ever Primal Quest Sprint Series Race took place over the weekend at the Pocahontas State Park located near Richmond, Virginia. More than 20 teams lined up for this inaugural event, and a great time was had by racers and PQ staff alike.

Greg Yetter from SleepMonsters.com has written a great race report that can be found here. Alternatively, Chris Webster of The A-List has graciously submitted this wonderful race report below to give us all a sense of what Saturday was like.

Team A List — Chris Webster (The A List™) & Caroline Brosius (Super AR & world class paddler) –represented at the inaugural Primal Quest Sprint Series Adventure Race on May 10, 2008 at Pocahontas State Park, Richmond, Virginia. Short Story: The Richmond Virginia area venue is beautiful and the PQSS format is most excellent.

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The Primal Quest Sprint Series Virginia Newsletter is now available. The newsletter contains important information for competitors and volunteers alike, as the PQ Sprint Series kicks off this weekend with it’s inaugural event at Pocahontas State Park, Virginia.

The Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine has written a nice profile of the Primal Quest Sprint Series. Here’s an excerpt:

It’s been called one of the most difficult athletic events in the world, and now a little piece of it is coming to the South. Primal Quest is an annual high-profile expedition-length adventure race that finds the toughest competitors shelling out thousands of dollars to tackle some of the toughest terrain in the country. Past events have taken racers into the Utah desert and the remote San Juan Mountains of Colorado for over 400 miles of mountain biking, climbing, trekking, and paddling. But running an event of this magnitude—coverage has included spots on ABC and ESPN—is no easy task, and last year race organizers considered ending the event for good. Suddenly to the rescue came Don Mann, a former Navy SEAL and adventure racing pioneer from Virginia Beach, Va., who formerly owned promotion company Odyssey Adventure Racing, which produced the epic BEAST of the East adventure race. Mann sold Odyssey with no intention of returning to the sport, but out of nowhere, opportunity came knocking.

Read the rest of the article by clicking here. 

Front Royal, Virginia – Production company Race Day Films, LLC announces sponsorship of the Primal Quest Sprint Series.  As a part of sponsorship, Race Day Films will shoot the first ever Primal Quest Sprint Series race on 10 May at Pocahontas State Park, Virginia.

“We are very pleased with our new relationship with Primal Quest,” said Race Day Films founder John Stann.  “The Primal Quest Expedition Adventure Race is heralded as the “World’s Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition”, and I am sure the shorter, faster Primal Quest Sprint Series races will be incredible too.”  “We are also proud to support the Virginia film industry by shooting at Pocahontas State Park,” added Director Kevin Hershberger.

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