Well, you get the gist from the post below as to what happened on the trek down to Ennis Lake.

After a quick 30 minute turn-around at the lake, gearing up for the bike to the finish, both DART-nuun and Bones rolled out at the same time. We all expected an uneventful ride to the finish, but we were in for a surprise.

The ride was rough going for both teams. Four tired, sore racers are enough to contend with, let alone eight. So after numerous stops, it was decided that the faster moving team would move on ahead as the ailing Bones suffered through. Ann and Jason both took falls on this section, due to their inability to unclip from their pedals with sore ankles.

Team DART-nuun faster a bit before 1:00am on the 30th and the Bones rolled in roughly 20 minutes afterwards. It was not an easy feat for the Bones to accomplish though, and navigation though the resort parking lot proved to be as harrowing as anything they had seen on the course. After two wrong turns (perhaps the only wrong turns all week), they finally were able to find the finish line tape and to pedal through it.

The spectators at the finish were eagerly awaiting the Bones appearance. We knew they were close. Twice, we all started clapping, as we were sure that they were near, only to stop after a few minutes as they failed to show. We thought that they might be a bit bashful. Or perhaps they just wanted to extend the race battle for third a few more precious moments. But alas, the Bones were just very sore and tired.

Since the glorious moment at the finish line, the team has been doing well. Ann slept from 2:00 - 8:00am. Walt told us he was going to do his laundry. And Jason was up and out at 8:00am to eat a pre-breakfast, before we met as a team for breakfast at 10:00am.

As far as we know, Team Bones has unofficially placed third place in Primal Quest Montana. There will be an announcement today as to when the awards ceremony will happen. We’ll keep you posted. Literally.

Okay… I don’t know about you, but I am really hungry. This typing has really taken its toll on me. So I’m off for breakfast with the Bones.

A big congratulations to the teams that have finished so far. And to those that are still out on the course, our thoughts are with you!

SPOILER ALERT! Team DART-nuun and Team Bones are providing us with an exciting race. You might want to stop reading now and continue watching the tracker if you want the excitement to last another few hours. Otherwise, continue reading.

Both DART-nuun and Bones trekked into CP30 at the same time (7:45pm). And 30 minutes later, they left together. Tight race? Will DART-nuun attempt a last minute (mile) effort to break away? Or will the teams pull together for the last effort to push through to the finish line?

…where alliances are formed.

Gouge from the course (we can call her Karen) is this:  Team DART-nuun was hot on the tails of Team Bones, passed them and worked hard to drop them. It didn’t happen, Team Bones wouldn’t allow it. There was some discussion, and it was decided that both teams would continue the race together and finish together. At some point, Team DART-nuun did become aware of the adavantage that Bones had. I would think that this played a factor in the decision.

For the record, support crews were not given any knowledge of how the other teams “scored” in the O Course. We tried, and it didn’t happen. Our knowledge of the scores for DART-nuun where second-hand (albiet there is a nice blog about it).

Team Bones racked up two 15 minutes naps and a 30 minute nap on the last 35 mile trek. Both teams are planning on riding through to the finish line together and we expect to see them arrive between midnight and 12:30am.

So, we are off to watch the finish!!

DISCLAIMER: This is an Adventure Race and any of the information provided above could become mute at any point of time.

Watch the GoPro Video of the Day #2 (:14).

Man, these guys are simply amazing…

Watching the video of Nike Riding to Victory, it seems to me that I am more fatigued after my few minutes of blogging than they are after 5+ days of racing. I think that I need to slow down and pace myself.

A good read about what it is like to be on the course with them: Traversing the Bridgers with the fastest in the field.

Congratulations on your win, Team Nike!

Checkpoint Zero has a great post on their blog, entitled “Pardon Me, Could You Direct Me To…” In it there is a link to some video, “Primal Quest 2008: NBC Montana Coverage 2.” CP0 discusses the case of whether our own Jason Quinn is asking for directions or giving them out. He can be seen 1:11 into the video. Here is a direct link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RQ0yphaEzh4

Another notable clip in the video, at least to this blogger’s alter ego, is what you see at 1:37. Go see for yourself!

And one more, as long as we are at it. Be sure not to miss reading, “Hooray! A Toilet!”

 

I’ve updated the post below… We have come to find out the Team Bones nailed 4 check points, 3 worth one hour and 1 worth two hours. Team DART-nuun nailed 3, and each of those was valued at one hour.

We can thank both teams for providing us with an exciting finish!

Skipping ahead through the Crazies, to just after the 95 mile bike ride:

Bones arrived at CP20 sometime around 4am. This last bike section (97 miles on Ann’s bike computer) was not so much fun for the team. Close to half was on highway, and 35 miles of it was due north into a 25mph headwind.  Roy and Jason said the team had a hard time maintaining 10mph, and in hilly sections, 6 mph.  Bones took two naps on this section… one for 35 minutes and the other for 5 minutes.  This was necessary because the now extremely tired team was swerving all over the road and Jason took a spill (no wounds however).

Crew spent time during this leg stocking up on groceries from Wally World (aka. Walmart) and buying medical supplies (ankle brace, Tagiderm, and pre-tape/wrap) from both of the two medical supply stores.  Also hit another RV campsite to get/dump water, for Mark and Corey to take a much needed shower and for me to email several photos to my brother to post to this website.

The team slept between 4:30 and 8:00am and left CP20 around 8:30 am for a very tough trek.

This close-to 27 mile leg, through the Bridgers, was brutal… it took Merrel 18 hours to complete this section and their crew informed us the 3rd place Canadian team had been helovaced off due to tendinitis.  Tons of elevation gain with a lot of up-downs.  The crew was originally hopeful Bones would complete this section before sunset.  Thanks to Colin for calling from California at 1am to give us an update… we knew Bones was about 3.5-5 miles from the TA (CP23).  One interesting note about this leg: the trail took them past the Montana State M (white painted rocks on the hillside).

Upon arriving at CP23, no TA lights were on at 2am, so the team wandering in did not have much of a beacon.  We eventually heard voices and saw lights across the lake we were camped next to.  Walter yelled at us (probably after seeing our camper floodlights and blinking headlamps) and eventually made it to the TA check-in (now with lights on).

Overall, the team looked great - very relaxed, smiles, and even some humor.  Apparently the hike was the most beautiful section of the race so far.  It didn’t sound like their route was as technical as Merrel’s.  Ann had two bungee contraptions, one on each ankle.  The ER doc must have done this (Jason).  The bungee was tied from the top of Ann’s gaitor to the toe of her shoe to limit her foot’s downward movement.  The doc said this was tendinitos, that he, Ann, and Walter were all experiencing.  I’ve seen some swollen legs, but their’s were impressive.

Bones decided to get some sleep as soon as possible with a wake up call at 6am.  Walter was eating like a horse (still) - this might have contributed to his very loud snoring.  Ann tried to wake him by grabbing his leg, but this didn’t phase him.  Food here consisted of many, many burritos. Ann needed a tire change. She was riding tubeless, so we just swapped wheels with Roy’s back-up bike.  He was riding his hardtail, a very light Merlin, in lieu of his full-suspension Ellsworth.

I’m going to leave out the story about Walter rendering first aid (Tagiderm) to Roy prior to getting back on the saddle.

Bones is off now for a 65 mile bike (ends at CP25).  We hope to see them between 1 and 2pm.

I think there might be a light at the end of this tunnel.  Great job, Bones!!

BTW: One of my favorite lines of the race so far?  On day #2, Walter said that the only food that sounded good to him was any food that someone else has, that he doesn’t!

Bones arrived at TA12 (CP25) in a smoking time. The team pulled in at 1pm (actually surprising the crew).  The ride was only slightly better than the rest of the rides as far as fun factor. MVP for this last leg was Jason. Wally said that Jason led pace line for 30+ miles straight at a blistering pace.  Great job, Doc!

Ann’s ankles/tendonitis were causing some pretty significant pain so the crew attempted to use one of three new ankle braces purchased on their drive to this TA.  They proved to be too constricting (and really difficult to get into her shoe).  We ended up using the brace already on her foot (and subsequently purchased 2 more during the next trek).

Bones made fast time of this transition and departing for the orienteering/ropes leg in just about an hour.  Walter looked super strong… we put all of the climbing gear into a separate pack and Walter wore this on his chest for the first part of the leg.  Everyone looked strong (except for some interesting gaits).  Also in good spirits.

I have to give some props to Ryan form the Merrell support crew.  He is a great mechanic and fixed 2 of our tires at this transition - one broken valve stem and (believe it) an over-inflated tubeless tire that exploded off the rim (sounded like a bomb went off).  Thanks, Ryan.

This leg consisted of a roughly 4.5 mile hike up river to the start of the ascent.  Ann told me this portion was tough, especially so because of hurting feet.  The first portion was a free climb where the team would be assessed a 30 minute penalty if they touched the rope.  Bones did not.  This led to a series of (3 I think) pitches with about 1500 ft of gain.  All pitches contained multiple tie offs, so the entire ascent was tough going.  Bones made it through this section in about 2.5 hours.  The orienteering course consisted of 10 checks, all but two worth 1 hour of time credit.  The two furthest checks were worth 2 hours.

This checks were located on 2 mtns with about 2k of gain, so it wasn’t easy.  Bones arrived at the lest check at the top of a final rappel of this section.  The rappel was just NE of the TA so the support crew was able to watch Merrell rappel off earlier in the day.  It’s a whole different story when you watch your team do it at midnight.  To get to the top of the rappel, teams have to rope in and cross a small ledge about 200 ft long (and 3 ft wide).  Nuun made the crossing and rappel just in front of Bones, so both teams were visible at the same time.  At least their headlamps were.

Nuun hit the TA about 15 minutes and immediately went to bed… we overheard discussion of a 3 hour nap.  Bones checked in and immediately prepped to start the net leg, a 31 mile trek east through the Gallatin Mtn Range.  Their turn was fast (just 1 hour).  Again, everyone looked strong despite their funny way of walking.  We hooked Ann up with her 2nd ankle brace.  There was also a blogger from Checkpoint Zero taking some really good shots of her foot care session at this TA.  (The team has a toolbox dedicated solely to foot care.)

Giddy up - almost forgot to mention Bones located 4 checks. One of those was worth 2 hours.  Nuun located 3.

Bones departed at 1am on their last trek.  One more bike after that (b/w 35 and 40 miles).  We’re crossing our fingers they all finish safely.  And a 3rd place finish wouldn’t hurt.

Currently, the total bike mileage off Ann’s bike computer is 281 miles.

We love them. The team loves them. The bloggers love them. And you, the commenters love them. We all love them!!

Keep them coming. The comments are moderated, so we need to “approve” them to be posted once you press “Submit” (hence the update will not be immediate). But we will approve them, eventually.

A big warm thanks to those that have posted!

A few great links to monitor the race:

1) http://www.ecoprimalquest.com/leaderboards-and-tracking/map.php

2) http://www.ecoprimalquest.com/wp-primal/pq-news-archives/

3) http://www.checkpointzero.com/primalquest/

4) http://checkpointzero.com/ (SPO PQ Blog, News from PQ HQ, Team Merrel/Zanfel)

A favorite post (that leaves little to envy):

1) http://www.ecoprimalquest.com/wp-primal/2008/06/24/so-about-that-whitewater/

After the last TA, we drove to UTA 5 to drop off bikes.  It turns out Jason had two flats in his brand new tubes (with Stans)… Corey did a great job of fixing with tubes and we headed off to the next TA.

Off to TA6, this was a beautiful spot on the Yellowstone River (Carbella) and made it there at about 3 pm.  I must mention the drive here.  The driving directions were awful, road signs didn’t exist, and road conditions were, well, dirt for 30+ miles.  Mark, Corey and I also had a funny mental moment trying to determine if our rig weighed more than 6 tons.  We did this as we sat looking at a bridge with this posted load limit and some angry water underneath.  We made it…

Yellowstone River was amazing (with fast/large volume water), but seemingly less daunting then the rapids we experienced on the duckies/river boarding.

The support crew did much hanging out here and finally made it to bed between 8:30 an 10 pm (after 3 hrs of sleep the night before).  A TA volunteer woke me up in my tent at 11:30 pm to let us all know the river leg was cancelled - the teams would have to bike this 73 mile leg of the race.  (Yep, looked Ann’s computer after these 3 back-to-back bike legs… 136 miles!)

Back to bed with a little uncertainty about when the team would arrive.  We were okay, the Bones arrived at 11:30 am (ish), about 24 hours after we last saw them.  Everyone looked to be in great shape and they made a quick turn of it.  Only 25 minutes in this TA.  The only good scoop was that Bones slept 25 minutes last night in a wood shed.  I later asked who spooned who, and never got the answer.

One thing - failed to mention about the first night of the race.  3 river crossings, very dangerous and Ann and Walter are not big fans.  The team had to go arm-in-arm (4 across) and still felt like it was treacherous.  Giddy up!

Off to TA7 (Otter Creek on the Yellowstone), we drove part of the route racers were taking.  We managed to take some really good photos (Mark) of our team (and Nuun) riding some beautiful back country roads.  I also took video of the Yellowstone.

Very funny… the crew (us) made a grocery run in Livingston on the way to TA7.  While loading the truck up, I glanced next door at the gas station and what do I see?  Bones hanging out at the quick stop picking up some sodas.  I later learned Ann needed a little caffeine - can you believe Ann drank a soda?

Otter Creek was at another beautiful spot on the Yellowstone.  Crew arrived at 5ish and the team made it there about 7:30.  Again everyone looked in great shape, although not too fond of the long flat ride (aka boring for them).  In my mind, I’d be more enthused about that then 20k ft of climbing! Ann recited Bones’s wildlife spotting for the trip…the only ones I remember are the 5 snakes (4 of them dead), an assortment of deer/elk/antelope and one bear that turned out to be a stump.  (Ann had bear spray in hand!). The team sorted gear and then headed to the camper to sleep from 8 to 10:30 pm.  A really nice thunder/lightning/wind/rain storm nearly blew away most of our gear, but Bones barely noticed.  We’re all waterproof, right?  And it is an Adventure Race…

Walter woke up at 10pm and said he felt so good he thought he overslept… what an animal!  The team left in really good spirits to do another 25 miles or so and to drop bikes at the bottom of the Crazy Mountains (start of a 35 mile trek).

The crew spent the night at Otter Creek and left early in the morning to pick up bikes at the bike drop and proceed to TA9.  The route to the bike drop was primarily dirt, through some amazing farm land and rolling hills…all the while watching the Crazy Mtns.  I have a good picture I will try to post.  The volunteer at the bike drop said there were 3 bear spottings in the last 24 hrs… one really close to their camp.

This bike leg and trek would take racers from 4k ft to 10k ft, and they would hit that elevation twice.  Snow shoes were required, so it was fun to see them on their bike with snow and running shoes strapped to their packs.

Crew is now at TA9.  We expect Bones to arrive in the next hour or so (it is now 4:45 pm).  We’ve made sammies, chicken and sundried tomatoe patties, Uncle Ben’s rice and assorted fruit dishes (special Walter request).  BTW, last night we used Wendy’s recipe (thank you!) to make Ann’s favorite race food.  Whole wheat pasta spirals, spinach, feta and garbanzo beans.  The team really liked this.  Wally really liked the cinnamon buns… Mark had been wanting to buy some from day #1.

More to follow…

Day #1: 

We set the alarm for 6am, but of course there wasn’t much need for it.  Everyone was eager to finish last minute packing and complete final preparations (i.e., prepping feet with medication and tape) for the big race.  Things went smooth and by 8:15am, the racers were lounging in the room as the support crew waited outside. 

The line-up occurred at 9am with a few last minute instructions from the race staff and final check-in.  By 10am everyone was in place for the start.  The race kicked off at 10:05 sharp (had to wait for the media helicopter to arrive).

Almost forgot to mention the weather.  It was very cold this morning (coldest it’s been in the last week) with a big layer of fog settled in the valley.  Like clock-work, it lifted at 10am.  The view after that was amazing…

Racers set off like a line of ants up the hill.  From where we watched (at the Resort - TA1/parking lot), we could see the top groups reach the summit with racers just making it to the half-way point. 

You can get the times from the website, but our team did great making it in and out of the TA in 5^th place.  Everyone looked great.  We were sorry to hear the sleds got minimal use on the mountain.  Oh, and Jason lost bear spray somewhere.  Do you know how much that stuff costs?  $45!!!

So, with a long next leg, the support crew hung out at the Resort for a few more hours (yes, there are nice showers there) and then left for TA2.  We saw a few teams in the vicinity of Mountain Village.

It’s tent/RV city at TA2.  The support crew set up two tents and have everything go for tomorrow.  We all got out for a bike ride headed in the direction of CP6.  It really is beautiful country.  10:03 pm and we’ve only seen three teams.

ROE for tomorrow.  Teams will sleep tonight and the first wave of boats will leave between 4:45 am and 5:15 am (as soon as the Race Director can see the river).  Teams will leave on a first-in-first-out basis with a 30-second gap.  Interestingly, there are only 22 sets of boats.  So team #23 will be SOL until 4 hours later after the boats have made their journey and been shuttled back to the TA.  Teams will get credit for the amount of time they have to wait, up to four hours. 

Day #2:

BTW - This is Ian writing this… this has to be fast.  We’re at a RV Camper facility just outside of Bozeman on our way to UTA5.  (To drop bikes and proceed to the next TA.)  This is what happened last night and this morning…

Team arrives at TA#2 at 12:30am.  In bed by 1:00 am….it is really nice to have Mark’s camper.  The entire team slept inside in dry clothes, in beds (except for Walter who always prefers the floor for some strange reason) and in the heat.  Mark, Corey and I nearly froze to death in our tents.  We all set our alarms for 4:00am so that we could be ready to go for our turn in the water.  It was sooooo cold…frost everywhere.  After a quick checkout of the TA, the team had to partially rein late the duckies before hitting the water at 5:05 am.  The support crew very quickly packed up and hit the road. We were able to make a very nice stop on the road to see Bones go by….they looked REALLY cold. 

To be honest, I’m not sure the exact time Bones hit TA#3 - it was about 2.5 to 3 hours to get there.  Ann looked especially good for not liking the cold much and Walter and Roy were shaking uncontrollably.  (Although they’ll likely never admit to that.)  It was really amazing watching the teams in front of Bones change into river boarding gear and dive in.  There is TONS of water out there, and I mean BIG water.  And after 3 hours in the water already, the racers were really cold starting this leg.

Now to the exciting part.  We stopped to see Bones twice on this 9 mile leg.  The first was at a medical check where the team had to make their way to the right bank and answer a few questions.  Walter went right on by and I’m still not sure if he had to meet up with someone else downstream.  They were told that House Rock was NOT optional and a portage was mandatory.  When we got there, it was obvious why….just take a look at the picture.  This was our second chance to see Bones.  Walter was very entertaining to watch has he clung to safety rope thrown to him (yes, I told him this).  Apparently he was having trouble because a fin came off.

All made it to TA#4 safe.  Ann who I have never seen afraid (NEVER) said it was one of the scariest things she’s done.  Walter said he’s not religious, but said a lot of prayers to make to the next TA.  Our water experts (Jason and Roy) were calm as ever, but admitted that this was some huge stuff.  So huge that they expected it might be closed to later racers on the course. 

Oh, and nuun LOST a board!

More later…

Pre-Race Day: 

 We were able to get a few last minutes errands done prior to the race including dropping Roy’s car at the airport, buying a bike computer (Ann) and waterproof set of gloves (Wally), and going through gear about 4 more times.  Also had a good chat with Tim Moxey (founder of Nuun).   

 The race meeting started at 3pm and lasted until 6:10pm.  (We thought it was somewhat appropriate the meeting was held in Missouri Hall - we chose to call it Misery Hall.)  It really was good to finally see all the racers/staff/volunteers/crew in one spot.  We enjoyed sitting through all the obligatory introductions and safety meetings but highlights were well worth the wait.  I’ve attached a photo of the most important slide - mileage and elevations for each discipline in the race.  This was followed later by a 4 minute video that flew us threw the course using a Google Earth application….this was very, very cool.

 Here are some key points that you’ll like to hear:

 House Rock is the biggest rapid to be encountered in the river board section…it is highly recommended that teams portage around this.  We’ll see how the team handles this.

 Snow will be deep.  Recent trips along the course have seen snowshoes post-hole a foot; clearly more without snowshoes.

 The first leg tomorrow will consist of ~40 miles of trekking, starting with a 4k ascent up lone mountain (the first of three rope sections…there will be a 400ft hand line near the summit).   The team hopes to make it to the end of this section by 5:30 pm to beat a dark zone for the first water leg.  The race starts at 10am.  You do the math…that’s a really long way to go.

 We were given 10 maps tonight.  The team has plotted/reviewed the entire course.  It’s 10pm now and we’re winding down. 

 We ordered pizza in tonight.  Lots and lots of it.  Leftovers will sure taste good on the race course. 

 From Walter: Zac and Jaxon, go easy on mom!  Lots of love, Dad

 From Jason: Karen, I love you!  (Wally interjects here and says it is from him…everyone laughs.)  I hope Maverick doesn’t stink you out.

 From Roy: Malone 5, Fly safe and see you soon!  Love, Dad

 From Ann: To my support crew in Guam - wish you were here!! 

 

 

 

Sorry no pictures to post.  Too focused on eating….

 

 

We made it!  Montana is amazing; they really mean it when they say Big Sky Country!

 Ian and I saw a bear on the way up.  True story.  See the photo evidence…  OK, you may have to use your imagination, but that black dot in the center of the picture that appears to only be trees… truly is a bear! 

 Note, I would like to insert photos throughout this text, but sadly I don’t know how.  So, you will just have to refer back!

 We have done all our gear checks and skills certifications, so we are officially ready to go.  The race starts Monday morning, so we have all day tomorrow to relax, check and re-check gear.  And check it once again!

 We have the most amazing crew.  Mark, Corey and Ian do everything from cook for us to schlep our gear around and help us pack.  This race is so gear intensive it would be quite a challenge without a crew!  Note picture with loads of gear!

 There is still tons of snow on the course, but it is melting quite quickly.  That is good news for the foot and bike sections of the course, but also means HUGE water for the paddling sections.  When we did our water skills test, the guy who was in charge told us there would be more Class IV than we could possibly want.  Roy and Jason were all smiles when they heard that.  Walter and I just reminded them that when he and I fall out of the boat to just come back and pick us up…

 We did skills testing for ropes and water.  The ropes testing has us ascending a rope hung from a ski lift tower, passing a knot, than rappelling back down.  Really fun.  The skills testing in the water consisted of paddling both types of boats plus our river boards.  And then they made us float for about ten minutes in 43 degree water.  Not kidding.

 Check Point One is at the very top of the hill in the last picture.  We think.  We suspected this, and indeed it was semi-confirmed today when they blasted the snow off of the big face.  Not a whole lot of reason to clear snow unless you are sending a bunch of PQers up there!

 I will try to post again once more before we start!

 Thanks for the fun comments and good wishes, keep ‘em coming!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet Mark Quinn, Jason’s dad.  He will be crewing with Jason’s brother Corey and Ann’ boyfriend Ian.  I am sure we will get LOTS more dirt on Jason as the race progresses, and we intend to share it all!  That’s right, you will read it here first, so stay tuned!

“This is my second time crewing for a primal quest race and I’m looking forward to it - I think.  It certainly looks like it is a gorgeous part of the country.   Too bad you’ll be racing through it so quickly you won’t be able to appreciate it.

I recently retired from 32 years with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and am still in my grace period, enjoying every minute of being retired.  We live in Olympia, WA.

As a wildlife biologist much of my career was spent in the field studying wildlife and managing wildlife lands.  I think this is where Jason and Corey both got their appreciation of the outdoors and wild places.

As a family we hiked, hunted and fished as much as we could.  One funny recollection I have of Jason occurred on a horse trip into the Pasayten Wilderness.  Jason was riding a huge white mule when the mule decided he had an itch that required scratching.  With Jason in full protest the mule decided to leave the trail in search of suitable scratching material.  About a quarter mile off the trail the mule found what it was looking for, a small clump of subapline fir that was just tall enough and just stiff enough to scratch the mule’s belly.  The mule proceeded to satisfy its itch and then methodically returned to the pack train all the time oblivious to the ranting and raving of the young high-schooler atop its back”.

Ann volunteered for the job of updating this blog.  As you can see, she has absolutely no idea how to wrap text.  She also can’t figure out why sometimes when she copies from Word the formatting stays, and sometimes it doesn’t.  Oh, and she can’t figure out why sometimes she can get a thumbnail image and sometimes she can get only a large image.  This is a blatant plea for help to all you techies out there!!!

Ann Hall, 40Born and raised in San Diego County, Ann currently resides in Encinitas with her dog Hefner.  She lived in Mexico for four years and has traveled and raced extensively in the United States, Europe and South America.    While a graduate student at San Diego State University, Ann began mountain biking in 1990, and began racing her bike in 1992.  Since then, she has competed in competed in hundreds of events, including the first two snow mountain bike races at the ESPN Winter X-Games.  In 1998, Ann competed in her first adventure race and found a new passion.  She is excited to be back racing at a competitive level after a bike vs Jeep incident in 2004!

Ann’s brother Jimmy died in a BASE jumping accident May 9, 2007.  She is racing this year’s Primal Quest in his honor.

Racing Highlights

Year	Race	Placing	Location
2003	Bimbache Extreme	7th Place	Canary Islands, Spain
	La Ruta de Los Conquistadores	3rd Place	Costa Rica
	REI Desert & Alpine Classics	1st Place	California
2004	Saddleback Trail Marathon	2nd Place	Orange, CA
2005	Coastal Challenge 150 Miles	3rd Place	Costa Rica
	24 Hours of Hurkey Creek	3rd Place	Idyllwild, CA
2006	24 Hours of Old Pueblo	3rd Place	Tucson, AX
	Sagebrush Safari	1st Place	San Diego, CA
2007	Noble Canyon 50k	2nd Place	Pine Valley, CA
2008	Peaks and Valleys	1st Place	San Diego, CA

 

Jason Quinn, 31Jason, team navigator, team comic and the youngster on the team, lives in Boise, Idaho with his wife Karen and dog Maverick.  After spending 4 years in medical school he decided emergency medicine was where he wanted to be and did his residency at the busy county hospital in Oakland, CA.  Now a board certified ER physician, he spends his time out of the hospital (the busy trauma center in Boise) running and biking in the wilds of Idaho.  He got interested in competitive adventure racing when he realized it combined all the things he loved– biking, running, climbing, kayaking, and yes, sleep deprivation.  His skills as a doctor come in handy on the course should we have a minor “incident” while racing! 

Racing Highlights

Year	Race	Placing	Location
2003	Big Blue Adventure Race	1st Place	Half Moon Bay, CA
	Pan Pacific Championships	4th Place	Maui, HI
2004	Big Blue and Cal Eco Series	1st Place	California
	Primal Quest	8th Place	Orcas Island, CA
2005	Adventure X-Stream	1st Place	Moab, UT
	Explore California	1st Place	Catalina, CA
2006	Missouri Expedition Race	2nd Place	Missouri
	Primal Quest	16th Place	Moab, UT
2007	Costa Rica Coast to Coast	1st Place	Costa Rica
	Hidalgo Adventure Extreme	6th Place	Mexico

Walter Brumiach, 45

Walter lives in Queensland, Australia with his wife Natalie and his two sons Zac (17) and Jackson (15).  Both his boys are following in his footsteps, and are very active, outdoorsy kids.He directs a company called Outrageous Access which does commercial abseiling.  They rappel off high rise building doing all kinds of maintenance including painting, cleaning… specializing in those “hard to get” places!  Walter discovered his passion for competitive sport in 1983, racing in triathlons across Australia.  His racing career spans triathlon, ultra running, swimming and Dragon Boat racing.

In 1998 Walter was a support swimmer for the first Paraplegic to swim the English Channel.  He has raced all over the world, including Japan, Spain, Brazil, the United States and China.

Walter is one of the strongest guys we have ever raced with, and all of us have stories of Walter helping us physically and mentally through races.  From carrying our gear to having us in tears from laughing at his impressions of teammates,

Racing Highlights

Year	Race	Placing	Location
2002	50 Mile Australian Title Ultra	1st Place	Australia
2003	100 Mile Australian Title Ultra	1st Place	Australia
	Bimbache Extreme	7th Place	Canary Islands, Spain
2005	Eco Motion, Brazil		Brazil
2006	Primal Quest	14th Place	Moab, UT

Roy Malone, 41

Roy Malone lives in El Dorado Hills, California with his wife Trisha and four kids Bridget (12), Tegan (9) Gavin (7) and Camdyn (2).After 30 years in the mortgage and banking sectors, he recently took on a new venture and started his own company, Epic Capital, located in Folsom, California. Roy spent many a summer guiding rafting trips on the American River while in school, and never missed a stop as he added in biking, running and climbing on his way to becoming a very experienced adventure racer.His teammates make sure that even with his busy work and family life, he maintains a rigorous training schedule!   Racing Highlights

Year	Race	Placing	Location
2001	Southern Traverse	5th Place	New Zealand
2002	Primal Quest	8th Place	Telluride, CO
Â	Eco Challenge	9th Place	Fiji
2003	Primal Quest	7th Place	Lake Tahoe, CA
Â	Maui Adventure Race	2nd Place	Maui, HI
2004	Explore Sweden	5th Place	Sweden
2005	Primal Quest	11th Place	Orcas Island, WA
2006	Primal Quest	14th Place	Moab, UT
2007	Costa Rica Coast to Coast	1st Place	Costa Rica

  

Trying a different configuration, and fatter tires, Team Bones was recently spotted on a training ride!  Still reluctant to hit the dirt, this dynamic foursome is hard at work, prepping for the big race!

Team Bones, upon receiving a special waiver from PQ, will be riding this bike for four in the 2008 Primal Quest in Montana!  Steered by Jason, with Roy, Walter and Ann following, we think this bike provides amazing opportunities for us.  We are eager to see how it handles any technical singletrack, as of yet we have only had it out on the road.  Ann is a little concerned about odors she may encounter during the race, but she is up to the challenge.  Did you know that when people ride tandem they put their strongest cyclist in the back?