Photos by Mike BittonThe Primal Quest media center is either overflowing with reporters and photographers, or just about empty.I've been working out of the Primal Quest media center for nearly two weeks now. Popping in here in the middle of the day to try to get any work done can be nearly impossible, as every inch of table space and every Internet connection are clogged with those who slipped in before me.
It's been fascinating to work with journalists from all over the U.S. and the world. Here's a sampling of who showed up:
The Summit Daily News, Colorado, USA
The Gazette, Colorado, USA
Los Angeles Times, USA
Backpacker Magazine, USA
Inside Tri Magazine, USA
Checkpoint Zero Website, USA
Sleepmonsters Website, USA
Nelson Mail, New Zealand
Trail Runner Magazine, Sweden
Pretty cool to meet so many new people in the business!
Photo by Mike BittonPaul "Yak" Angell, the brains and labor behind adventure racing website Checkpoint Zero, updates his blog in the Primal Quest media center at Red Cliffs Lodge near Moab, Utah.In today's tech-saturated world, it's pretty common to know people via e-mail and telephone, and have no idea what they look like. Such was the case for me in regards to Paul "Yak" Angell, the guy behind the adventure racing news website Checkpoint Zero.
Yak walked through the door here in the media room and instantly recognized me, because he's put shots of me on his website before. I wasn't sure whether the guy in front of me was Yak or some other dark-haired fella with a goatee. It was Yak!
Within minutes it was clear to me why Chekcpoint Zero is the best AR site out there. Yak is well-spoken, fiercely intelligent and is all about the details. If this guy had a talk show, it would instantly go gangbusters in syndication, and he would be swimming in cash.
As if his professional character traits weren't enough, he's also a happily married family man with a baby boy back at home in South Carolina. In my book, he's in the running for the Decent Human of the Year award.
Photo by Mike BittonA member of the Primal Quest medical staff at TA 3 near Green River, Utah, uses a needle to drain blisters for athlete Tara Paprocki.Primal Quest Utah 2006 got underway without me, but I did get some field time last night. Fellow media team member Bob Heady and I rolled out to Transition Area 3 (TA 3) just upstream from the town of Green River, Utah, to see if we could polish off some interviews with teams we've yet to profile.
While there, I did get to interview team Terra Trekkers. Probably more interesting, though, was the time I spent with Tara Paprocki, who I interviewed last week for a profile on her team, AdventureRacingConcepts.com. Tara's feet were in sad shape, and she was about to wake a medic to receive treatment.
The photo says it all. Puffy feet aren't happy feet. Any foot that needs treatment from a needle that's several inches long is not a happy foot. Tara wasn't happy, either. Every time the doc touched Tara'sright pinky toe, Tara let out a yelp. I gave her some pats on the back and told her how sorry I was.
What a difference getting out of race headquarters has made to my outlook. Before, I was almost dreading the upcoming task of escorting media around the course. Now I'm excited, because I'll be with the athletes again. They are absolutely inspiring!
Photo by Primal Quest Volunteer Ye Fun Wong
Mike Bitton snags a photo opportunity with Primal Quest CEO Rich Brazeau in front of the Red Cliffs Lodge near Moab,Utah.Many things about the 2006 Primal Quest are different from the 2004 Primal Quest experience, and I believe that's largely due to the influence of Rich Brazeau. Rich was hired to be the new CEO of the race, and he's basically reinvented it.
Photo by Mike Bitton
Primal Quest Media Director Gordon Wright, mastermind behind the flood of media coverage about the world's toughest adventure race, flashes his famous smile in the media room.I've been away from the blog for a few days because Primal Quest Media Director Gordon Wright has been working me like an insecure summer intern who's desperate to gain favor. I interviewed a team, wrote about that team, repeated the trick a dozen times, and now I am beat. I'm ready for a vacation from my vacation!
I've volunteered to stay here at the PQ headquarters media room for a few days. Some time next week, I will rotate into the job of escorting media around the race course. The strategy behind that decision is that hopefully, life around here will be a little less urgent with nearly everyone gone, and I can get some much needed rest.
Highlights of my 2006 Primal Quest experience so far have been all my interactions with athletes, volunteers and staff.
Many of these athletes count me as their friend, and that is such an honor. I know teams not only from Washington and Oregon, where I live, but from California, Utah, Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Michigan, New York, Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
Volunteer friends are also from all over the U.S. and the world. It's such a fascinating cross-section of cultures and languages, all brought together by a passion for adventure.
Race staff are a pleasure to work with, because they are not only professional, they are intelligent. They know not only what they want their volunteers to do, but why they want the volunteers to do it. What a nice contrast to the newsrooms I worked in for 10 years, where workload was based not on intelligent decisoins, but on politics, egos and a never-ending false sense of urgency.
The next few days should be a great break from the constant interviewing and writing I've been doing since Monday. Maybe I'll sleep in a few times, lounge around by the deserted pool,and start reading the good book I brought on the trip.
Photo by Mike Bitton (with self-timer)
Mike Bitton is overcome with joy after driving his 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited through the gap in the Moab landscape known as Pucker.This morning I interviewed team Mighty Dog for a team profile I'll be writing later today. They had a cool picture of their Jeep Commander driving through a gap in some nearby rocks, and I asked where it was.
"Pucker," they said.
So when I finished with Mighty Dog, I sought out the trail named after the pre-kiss muscle contraction. As you can see, I found it! What a blast this place is. Pucker is one of hundreds of dirt roads around Moab that peter out into Jeep trails. My street-legal Jeep is not ready for the most gnarly trails, but it does OK on the small stuff.
It was nice to spend a few hours away from the media crew room. I doubt I'll have that kind of freedom again any time soon!
Photo by Mike Bitton (with self-timer)
Mike Bitton tries out a forklift while viewing hundreds of cases of Gatorade at Moab's Red Cliffs Lodge, headquarters for Primal Quest 2006.Today I wrote a story about hydration for the Primal Quest website. The story is exactly the type of nuts-and-bolts work I am expected to deliver at least once a day until the race wraps up July 4. Here is a link to the story.
Before I took on what has come to be known as "the Gatorade story," members of the Primal Quest Media Team took a short walk to the volunteer headquarters to officially check in and receive our swag or schwag. The good gifts were considerable! They included:
Merrell Overdrive shoes
Gregory Reactor backpack
Nike Dri-Fit T-shirt with official Primal Quest Utah 2006 logo
Headsweats ballcap with official Primal Quest Utah 2006 logo
Water bottle with official Primal Quest Utah 2006 logo
yankx (lower-case, with a "z") shoelace replacement system with official Primal Quest Utah 2006 logo
Official Primal Quest Utah 2006 patch
Myriad other free stuff like sunblock, energy bar, lip balm, and even some stickers for my Jeep!
Heat continues to be a fact of life here that slows everyone and everything down. Yesterday, when the mercury was clearly above 100 degrees, was worse than today, which is only in the 90s. I know I'll have some days out on the course, basking in the brutal heat, but for now, typing away on my laptop in the air conditioned media room at race headquarters, I'm as comfy as can be.
Because I've been working on writing team profiles for the Primal Quest website since last fall, I've built something of a reputation as the go-to-guy on these things. I've already written team profiles on DART-nuun, Silly Rabbits, Don't Look Back, Jen's Men, Merrell Wigwam Adventure, Millie, MPGear.com, Nautilus Pearl iZUMi, Silicon Valley, and SOLE Custom Footbeds. That's a lot of profiles! All that work has given me so much practice, I believe my writing is back to the level it was when I was churning out award-winning features on deadline at daily newspapers.
One of the goals of our race coverage on the Primal Quest website is to write about, photograph and videotape every team. Having already polished off 10 team profiles, I've taken a sizeable chunk out of the writing workload. The photos and video will fall to professionals and volunteers in those departments.
There is still much writing for me to do. As of today, specific assignments for more team profiles include Adventure Racing Concepts, Dynamic Earth, GCAR Moosejaw, Hombres de Maiz, McKinley, Mighty Dog, NEMO, NW Nike ACG, Odyssey Adventure Racing, Stinky Feet/Kilt Racers and Wicked Adventure Racing.
I don't know if it's actually possible to write that many team profiles before the race starts. I may have to do micro-team profiles on the course when I see some of the teams at checkpoints or transition areas. I love a challenge, and getting all this work done, plus the other stories Gordon assigns to me (like today's Gatorade story) will certainly be that!
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