ADVENTURE RACING

Two of the biggest names in the world of adventure racing have today announced a partnership to establish an innovative sporting platform for adventure racing worldwide

By Margo Berryman

Global adventure-racing leader, GODZone in New Zealand, and North America’s premiere event, Primal Quest, have joined forces in a bid to increase international exposure and participation in the sport. 

“ We are two of the most recognised events on the adventure racing calendar and we believe by combining forces, sharing our intellectual property and resources, we will create better pathways for the future of adventure racing” says GODZone CEO Warren Bates.

“ GODZone is now the largest event of its kind in the world and together with Primal Quest we have ambitious plans to further the international reach of the sport, dramatically increase youth participation and attract global media and corporate sponsorship which will be hugely beneficial for all involved.”

Primal Quest is North America’s premiere adventure event having created an adventure-racing legacy since the early 2000’s. After a six year hiatus, the race returns to Lake Tahoe this August, re establishing itself as a major event in the biggest adventure racing market in the world.

Primal Quest CEO Maria Burton says “ This 2015 event had been three years in the making and we are very excited about being back in Tahoe and the Sierras which offers the most challenging and historic terrain. This is such a well-rounded region and teams will experience such a diversity of paddling, the most thrilling ascents, technical and scenic mountain biking and classic trail running there is no doubt this will be a most inspiring Primal Quest and we are proud to return and produce an outstanding event which will be the first of many.”

The new adventure racing partnership will establish close links for participants who will benefit from a reciprocal top prize for winning teams. For teams racing at the front of the field this collaboration will mean the chance to race overseas at the major partner event. The winner of Primal Quest, hosted by Lake Tahoe this year, will receive a free entry into GODZone Tasman early next year. The winner of the GODZone Tasman event will receive a free entry to race at Primal Quest in 2016.

“ It’s a fantastic opportunity for the best teams to experience a major event overseas. New Zealand is ahead of all countries in terms of youth development and the growing strength of the domestic racing scene is very encouraging,” says Warren Bates.

“ We want to see even more youth teams inspired to take part in the sport and encourage Kiwi teams to travel overseas and make their mark at a credible event that can help put adventure racing back in the media spotlight in a major way. By teaming up with Primal Quest we believe we can create an experience that is greater than the sum of the parts and something that will galvanise the next generation of racers.”

We already have a GODZone team heading across to Primal Quest this August to fly the flag and race competitively and in return a Primal Quest team will travel out to New Zealand next year to race in Tasman.”

Combining Primal Quests reputation and history in North America with GODZone’s ‘home of adventure racing’ legacy and innovative approach to modern adventure racing will facilitate significant benefits to the sport.

“This partnership is forged with the desire to create long term sustainability. It is important to support one another with resources, equipment and promotion. In order for the sport to thrive we need to work together on a grand scale, create noteworthy events but also increase avenues of accessibility for newcomers and boost media exposure worldwide,” says Primal Quest’s Maria Burton.

GODZone’s Warren Bates agrees and says developing a wider platform to promote and accelerate adventure racing to international media is crucial for the health of the sport.

“We see the large North American market as such an important key to the future of adventure racing. Primal Quest, with its similarities to Eco Challenge in the past, is an attractive event for media, broadcast and has the ability to attract and engage new racers into the sport along with significant corporate sponsorship.

There are more worldwide adventure races than ever before, but our goal is to create the very best, high profile events, that deliver amazing experiences for participants and sustainable benefits back to the sport,” says Bates. “ We may well look to bring in other large adventure events to join with this new wave of adventure racing collaboration in the future.”


For more information on GODZone and Primal Quest:

GODZone
info@godzoneadventure.com
www.godzoneadventure.com

Primal Quest
info@primalquest.org
www.primalquest.org