(L to R) John Porter, Bobby Harrison, Mary Maul, Jason Snell

Team “Unknown” came about when Mary Maul, a racer from Chicago, decided to sign up for Primal Quest on a whim.  She didn’t actually think her submission would go through, but . . . Surprise . . . it did.  As a result, she had to insert a team name so she selected a team name (“Unknown”) that she has been a part of in the past.  However, in this case, the team was truly “Unknown” as she really wasn’t sure who would join her on this epic adventure.  Once she realized that she successfully obtained a slot in the 2008 edition of Primal Quest known as “The World’s Most Challenging Human Endurance Event”, her first thought was something along the lines of “Holy Cripe”.  As you can imagine, competing in an event like Primal Quest is a huge endeavor on many fronts including time away from work, time training and, of course, the financial commitment.  Mary was so freaked out about this opportunity, she didn’t even tell her husband about it for several weeks.

Despite the fact that Primal Quest is the biggest race in the sport of adventure race and that every racer dreams of the opportunity to race in this prestigious event against the worlds best, it is still extremely difficult to put together a team.  First It is difficult to find racers who would want to subject themselves to 10 days of sleep deprived physical exertion.  Then, you have to find racers who have the time and the money to take on such an event.  And, finally, if you are successful with the foregoing, then you have to find racers you actually like and won’t end up hating after 10 days of racing.  Sometimes, you take what you get.

First, Mary made a call to a racing friend, Bobby Harrison, who used to live in Chicago, but now lives in New Mexico.  Bobby had committed to Mary early on that he would race in Primal Quest if she was ever successful in getting a slot in the race.  Nevertheless, Mary needed to confirm with him to make sure he had not changed his mind.  Bobby didn’t waiver from his prior commitment, so he was in.  One down, two more to go to complete the team.

Mary then proceeded to call other racers she has raced with in the past.  For one reason or another these racer were unable to participate.

Then, Mary was referred to John Porter, from Florida, by Michael Wollpert, another Chicago area racer competing in Primal Quest Montana.  Michael and John raced together in Primal Quest Utah.  Mary and John started chatting over the phone and the two hit it off, so John was in as well.

Now, Mary just needed one more.  On a whim Jason Snell, a racer from Northern Michigan was perusing the team list on the PQ website and saw Mary’s name.  Mary and Jason had met once previously during a race when Jason crashed on his bike at the race start and took out half of the field in the process.  Another racer landed on top of him during the crash.  Guess who the racer was?  It was none other than Mary Maul.  An unlikely meeting, but in true adventure racing spirit they eventually laughed it off and got on with the race.  Later in the race, Mary came upon Jason again, but this time Jason wasn’t wearing any pants as result of some serious chafing.  Needless to say, Mary and Jason had a special bond.  So, as mentioned, Jason decided to give Mary a call to see if she was still looking for teammates.  And, since she was, Jason filled the last spot.

So, that is how team “Unknown” was born.  Mary, Bobby, John and Jason; four adventure racers with a love for the sport and ready to take on all of the challenges that Primal Quest Montana 2008 has to offer.  Go Team!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 at 8:33 am and is filed under Primal Quest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.