Big news from the world of adventure racing today as the Primal Quest and GODZone races announce a partnership to help strengthen the brand of both events.In a press release announcing the news it was revealed that New Zealand's 100% Pure Racing – the organizers of GODZone – will take a full-partnership role in Primal Quest, providing the North American race with "its proprietary live coverage, web, media and technology platform" for use in its next event, which is scheduled to take place in 2018 in British Columbia.
In the press release, 100% Pure Racing CEO Warren Bates said, “This is exciting news for adventure racing as a whole, fans of the sport and every athlete who believes that these type of events should be true expedition experiences. GODZone has attracted a vast competitor and fan base and we will be 100% focused on delivering the same for Primal Quest."
Meanwhile, PQ founder and director Maria Burton added, “ We believe this represents a significant and solid step forward for the sport of adventure racing and for Primal Quest. We are proud to be partnering with GODZone. They are world leaders in expedition adventure racing and have delivered impressive growth and technological leadership in our sport, whilst ensuring that the competitors’ experience remains their number one priority.”
Recently, 100% Pure Racing also joined the A1 adventure racing series in Australia and New Zealand, and it appears Primal Quest will become a part of that initiative too. With nine events already on the schedule, A1 looks to become a major player in the sport, ramping up quickly to an international scale.
For fans and competitors of the sport, this is some surprising news. Primal Quest was once the premiere race in the entire world, but after a long hiatus it returned in 2015 to find the AR landscape had changed dramatically, particularly with the advent of the Adventure Racing World Series. The new A1 series could be positioning itself to challenge the existing World Series program as it adds more events in the future.
It will certainly be interesting to see how all of this plays out and a reinvigorated Primal Quest could be great for the sport of adventure racing in North America.
