Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Local athletes gear up for Primal Quest

800 km of terrain over 10 days
1324segger
Jen Segger of Whistler's Primal Quest team at Yeti race this winter. Photo by Andrew Mitchell

Thehy call Primal Quest the ‘ultimate test of human endurance’, and that’s not an exaggeration. The course covers about 800 km of terrain, the inevitable wrong turns not included, and could take some teams up to 10 days to reach the finish line. There are mountain bike sections, whitewater sections, long traverses and hikes through the wilderness, cliffs to be climbed and descended, and just about every kind of natural obstacle of which you can conceive.

Making things more difficult, this year Primal Quest is based in Utah where temperatures are already over 37 degrees Celsius (100 Farenheit) during the day, and near freezing at night in the higher altitudes.

For the top teams there’s a $250,000 prize purse at the finish, plus considerable bragging rights and sponsorship incentives. However, just making it to the finish with all four team members intact is considered a victory. Of the 95 teams starting the race, several will pull out before making it to the finish.

This year three local athletes will take part as members of different adventure race teams – Jen Segger, Mark Fearman and Gary Robbins. Duncan Munro was expected to compete as well, but had to pull out after inuring his shoulder in a towing accident during the Mighty MO adventure race in early May. Segger is the most experienced of the three, as well as an accomplished solo racer, but Fearman and Robbins, who are on the same team, are both extremely fit and have the kind of positive attitudes that will leave them smiling at the finish.

By the time they get to the start line on Saturday, June 24, each athlete will have trained for thousands of hours, sometimes getting up in the middle of the night to simulate the sleep deprivation they’ll go through in the race.

Why do they do it? In their own words…

Jen Segger

Age: 25

Occupation: Fitness Trainer

Residence: Squamish

Gary Robbins

Age: 29

Occupation: Carpentry

Residence: Squamish

Mark Fearman

Age: 25

Occupation: Server

Residence: Whistler

Pique: How many years have you been adventure racing, and how did you get into it? What’s your best result?

Jen Segger: I have been racing since 2000. I grew up participating in outdoor recreation sports so it was an easy transition. I saw the Eco Challenge on television years ago and knew right then that it was the sport for me. I realized very quickly the opportunity for females who are competitive, love to push the limits and enjoy suffering.

My best results include winning the five-day Baja Travesia in Baja, Mexico last December, finishing fifth at Ecomotion in Brazil, and being first for North American females at the Marathon des Sables last April in the Sahara Desert of Morocco – that’s a seven day ultra run.

Gary Robbins: This is my third season. Ever since I saw Eco Challenge 10 years ago I always wanted to give it a go. After returning to Canada in 2003 from some overseas travel I finally decided to fully concentrate on pursuing the goal of completing an expedition adventure race. Primal Quest will be the culmination of a 10-year dream for myself, as Eco Challenge no longer exists.

My best result in an adventure race has been a few team victories in some smaller sprint races. We placed 10 th in our first 36 hour race. Primal Quest represents a huge step for myself and my team. I have a three-year cumulative adventure racing history of about 800 km – which is exactly the length of one Primal Quest!

Mark Fearman: I’ve been into the AR thing for about three years now, but in a ways I’ve always been into it, I’m always paddling, biking and hiking, and stuff like that. I just didn’t realize there was actually a sport called adventure racing until I saw the Eco-Challenge a few years ago. I just kind of fell into it after hearing about that.

As for results we’ve gotten a couple firsts, a couple of seconds and a third in the Mind Over Matter Adventure Race (MOMAR) series, and were 10 th in a Raid the North last summer.

Pique: What team are you racing with at Primal Quest, and how did you meet your teammates?

JS: I will be racing with Team DART-nuun, a Washington-based team that is ranked eighth in North America. I met these guys several years ago while racing at the world championships in Newfoundland. They were looking for a female and we decided that together we could form a very competitive team.

GR: I will be on team number 68, MindOverMountain. I met Mark Fearman in Banff, Alberta in 2001. We met Aimee Dunn while racing in our first season right here in B.C. Our navigator is from Denmark, and we’ve exchanged some email and a few phone calls – does that constitute meeting him?

MF: We’re (Fearman and Robbins) on a team called MindOverMountain.com, along with Aimee Dunn out of North Vancouver and Niels Madsen out of Denmark. Gary and I met in 2001 in Banff and really hit it off and became good friends, and we’re always out hiking in the mountains. We met Amy doing the MOMAR series, and met Niels over the Internet. He’s our navigator.

Pique: How long have you been in training for Primal Quest? Describe a typical week of training to prepare for something like this…

JS: Primal Quest is just one of many, many races for me this year. I started the 2006 season back in February and have averaged two races per month since. I am splitting my time between DART-nuun and a sprint team from Colorado, GoLite/Timberland. Racing with two teams as well as in solo events has made for excellent training.

Sprints are super tough for me, I really prefer expedition style. Anything over five days is where I can really utilize my strength as an endurance athlete. The downside is that your feet get pretty beat up.

A training week can be anywhere from 15 to 25 hours for me, depending on races. I train with Val Burke here in Whistler who does an excellent job of designing my weekly schedule and making adjustments as needed. My days start with a 4:30 a.m. get up alarm, weight training, a swim or inline skate for an hour, work from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. and then back out to train again for another two to four hours, depending on the day. If I don’t have a race planned for the weekend I will usually do a six to eight-hour training day combing all the major disciplines. Somewhere in there I try to find five to six hours of sleep. Then repeat.

GR: We have been training specifically for Primal Quest since late October. Funny enough, I believe all athletes featured are trained by Val Burke, so I am sure we are all on similar programs.

A typical week consists of about 25 hours of training. We cover everything, kayaking, mountain biking, road biking, trail running, hiking with 30 pounds on our backs, swimming, kicking on a swim board, strength work, going up and down fixed ropes for hours on end, and even exercising in a sauna or steam room to get used to the heat. Never a dull moment.

MF: We’ve been training for this race since last November after coming into the race in late September, although we’ve been training for other events before then, and we’ve been gearing up. A typical week is 20 to 25 hours at peak training levels, getting out there and doing paddling, biking trekking, running, as well as getting down all the skills that are required – swimming, ropes, ascending, rappelling, horseback rider. Most of the training is really getting out there and doing it, the more hours the better. It’s a lot of time, almost like a second job, but every little bit helps.

Pique: What is your strongest adventure race event and why?

JS: Running and the foot travel sections by far. I enjoy this discipline the most as well so I definitely prefer to train for it. However, I have had some foot injuries this year which has made me spend more hours on the bike. This has greatly improved my cycling abilities. Getting to race the mountains of Colorado and Nevada and California have enabled me to become a much better all round rider.

GR: My strongest event is anything on foot. I took to running more than the biking and kayaking over the first few seasons, and ended up with some decent race results. This season has been all about training the weaknesses rather than concentrating on the running and hiking as much.

MF: My strongest event would be the running portion at the moment, just because I got out here and got into trail running first off. I’ve always been adamant about getting out there and doing that a lot, it’s a good setup being out here. I also didn’t have a bike back then so trail running was the easiest thing to get into. So we’ll be strong in the running portion and as we spend more time doing the other disciplines we’re getting better at biking and paddling as well – not as good as running yet, but I still feel pretty good about those events.

Pique: What is your weakest event?

JS: I’d have to go with paddling for this one. I have put more hours in per week this year than ever before and it is definitely starting to pay off. I love white water sections but sitting in a boat for 10 hours on flat water can get really unexciting, especially at night. You just fall asleep.

GR: My weakest event has always been the kayaking. My team paddled more than 150 hours in our training though, so I am feeling much better about it now than I was eight months ago.

MF: I’d say it’s more the skill disciplines like ropes, riding horses, things of that nature, where I don’t really get out that much. We have not traditionally been doing those disciplines as much as the other three things, the running, biking and paddling.

Pique: What is your team goal/personal goal for Primal Quest?

JS: Primal Quest is going to be the biggest race this year, and the competition is going to be super tough. DART-nuun is hoping for a top-five finish, which would be outstanding for our team. It will be no easy task though as the best teams in the world will be at the start line. We look forward to racing hard and putting our experience to the test.

It’s going to be a battle for sure. Keeping our feet healthy, staying hydrated and being careful in the heat will be critical to achieving success.

My personal goal is to stay strong, have a good performance during the rope section and to lead the team through the night sections. I love racing at night and our team moves really fast.

GR: Our primary goal is just to finish this epic event. We are giving ourselves an outside shot at a top 30 finish out of 95 teams if we have a solid race.

My personal goal is not to cry like a baby for the entire event.

MF: The team goal is obviously just to finish the race, this is our first expedition race. But that said we’re all really competitive on this team, and we’ve all been training quite hard for the nine months, and longer than that, so I think we’re going to be very competitive and maybe surprise some people.

The personal goal is to finish strong, just to get into the spirit of the race and feel good throughout the whole thing, cope with myself and make sure I don’t give up. I want to come through mentally tough and be sure I through as well as physically – as much as we can.

Pique: Any team strategies to cope with the heat and distance?

JS: Having run across the Sahara Desert last year I feel pretty confident in my ability to cope with the heat. I know what to expect and I know how to stay on top of my fluid intake. Proper headwear is essential and applying lots of sunscreen will be critical. I have also had several hot races already this year and have been spending time at altitude, above 12,000 feet, to prepare. The longer the race, the better. You have to want to suffer and you have to love the experience along the way. Adventure racing is a journey and a great way to see the world. It’s all about how mentally tough you are.

GR: I’ve been spending way too much time in the sauna and steam room lately. I’ve done substantial biking in hot climates before, so I know that I can put up with it. As for the distance we just have to keep moving. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how slow we seem to be going, we just have to keep moving.

MF: We’ve been training for the heat the last two weeks now, and that consists of doing sauna training – getting in there and trying to withstand as much sauna time as we can, like 45 minutes in a 100 degree sauna. The other part of it is layering on the winter clothes and doing 30 to 45 minutes of hard exercise in serious heat in serious clothes to mimic the heat we’re going to experience.

As far as sleeping goes our strategy is to sleep two hours a day, but that may vary depending how we feel through the race. Staying hydrated will be tough, but we’re so conscious of that we should be okay.

Pique: Nervous?

JS: Excited for sure. There are several teams at Primal Quest who we are looking forward to going head to head with. The hardest part right now is getting all the gear organized and just getting the team to the start line. My biggest fear is driving all the way to Utah only to realize that I left some piece of mandatory gear back home.

GR: I can’t even begin to describe it. I’m answering these questions on my computer at 1 a.m. because I can’t sleep. And there’s still 19 days, five hours and 32 minutes until the race starts (as of 1 a.m. on Tuesday, June 6).

MF: Yes, like a fat kid on a Smartie, I’m definitely nervous. This is my first expedition race, so I don’t really know exactly what to expect apart from what you read and you hear from the other racers. It makes you nervous for sure, but I’m also excited, extremely excited at the same time. Once it starts I’ll be okay, but we’ve been all about this for so long now.

Pique: What are your plans after Primal Quest?

JS: Finally after six months of intense racing, I will take July off to get married. Very excited for that, and it’s something that will keep me motivated on course. After that it’s back to full-on racing with two sprints and a 36 hour race in August, a seven day adventure race in Northern B.C. in September, followed by a 24 hour race in California. October has several sprints, and in November we head to nationals, then back to Brazil for Ecomotion. I tell ya, it doesn’t end there – we are currently planning our 2007 schedule already.

GR: I am truly afraid of how much my body will hate me when this is all said and done. I’m trying not to plan anything until I see how the recovery goes, but we are hoping to do a second expedition in September in Prince Rupert.

MF: After PQ I’ll probably take some time off to recover. I’m not sure how my body will react to 10 days of long racing, some really hard days. I’ll want to recover, spend some time with family. My girlfriend is also coming to watch the race, so I’ll spend some time hanging out with her.

Who are your sponsors?

JS: Salomon, Corsa Cycles, BASE Energy Drink, Ryders Eyewear, KINeSYS, Nuun, Turner Bicycles, Lights & Motion, Alit-Power, Superfeet, TRIAK, Cowichan Bay Kayak, Michelin, American Rescue and Face Level Riverboarding – Many thanks to all my sponsors.

GR: We owe a very special thanks to MindOverMountain Adventure Racing, Experience Cycling, Princeton Tec Headlamps, The Rudy Project sunglasses and bike helmets, KINeSYS performance sunscreen, Carb-Boom! Energy gel, and Reach Your Peak Endurance Training System (Val Burke).

MF: MindOverMountain.com, Princeton Tec, Experience Cycling, The Rudy Project, KINeSYS, Carb-Boom, Reach Your Peak and a lot of other sponsors. Right now it’s pretty small, we’re not majorly sponsored like other teams which is a shame because this race is costing us an incredible amount of money and we’ve all been working hard to get all the gear and pay our expenses.