The team departed on a mountain crossing into a stretch or mountains properly named, Crazy. This imposing mountain grows high into the sky with a covering of white, at some points, passing almost all the way down to its base. No matter who you ask they will tell you it is by far the most beautiful place on the course. Fields of wild flowers seem to go on forever and the sunset beams the most beautiful colors nature has to offer onto miles and miles of rolling fields, i have a hard time trying to describe this place because even a picture cant do it justice. You must experience it and i have no doubt this amazing place will stop you in your tracks. Even with all of its beauty this was one of the hardest treks the team had to do. They had to cross snow fields that wet there feet and even had to slide down parts of them. Dangerous is a understatement Brunton crossed fields of loose rocks which slide from under  there feet constantly sending rocks falling down the steep mountain side. All was not bad in the crazy’s though they got to see a part of the world not many others will and even came across a bear and its cub. This wilderness will have to throw a lot more at our team to break them, as they walked into view of the TA they approached walking backwards up the trail singing “She’s lost that loving feeling” and to say the least they had the entire camp in stitches, these four will be remembered at this race, i promise you that.

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The teams set out from TA 5 with hopes of finishing this leg of the race in a little over 24 hours. Rocky terrain, thick brush, steep hills, snow covered ground and two very cold Montana nights were only some of the obstacles team Brunton had to over come in order to arrive at the relative comfort of TA6 42 hours after leaving TA5. With wet feet sore muscles and barely any food left they rolled in on there bikes with smiles on there face and pleasantries for everyone. When arriving at TA6 they learned thier would be no water section in the entire race and instead they would be back on there bikes for a 70 mile bike ride to Big Timber. since they no longer had any dark zone to worry about they decided a good sleep was the best thing for them and decided to navigate the first long bike ride at night. The team arrived here at TA7 this morning and will be heading out on there bikes which they will drop 30 miles down the road after which they will be trekking threw the Crazy mountain where they wont be seeing support crews for at least 44 hours, wish them the best!

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With a mist covering all of Big Sky we awoke with much anticipation camera crews walked about covering the excitement while teams prepared. A crowd grew along the start line as the racers waited for the mist to lift so a helicopter could tape the start of the race. Brunton, in a show of how much they enjoy the sport of adventure racing went skipping threw start line of Primal Quest 08. The first leg of the race was a trek up past 11000ft to the snow covered top of Lone mountain whose shadow the competitors had been in for the past three days. The way down was much more enjoyable the team had said because they were off there legs and on there rear ends sliding down the side of the mountain in a controlled fall. Coming off the mountain they went threw there first transition area (TA) in little over ten minutes with only time to fill water bottles and eat a ham sandwich. They then spent a long cold Montana night trekking threw the mountains. The team decided even after an extreme night in the elements that they would forgo sleep and take on the cold flood stage waters of the Gallatin river. Team Brunton prepared for the water by layering in thermal, neoprene as well as full dry and wet suits, due to a lack of boats this protection from the cold worked against us as the team sat in 83 degree heat unprotected from the sun for over a hour and a half waiting for there boats to arrive. While news of dangerous waters and teams needing to be rescued from life threating situations came in our team sat until word came from down stream that all teams were to be pulled from the river. The team then proceeded to check point ten and after only two hours of sleep headed out right before night fall to navigate the Montana wilderness once again.

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Now that the team has all arrived in Big Sky, its time to start taking care of business! Today we spent most of the day doing gear and skills checks with the PQ staff. Each of the team members had to pass a number of tests and our organizational skills were also put to the test trying the get all of the equiptment in order.

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We have setup a team photo album and video site, see the links below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/PQBrunton08

http://www.youtube.com/user/pqbrunton08

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Serge, Todd, Jeremy and James all came to Montana a few days early to get a jump start on race preperation. They were greeted with open arms by Kate, JB, thier family and Friends. These guys were awesome! And that is putting it mildly. Everyone in Billings was a really big help in getting the team to race day. Any extra special thank you goes out to Kat & JB for letting us use their camper for the race and opening their home to us. We will never forget the people in Billings Montana and their warm hospitality. THANK YOU

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Home - Enfield Conn.
Age - 45

Serge was born and raised on a farm in a small town outside Quebec City , at 18, moved to the US and now owns a construction company. Ahhhh, America the beautiful!!

He has two daughters, is married to Kris, a class 5 kayaker from who he got his white water experience. He loves ice climbing, mountaineering, snowboarding and has been playing hockey since he was potty trained. He is the proud sponsor of a hockey team in which he plays and has the duty of captain, so he hopes to bring the much needed camaraderie and spirit to his team to finish this race.

NAVIGATOR - Jeremy Colgan

Home - Lower East Side, New York
Age - 36

Jeremy was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland and lived in London, Paris and China before coming to New York over eight years ago. He works as an attorney at a law firm in New York City and offsets this sendentary lifestyle by getting out of the city and into the woods as often as possible.

Jeremy comes to the team with a fair amount of previous experience in long distance endurance events but nothing as long as Primal Quest including among others the Marathon des Sables (2007) and Ironman (Lake Placid 2005). Having said that he is really an orienteeror first and foremost. In the past he has done a number of Rogaines (long distance orienteering events) and he is hoping that this experience will stand him in good stead for PQ. Not surprisingly therefore he is looking forward to the foot work that Primal Quest involves but isn’t so keen on the paddle section; River Boarding on the other hand should be fun!

Team Member - Becky Clements

Home – Salt Lake City, Utah
Age - 36

Becky was born in Kansas City, but moved to the western US many years ago where she became addicted to the mountains. She enjoys her work and the great opportunities as an engineer, along with the flexibility to play in the beautiful Wasatch mountains. (Thank you, L-3 Communications, for the sponsorship & support!) This is Becky’s first Primal Quest race - a challenge and adventure that she’s looking forward to experiencing. She enjoys ultra running, completing several 50K, 50M, and 100M races, and also really enjoys the multi-sport variety and teamwork aspects of adventure racing.

Team Member - James McCann

Home – New York City
Age - 30

James was born in Belfast but spent a lot of his childhood in the Middle East. After living and working in London and Hong Kong, he is now based in New York. James works for an Investment Bank.

James has competed in numerous long distance running events including Trailwalker in Hong Kong and Racing The Planet’s Gobi March.
Ankle injuries permitting, James loves playing real football (soccer).

Support Crew Member - Scott Lessard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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