Yukoners race their way to third place Primal Quest finish

Two Yukoners, an Aussie and a New Zealander were a force to reckon with at this year's Primal Quest.

Two Yukoners, an Aussie and a New Zealander were a force to reckon with at this year’s Primal Quest.

The foursome made up Team Merrell/Zanfel Adventure and raced to an impressive third place showing, finishing the approximately 1,000-km race on the sixth day.

“Anytime you can finish on the podium in the biggest and best race in the world, against the toughest competition you can’t complain too much,” said Whitehorse resident Greg McHale, who along with his wife, Denise, made up the Canadian contingent on Team Merrell. “For the most part we had a really good race.”

The 2009 Primal Quest was held in the Badlands of South Dakota from Aug. 14-23.

The Primal Quest is referred to by some as the most difficult athletic event on the planet. The expedition-length adventure race lasts up to 10 days and features teams of four, which must be co-ed. 

Competing teams must carry a GPS monitoring device so that both race organizers and spectators can track their position on the Primal Quest website. The tracking device can also be used to signal for help if a group is in need of assistance.

The first Primal Quest was held in 2002 in Telluride, Colorado.

In the previous races, event disciplines have included trekking, mountain biking, technical rope skills, mountaineering, paddling and swimming.

The McHale’s have competed in the Primal Quest on multiple occasions, however this year marked a re-union for the two. After taking a year off in 2008, Denise agreed to fill in, just a couple of weeks before the race, for Robyn Benincasa, who had to withdraw from the 2009 Primal Quest due to an injury.

This was the first time Denise competed as a member of Team Merrell, which also features Australian orienteer Rob Preston and adventure racing legend Neil Jones. 

Before this year’s podium-cracking finish, the best finish the McHale’s posted at the Primal Quest came in 2006 when they placed fourth.

Last year, Greg and the three other members of Team Merrell had to withdraw in the late stages of the race as a result of an injury. The team was on pace for a second, or at worst , a third place finish.

This year’s Team Merrell didn’t get off to its best start and by the second day of the race, found itself in its lowest position, seventh. The initial problems were due largely to navigational errors, however, the group did manage to turn it around and eventually brought themselves back into contention. 

“Knowing that it was a long race and we kind of minimized our errors over the next four days and we had a really good sleep plan,” said Greg. “We kind of got it back on track and it worked out really good.”

Greg, who arrived back in Whitehorse Tuesday afternoon, said the team was able to maintain a steady pace throughout the race and avoiding burning themselves out by racing too hard at the beginning of any one section.

“We knew it was a race of attrition and we had a lot of experience on the team with one guy Neil Jones, who has been racing for 20 years.”

He also credited the team’s success to Denise, who in recent years has established herself as a world-class ultra marathon runner.

“She’s the strongest female in the sport right now,” Greg said. “She never complains and she carries her own weight. Typically I end up carrying other guy’s stuff more than I do hers.

“So when you can have a female that is that strong and when it’s your wife it’s pretty special.”

Denise was also really pleased with the outcome in South Dakota.

“It was great and it was great to race as Team Merrell as opposed to racing against them as we have been the last few years,” she said. “We are happy with the outcome, you always want to win, but everybody can’t win. This is our best finish there and it’s a tough race.”

Team Merrell might have been able to finish in second had it not been for a more than a delay, caused after one of Greg’s bike tires blew two hours into a 20-hour run.

Denise said the team had to “MacGyver” it.

“It kind of sounded like a gun shut,” she said. “We all stopped and we looked and were like ‘Oh no.’ Your first thought is ‘It’s over’ and then it’s like ‘Ok it’s not over, what are we going to do. We have to figure out a solution.’”

The solution the team came up with was cutting up an old tube and a blanket that had a bit of stretch to it into pieces, which they wrapped around the wheel.

Thankfully it held for the rest of the race.

For Denise the third place finish was one of her main highlights on the season.

“There was a good feel to this race and to be on the podium at the major race in the world was pretty exciting.”