Tag Archive for 'adventure racing'

8 days and 600 miles later

Over the last week or so, we’ve been updating you on Gregory co-sponsored adventure racing team  NUUN-FeedTheMachine’s progress throughout Primal Quest Badlands. And around midday last Saturday, the team crossed the finish line in 8th place after nearly 170 grueling hours on the course.

According to Primal Quest’s blog, the team was ‘lost’ on Friday, which was made apparent by the SPOT tracker. But, after a bit of rest and a replacement bike delivered to the course, the team was once again found at the finish line.

The race officially ended on Sunday after teams ran, climbed, trekked, swam, and paddled 600 miles across the Black Hills and the Badlands. Congratulations to NUUN-FeedTheMachine for finishing 8th in the longest adventure race in North America!

Published
by
Lauren
 on August 25, 2009
 in Adventure travel and Awards
. 0 Comments

5 Hours into Primal Quest and Nuun-FeedTheMachine is in 1st

A few weeks ago, we blogged about Gregory’s adventure racing team, Nuun-FeedTheMachine, and their winning start to the season. 

5 hours ago the team of 4 began Primal Quest, arguably the most challenging endurance race out there, and they’re  in the lead. Teams will run, bike, paddle, and navigate their way across 600 miles of South Dakota’s Badlands over the span of 6-10 days.

Last year, the team finished 4th in the Montana race and they’re hoping to improve their standing this year- looks like they’re off to a great start!

You can follow their progress HERE. Or read their team profile on the Primal Quest website.

Published
by
Lauren
 on August 14, 2009
 in Athletes
. 0 Comments

A winning season for Gregory’s adventure racing team

Adventure racing season is well underway and Gregory sponsored DART: Team nuun-FeedTheMachine is on a winning streak.

On June 3rd, the team won the Michigan Expedition Adventure Race, one of the nation’s top 3 expedition races. After more than three days of continuous racing, the team completed 100 miles by canoe, 80 miles on foot, and 165 miles on bike. Oh, no biggie. That’s just 345 miles in 77 hours!

Following that win, team members, Cyril Jay-Rayon (the captian of the team) and Jen Seeger took first in a 24 hour mountain bike race in Laguna Seca, part of the world renowned 24 hours of Adrenalin series. Cyril finished the 23 laps in 23:20 with a total of some 240 miles and 38,000 of climbing.

And to top of the winning month, another teammate, Mari Chandler, decided to enter the U.S. Long Course Duathlon National Championships only a week before the start date. A week later she broke the course record. The course began with a 3k run, followed by a 56 mile bike, and then finished with a half marathon.

They’re now gearing up for arguably the world’s toughest endurance race, Primal Quest, which lasts 6-10 days at the beginning of August. Be sure to follow their progress here.

You can still sign up for one of their clinics that they’ve done in the past. If you live in or plan on visiting Seattle (their hometown) or Los Angeles, they host mountain bike clinics about night riding in those areas. Anyone interested should contact cyril (dot) jayrayon (at) gmail (dot) com for L.A. night rides, and Ryan VanGorder at r (underscore) vangorder (at) hotmail (dot) com for Seattle rides.

Published
by
Lauren
 on July 17, 2009
 in Athletes and Sponsorships
. 0 Comments

Into the Big Blue yonder

With a new series of hydration packs out this spring and a relatively new location in Sacramento, we thought it’d make sense combine those things and get involved with a local community race or two (local being the Bay Area up to Tahoe, the beauty of being in between the coast and the mountains).

Thus, Gregory is now a sponsor of the Big Blue Adventure Series, a group of 20 multi-sport races and events in central/northern California, Oregon and even Idaho that started last month and run through September (OK, we’ve got a loose definition of local here in the Western U.S.).

These kinds of races are great motivational tools, whether your goal is to get out there and get in shape by training for an event, or whether you’re a more serious competitive athlete. Either way, regional events like these are awesome outdoor community builders. And they’re a great way to train for a goal. More than anything, though, they’re a great way to combine fun, exercise and being outdoors. And that’s always the point, right?

Big Blue’s even posted some training tips for people looking get into multi-sport racing, so there - no excuses not to get out there.

Published
by
Dave
 on May 13, 2009
 in Events and Sponsorships
. 1 Comment

Team nuun-FeedTheMachine ramps up for a new season with Gregory on their backs

It’s been off-season in adventure racing, but it’s time to ramp things back up. What used to be Team DART-nuun last year now has a new sponsor and is called Team nuun-FeedTheMachine (perhaps aptly, because these folks, I’d bet, can probably eat), and they’re gearing up for the 2009 season.

Again this year, Gregory will sponsor the team in the pack arena, along with a host of other top-tier gear makers (a lot of gear is a pre-requisite for this kind of racing).

Here’s the team’s schedule for the coming season:

- Michigan Expedition race in May, a 3-5 day expedition race and one of the most recognized in the US.

- North America’s World Championship qualifier in July called Untamed New England, a 3-5 day expedition race.

- The mighty Primal Quest  in August in South Dakota, arguably the world’s toughest endurance race lasting 6-10 days.

- 24 hour Nationals in October in Texas (www.usara.com.

- World Championships in Portugal in November.

- A slew of other 24 hour races.

In addition, the team has a relatively web site as of January where you follow what they’re up to. Check it out here.

And they’re also doing clinics, as they’ve done in the past. If you’re in Seattle (their hometown) or Los Angeles, the team has been hosting weekly mountain bike clinics on night riding in those areas. Anyone interested should contact cyril (dot) jayrayon (at) gmail (dot) com for L.A. night rides, and Ryan VanGorder at r (underscore) vangorder (at) hotmail (dot) com for Seattle rides.

Published
by
Dave
 on April 8, 2009
 in Sponsorships
. 0 Comments

Team DART-nuun takes sixth at worlds, wins at U.S. nationals

Just got this update from Cyril Jay-Rayon, the captain of Team DART-nuun, the adventure racing team that Gregory co-sponsors. They just got back from the world championships in Brazil and also recently competed in the U.S. National Championships as well.

November has been the best month in the team’s 7 year history. First off, the team took 6th at the World Championships in the 120F temperatures of Northeastern Brazil and a week later won the US National Championships in significantly colder Georgia.

Both races had beautiful and extremely tough courses (as most championships do) against the best in the world and the nation. We’re extremely proud of our accomplishments but know we couldn’t have achieved such amazing results without the continued support over the years of our amazing sponsors. Thank you!

You can read all about our race experience and see photos the following links:

World Championships

National Championships

Published
by
Dave
 on November 26, 2008
 in Athletes and Sponsorships
. 0 Comments

DART-nuun wins adventure racing series, heads off to world and national events

Congrats to Team DART-nuun, which recently won the Checkpoint Tracker national 24-hour adventure racing series after five consecutive victories in series events. Racers from the Gregory-sponsored team (among many other great sponsors) competed in events in Arizona, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and South Carolina.

But there’s no time to celebrate.

Team racers - who break into different teams to be able to compete at different events of different lengths - is already participating in the World Championships as I type (taking place in Brazil), and another division of the team will be off to the USARA National Championships on Nov 8 and 9.

You can follow the team’s progress at the Worlds here; they’re currently in 13th place out of 58 teams.

Published
by
Dave
 on November 3, 2008
 in Gregory Goes There and Sponsorships
. 0 Comments

Update from the world of adventure racing

Got an update from Cyril Jay-Rayon, founder and captain of Team DART-nuun, the adventure racing team that, among lots of other great gear, uses Gregory packs. (And, by the way, provides us some invaluable feedback. Cyril’s been part of a focus group that helped provide feedback on the new Active Trail series and its Bio-Sync Suspension, which will be out around the first of the year.) 

Anyway, these guys continue to kill it on the adventure racing scene, both in the 24-hour-style races and lengthier multi-day ones.

Here’s what Cyril had to say:

The team is on a roll and this past weekend was no exception. We won our third National Series 24 hour race in as many tries. With this win, we are in a good position for top honors that will be decided at the end of the month in Moab (a three-day expedition race ) against the other top contenders.

Team DART-nuun overview 2008: 

o Won the North American World Championship qualifier in March – 5 day expedition race in Baja (Baja Travesia)
o Won Arizona’s premier 24 hour race (Desert Winds) in April– part of the National 24 hour Series
o Finished 4th at Primal Quest in June-July – the biggest and toughest expedition race in America, if not the world
o Won the Gorge Games 24 adventure race in July – part of the National 24 hour Series
o Won the Kit Carson ( part of the Big Blue Adventures series) 24 hour race in CA/NV – part of the National 24 hour Series

What’s on the menu for the rest of the year: 

o Team will compete in 2 more National Series race in an effort to win the series
o Team will compete in the National 24hour Championships in November in Georgia
o Team will compete at the World Championships (this is an expedition race 5-10 days long) at the end of October in Brazil

Published
by
Dave
 on September 16, 2008
 in Gregory Goes There and Sponsorships
. 0 Comments

DART-nuun looks back on Primal Quest … and ahead to the world championships

It’s been a month since Team DART-nuun finished Primal Quest, North America’s toughest adventure race, in fourth place. So team members are probably just about recovered now …

Which makes it a good time to get a little perspective on the race. As they say, time is the greatest healer.

For a little perspective on who these folks are, DART-nuun, which is sponsored in the backpack arena by Gregory, has 10 team members and is heading into their sixth years as a team. They actually break the group into two different teams, one that focuses on big, long adventure races (like Primal Quest), and another that focuses more on 24-hour-style races and North America more specifically, though there are people who cross over and compete on both teams. Continue reading >>

Published
by
Dave
 on July 29, 2008
 in Sponsorships
. 0 Comments

Pack testing the endurance way

When it comes to gear testing, it’s good to get a variety of perspectives - from recreational users to folks who put stuff through the wringer in instense situations. Right now, Gregory’s packs are undergoing an extended test up at Primal Quest in and around Big Sky, Mont.

For the last seven years, Primal Quest has been one of the bigger events in adventure racing, and the biggest such endurance race in North America. Gregory has been the pack sponsor for Team DART-nuun for a number of years, thanks to Gregory northwest sales rep Dave Egan and his team, who recognized a talented team of racers a few years back and worked to get Gregory packs on the teams’ backs.

Continue reading >>

Published
by
Dave
 on June 24, 2008
 in Sponsorships
. 0 Comments