2008 Woodie Awards
UCF professor challenges the limits of his body, mind
Sharon Weaver
Issue date: 7/17/08 Section: News
UCF Engineering professor, Ron Eaglin, completed a 10-day adventure race with three teammates.
This race, called Primal Quest, is considered to be "the most challenging human endurance competition in the world," according to the director of the event, Don Mann. This fifth edition of Primal Quest took place in Montana from June 21 until July 2.
During a race like Primal Quest, the racers challenge their bodies to the extreme.
"To complete any portion of the race is an amazing accomplishment," said Dawn Taylor Mann, Primal Quest's director of operation.
Eaglin and his team, Team Blue, raced through about 550 miles by hiking, running, biking and climbing.
"[It was] a distance equivalent to the distance from Orlando to Atlanta," Eaglin said.
This edition of Primal Quest was unique. According to the director of operations, "the course had 100,000 feet of elevation gain; teams experienced different types of extreme weather, wildlife encounters, and flood levels on rivers that were already treacherous."
In 10 days, Team Blue slept 20 hours. "We tried doing 48-hour days and get four hours of sleep in between that," Eaglin explained. Yet, he confessed that before the last day they were too excited to finish - they slept only one hour that night.
Eaglin's team was composed of four members; the other three were Dominique Drouin, Kent Ryhorchuk and Julie Ardoin.
"It will be too dangerous to do this alone," Eaglin said. For example, the team had to walk on ice bridges and snow packs. "You don't know what to expect," Eaglin said.
Nonetheless, the team agrees that they could not have done it without each other.
"Our team, composed of individuals acting with one mind and one focus, successfully completed the course," Ardoin said.
"You really get to know each other," Eaglin said, "when you share something that intense, of course you bond."
Ryhorchuk said, "There are connections with people and nature that you discover through mutual dependence."
This race, called Primal Quest, is considered to be "the most challenging human endurance competition in the world," according to the director of the event, Don Mann. This fifth edition of Primal Quest took place in Montana from June 21 until July 2.
During a race like Primal Quest, the racers challenge their bodies to the extreme.
"To complete any portion of the race is an amazing accomplishment," said Dawn Taylor Mann, Primal Quest's director of operation.
Eaglin and his team, Team Blue, raced through about 550 miles by hiking, running, biking and climbing.
"[It was] a distance equivalent to the distance from Orlando to Atlanta," Eaglin said.
This edition of Primal Quest was unique. According to the director of operations, "the course had 100,000 feet of elevation gain; teams experienced different types of extreme weather, wildlife encounters, and flood levels on rivers that were already treacherous."
In 10 days, Team Blue slept 20 hours. "We tried doing 48-hour days and get four hours of sleep in between that," Eaglin explained. Yet, he confessed that before the last day they were too excited to finish - they slept only one hour that night.
Eaglin's team was composed of four members; the other three were Dominique Drouin, Kent Ryhorchuk and Julie Ardoin.
"It will be too dangerous to do this alone," Eaglin said. For example, the team had to walk on ice bridges and snow packs. "You don't know what to expect," Eaglin said.
Nonetheless, the team agrees that they could not have done it without each other.
"Our team, composed of individuals acting with one mind and one focus, successfully completed the course," Ardoin said.
"You really get to know each other," Eaglin said, "when you share something that intense, of course you bond."
Ryhorchuk said, "There are connections with people and nature that you discover through mutual dependence."