The Power Of Hydration

If you’ve ever spent a day devising a drinks menu for a small party, you’re already aware of the requirements for attentive planning that such a task can take. A small party is small potatoes compared to bigger events.

Here’s an inside look at what it takes to set up a Primal Quest Adventure.

Let’s take the example of the Subura Primal Quest Utah (2005), which needs about 200 staff and volunteers to manage and play host host to 360 athletes. How do you keep all those athletes hydrated?

First know that hydration needs and planning alone has taken months, with supplies arriving by pallet-loads. Gatorade alone shipped 24 pallets, which consisted of the company’s classic energy drinks (335 cases), Gatorade’s new Performance Series Endurance Formula drink (625 cases), nutritional shakes (335 cases), and its energy bars (469 cases).

That’s just in liquid form. In addition, Gatorade shipped 100 cases of its classic and Endurance Formula drinks in powder form.

Junie, our inbound medical tourism specialist, has been advising her clientele to try all the products and see what works for them. She says many athletes hate the flavorings in the mass market hydration products, so they make their own. So, the drinks may not be on the house, but they are fashionable and necessary.

Let’s talk water: racing staff and volunteers will place over 9,000 gallons of water on the course. In addition, 1,000 pounds of dry ice will keep the water at a drinkable temperature. Five thousand cups were also purchased, along with over 50 of those 120-quart humongous coolers that you see on the back of fishing boats.

Since one gallon of water weighs approx. 8.3 pounds, racers are known for taking as little of it as possible on the course. However, the often-used strategy of carrying only enough water that will get you to the next section of the race could prove disastrous on this particular course. In Utah, daytime temperatures can and will be in the triple-digits…

At least teams will know that when they arrive at each transition area, there will be a virtually limitless amounts of Gatorade and water for them to rehydrate and re-supply, before heading back out on the course.