Rapid City and the Black Hills are hosting the World’s Toughest Human Endurance Competition beginning this Friday August 14th and ending on Sunday August 23rd.

At 600 miles and ten days in length, Primal Quest Badlands will be the longest and toughest adventure race in history. Thirty seven co-ed teams of four from fourteen different countries will be competing for $175,000 in cash and prizes.

The course is riddled with demanding physical challenges including trekking, mountain biking, paddling, swimming, spelunking, and climbing over a distance of 600 miles. Along the way competitors will race through lands where dinosaurs once roamed, run in the footsteps of Native American Tribes, passing herds of wild buffalo and navigate through the endless towering spires, rock faces and waterways of the Badlands National Park.

Teams will be equipped with the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger™ which sends location-based signals via communications satellite allowing for real-time public viewing on SPOT enhanced Google Maps™, MyTopo Maps, and an innovative race leaderboard for team position and race course check-point updates.

Due to the remoteness of the race the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger™ will also provide competitors and race staff with satellite-based messaging and emergency communications independent of cellular networks to assist with on-course safety.

“SPOT revolutionized the adventure racing experience last year in Montana not only for the athletes but also the race staff and fans around the word,” said Don Mann, Primal Quest director.

“For the first time ever extreme adventure racers have a tracking device that is light-weight and rugged enough to withstand the punishment of this race and reliable enough to provide location-based tracking of the teams online. SPOT is invaluable for race logistics and safety but also opens up the adventure racing world to fans who want to share the experience and see where their favorite teams are at any moment.”

New this year is the integration of www.SPOTadventures.com SPOT’s new online social community providing additional team profile information and individual team tracking history allowing viewers to monitor their favorite team in real-time.

SPOTadventures.com will allow the Primal Quest teams to document and share their race experience with others after the race by uploading geo-tagged photos, writing blogs and archiving their race maps and location data history.

The DVD will be available later this year from Race Day Films.