Elite Athletes Show No Mercy
June 20th, 2005
Durango, Colo. (June 18, 2005) – Sixty-four of the world’s toughest athletes battled cold temperatures, strong winds, high altitudes, raging rapids, and rugged terrain in the second incarnation of Red Bull Divide & Conquer. Returning team Specialized/Riversports proved victorious and set a new race record, beating last year’s winning team by more than 21 minutes.
“The bike leg is about three hours long but starts with a 3,000 foot climb in about 4 miles, a super steep climb, so it kind of sets the tone for the whole ride because your legs are blown after that,” said returning athlete Ned Overend, who won the fastest mountain biking split time two years running. “The combination of the prolonged steepness and the altitude, it’s just brutal, more than any other race I do.”
Coming in a close second was team Adventure Sports Magazine, who were neck-and-neck the entire race until the final leg, when Overend clinched the lead on the last downhill mountain bike stretch. Newcomers The Bull Riders held their own by finishing a strong third.
Perhaps it was mountain biker Chris Davenport who put it best “It’s just a cruel course man. It’s absolutely so painful and you feel like you’re never going to make it. You feel like how you could possibly go on because you’re just pushing and suffering.”
NO PAIN, NO GAIN
With the snowcapped peaks of the San Juan Mountain Range in the background, the grueling race kicked-off at sunrise with 7.5 miles of rigorous trail running ascending 6,000 feet up the rocky Kendall Mountain. Trekking through snow-packed fields and craggy mining roads, the runners tagged their paraglide teammates who fought turbulent winds to launch from a formidable 13,100 ft. peak off Kendall Mountain, the highest altitude competition launch in North America.
Following the paragliders, the kayakers entered the frigid water through a narrow chute, before tackling 24-miles of Class IV and V rapids down the legendary Animas River. Rising water levels forced officials to shorten the course leg by three miles, but the modification did little to ease the course difficulty or the athlete’s exhaustion. In the fourth and final leg of the competition, mountain bikers faced a daunting uphill battle, climbing over 7,000 feet of vertical trails before the 28-mile course brought them safely across the finish line at the Durango Mountain Resort. Marla Streb lived up to her “Gravity Goddess” nickname as the only mountain biker to ride one of the steepest declines on the course, as the rest opted to walk their way down.
TAMING THE MOUNTAIN
Red Bull Divide & Conquer debuted in Durango, Colo. in 2004 and is fashioned after the revered Red Bull Dolomitenmann race that has been hosted in Austria for 17 years. The race features four-person mountain sports relay teams dividing efforts by specialty to conquer specialized trail running, paragliding, kayaking and mountain biking courses.
The winning relay team took home their share of the $17,500 prize purse and a guaranteed seed to compete in the 18th annual Red Bull Dolomitenmann race in Austria in September 2005. Athletes with the fastest split times were also awarded a special trophy and $500 prize.
WINNER’S RESULTS
1st Place
Specialized/Riversports
Andy Corra, Jesse Rickert, Dave Melon, Ned Overend
7:37:34
2nd Place
Adventure Sports Magazine
Dave Mackey, Josh Briggs, Mike Freeburn, Pete Swenson
7:45:16
3rd Place
The Bull Riders
Noel Wade, Bernie Boettcher, Ben Stookesberry, Charles Jenkins
8:07:38
Fastest Trail Run
The Bull Riders
Bernie Boettcher
1:39:59
Fastest Paragliding Leg
Team Idaho
Nate Scales
0:36:22
Fastest Kayak Leg
Team Idaho
Ryan Casey
2:15:54
Fastest Mountain Bike Leg
Specialized/Riversports
Ned Overend
3:00:28
For press information, please contact Nyla Wilkins at (310) 460-5154 or nyla.wilkins@us.redbull.com. Race results, images, and video can be viewed at www.redbulldivideandconquer.com. Event photos can be downloaded for free at www.redbull-photofiles.com.
