The Gravity Play Xstream Expedition is underway in Moab, UT.

The 3 day race, part of the Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Series presented by Inov-8, began yesterday at 2:30 MST.

One of the unique attributes of the Checkpoint Tracker Series is that each event produces online coverage while the race is in progress. In most cases that coverage takes the form of a manually updated leaderboard, race blog and image gallery, but recent advancements in consumer GPS devices and web browser technology have allowed Checkpoint Zero to develop some pretty amazing new capabilities.

Using SPOT GPS tracking units, Google Maps and the Google Earth plug-in for Firefox and Internet Explorer, spectators can actually "fly" through a 3-D landscape to view the course and the exact location of each team.

Read the last updates and "shout outs" from fans at home along with photos from the course at Race Central or get a bird's eye view of the action on the GPS Tracking page.

Don Mann Productions and the South Dakota Department of Tourism and State Development announced today that next summer the state will host Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT. South Dakota's unique environments will offer competitors in the "World's Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition" stunning new landscapes to explore and daunting athletic challenges to face.

"This is the 6th edition of the Primal Quest 10-day expedition adventure race, and at 600 miles - the longest," said Don Mann, Director of Primal Quest. "We believe next year's race in South Dakota is going to be a historic event, which will offer the world's most talented adventure athletes a premier course unlike any other in the sport. We're especially excited to have teams experience the Badlands, as there is truly no place like this in the world."

Next summer, just after the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, co-ed teams of four will race, without support crews, through the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota from August 15th - 24th. The traditional adventure racing disciplines of trekking, mountain biking, orienteering, swimming, and paddling will be well represented, but competitors can expect new challenges as well.

Athletes will spelunk in cave systems deep beneath the Black Hills, and will test their climbing abilities while ascending and rappelling from majestic towering spires. Navigation will play a much larger role than in previous Primal Quests and racers will traverse many miles of single track in the mountain biking sections. Teams will run with herds of buffalo and share the trail with deer, prairie dogs, turkeys, elk and big horn sheep. They will pass abandoned gold mines and historic western forts, while bald eagles soar overhead.

"South Dakota is proud to be the location chosen by Don Mann and Primal Quest for their race next summer," said Richard Benda, Secretary of the Department of Tourism and State Development. "We have so much to offer for an event like this and we will make this a great experience for the racers, their families and for the communities of the Black Hills region."

The Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau along with its partners have been instrumental in seeking out Primal Quest and bringing them into South Dakota. Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT will showcase Rapid City and the surrounding communities to a worldwide audience. It will also show the drama and intensity of expedition racing at its finest with all the action being broadcasted in the fall of 2009 on Rush HD. With the majority of teams from 2008 committed to returning in 2009, and even more teams expected to join them, the field will be as deep and competitive as ever.

Primal Quest is excited to welcome back our amazing partners from 2008. MyTopo.com, TATE, Mind Quest, along with Peak Assurance. Each of them has played an integral role in the success of the race, and we are proud to have them as sponsors for Primal Quest Badlands.

On August 22, 2008 experienced hiker and Canadian oil analyst Michael Ervin, set off to enjoy a back country wilderness trip to the base of Mount Assiniboine, one of the highest and most distinctive peaks in the Canadian Rockies outside of Banff. A bad fall under the weight of his forty-five pound backpack left Mr. Ervin with a ruptured quadriceps tendon to his knee, unable to put any weight on his leg and 10 kilometers from the nearest road with no cell phone coverage.

"I heard a loud snap from my leg and could see my knee cap hanging loose, lower than usual," said Michael Ervin, President of fuel-analysis firm MJ Ervin & Associates of Calgary. "I was experiencing shock and knew I was unable to walk. I needed real help and pressed the 9-1-1 button on my SPOT Satellite Messenger to notify emergency responders of my GPS location coordinates."

The SPOT Satellite Messenger is a personal safety device which enables users to communicate via satellite technology from remote locations around the globe and initiate check-in and emergency response calls independently of cellular networks.

Banff National Parks, which maintains a 24/7 rescue office, immediately dispatched a local Parks helicopter to Mr. Ervin's exact location. He was flown to Banff Mineral Springs Hospital and underwent surgery the next day.

"As a pilot, I learned about SPOT through my membership with COPA (Canadian Owners and Pilots Association) and purchased the device because it was more affordable than other PLBs and due to its GPS location capability SPOT is far more reliable than the 121.5 ELT," added Mr. Ervin. "Because it's small and lightweight, I take SPOT with me on my backpacking trips to stay connected with my family and friends at home. This time, it proved vital in getting me the quick medical attention that I needed."

Mr. Ervin is no stranger to this wilderness area. This was his third attempt of reaching the base of Mount Assiniboine by foot along the 29 Kilometer Citadel Pass Trail. His previous attempts were never completed due to a forest fire one year and inclement weather brought on by an early winter storm during a later attempt.

"This is but a speed bump on the highway of life, and after I have completed my recovery in the next few months I will try to make it back to Mount Assiniboine."

About SPOT

The SPOT Satellite Messenger, the world's first satellite messenger, uses both the GPS satellite network to determine a customer's location and the SPOT network to transmit that information to friends, family or an emergency service center. SPOT LLC., a subsidiary of Globalstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: GSAT), provides lifesaving communications technology that allows users to communicate from remote locations around the globe. Thanks to this affordable, cutting-edge personal safety device, the company offers people peace of mind by allowing customers to notify friends and family of their location and status, and to send for emergency assistance in time of need, completely independent of cellular phone or wireless coverage.

For more information on how SPOT is helping users live to tell about it - from disaster preparedness to outdoor adventure purposes - visit www.findmespot.com.

Northeast

Event #1 - Richmond, VA (April 18, 2009)
Event #2 - Detroit, Michigan (June 13, 2009)
Event #3 - New York/New Jersey (August 8, 2009)
Event #4 - Pittsburgh, PA (October 10, 2009)

Southeast

Event #1 - Miami, Florida (March 14, 2009)
Event #2 - Charlotte, NC (May 16, 2009)
Event #3 - Nashville/Chattanooga, TN (July 11, 2009)
Event #4 - Atlanta, Georgia (September 12, 2009)

More information is available on the official site.

1. Being tracked from space is just cool
   
2. Fall foliage in the Upstate peaks the last two weeks of October
3. Your team could win a free entry to the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge (Dec 2008), the Odyssey One Day Extreme (Jan 2009) or the Checkpoint Zero Adventure Race (Mar 2009)
4. Last event in the Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Series presented by Inov-8
5. There will be a soup kitchen somewhere in the woods
6. High quality maps from MyTopo.com
   
7. The weather will be gorgeous or atrocious, nothing in between
8. First edition of a new race, you'll be able to say "I was there man"
9. Course designed by Tim "the blizzard" Morris is fun and challenging
10. Every team that makes it to the finish is officially ranked no matter how many checkpoints they skip (this race is only as hard as you want to make it)
    

Information about the race is available on the official race page at http://www.checkpointzero.com/upstate.

Online registration is open through midnight on September 31st.

If you'd like to volunteer to help at Check In or work at a Checkpoint or Transition Area please send an email to race@checkpointzero.com.