Australian Athlete Killed by Falling Rock in Primal Quest

SEPTEMBER 22 -- An Australian adventure racer was killed on Tuesday afternoon during the third day of Subaru Primal Quest in northwest Washington state after he was struck by a boulder on a hiking and orienteering portion of the race.

Nigel Aylott and Team AROC had been competing neck-and-neck for the lead with Team Montrail prior to the incident. Aylott and his teammates were on Illabot Peak, which is about 40 miles east of Bellingham, Washington, hiking on steep terrain when he was struck in the head by the large rock. The 38-year-old Aylott, who was single, was an experienced adventure racer who helped Team AROC placed second at Subaru Primal Quest in Lake Tahoe last year and win the Wild Onion adventure race in Chicago.

Montrail and Aroc teams had been trading the lead off and on with each other significantly ahead of the rest of the field. Tuesday afternoon, they left Checkpoint 21 together at 1:48pm, about four hours ahead of everyone else to tackle an orienteering course as a "team" of eight athletes.

As they were working their way along a steep, rocky descent to one of the orienteering points, a rock broke loose and tumbled down toward the racers below. Aylott was struck and instantly killed. None of the other athletes were injured in the accident itself. But, during the rescue efforts, John Jacoby of Team Montrail suffered a leg laceration that required hospital attention.

Race spokesperson Gordon Wright said the race has been suspended because of Aylott's death, but said it would continue at the insistence of Aylott's family and teammates.

Subaru Primal Quest is one of the world's largest and most prestigious adventure race, carrying a cash prize purse of $250,000. The race, which started Sunday morning, was expected to cover about 400 miles and take teams up to 10 days to complete.

The death is the first in the three-year history of the race. Check out www.subaruprimalquest.com for additional updates.

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