Yes, I remember Eco-Challenge. They had
teams of 5, one had to be a woman, they were from all countries and
backgrounds. Seems like I remember the Navy SEAL teams not doing as well as one
would expect. Some of the extreme athletes did very well – but it seemed
like the team who could physically hold up would win. I remember seeing people
peeling layers and layers of duct tape off their blistered feet, along with a
good part of their feet – YUCK. I think you had to finish with 4 team members
so only one could drop out along the way. It was way more extreme than anything
I have seen on TV in a long time.
Kristen
From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Cindy Stafford Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007
11:01 PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] televising endurance
Been following the discussion on endurance in the olympics
and how to televise it, to keep people's interest.
Back in the 90's, before there was survivor and the
apprentice, the producer, Mark Burnett, used to hold an Eco Challenge event,
after hearing about these types of adventure races. They were 11 day
races of teams of 4, including kayaking, mountain climbing, mountain biking,
etc. in places like Fiji,
Morocco, Patagonia...The
race was packaged into a two part show, i think it was aired on discovery and USA. Last
one was in '01. Anyway, it was great TV on a January weekend watching all
these 'mega' athletes, while i was tucked under my afghans eating pizza
LOL. Lots of excitement, with the experienced veterans along with the
newbies, the arrogant/over confident ones, and the humble. I think if
someone like that focused on a Tevis or Old D type event, and really spent the
time on 'backstories', etc. it could be good TV. Shoot, just following my
riding buddies and me around a 25, is good for a good laugh :).
Anyway, if they can get people to
watch Big Brother, endurance should find an audience as long as they treated it
with respect and followed the riders and teams, and didn't just show it as a
'who crossed the finish line first' event.
