Nevada Tourism To Launch First Statewide Adventure Race

The Nevada Commission on Tourism (NCOT) will initiate Nevada Passage, the first statewide adventure race and a made-for-television event May 19-24, 2005, Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt announced today. Nevada Passage will feature teams of athletes participating in a series of adventure experiences that will race through Nevada’s mountain passes, desert trails, lakes and rivers.  An hour-long television show documenting the race will capture Nevada’s spectacular natural beauty and unique outdoor adventure destinations.

TEAM Unlimited will produce the program for syndication in more than 80 national television markets that include New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Sacramento, Seattle and Portland and event highlights from Nevada Passage will be included in two half-hour XTERRA Planet television programs for national viewing on major networks and cable affiliates.

“Nevada Passage is an exciting new event that will help to establish the Silver State as an adventure destination in addition to our world-class gaming resorts and entertainment,” Hunt, NCOT chair, said.  “Television viewers will see the athletes kayak, mountain bike, run, hike, rock climb, 4-wheel drive and jet ski their way across hundreds of miles of rugged terrain and water.”

The event is scheduled to begin in Las Vegas and end in Reno, but the focus will be on Nevada’s rural communities as athletes tackle adventures in and around towns like Alamo, Ely, Elko and Fallon.

“Nevada Passage is a high-profile event that will further position Nevada as a choice region of the country for adventure activities,” NCOT Executive Director Bruce Bommarito said.  “Televising the race will enable adventure seekers to clearly visualize themselves kayaking on the Truckee River in Reno or mountain biking in the Ruby Mountains of Elko.”

NCOT is sponsoring the event along with Paul Mitchell, XTERRA Energy Drink and Nissan.  TEAM Unlimited and R&R Partners, an integrated marketing communications firm, created the six-day race to showcase Nevada’s dramatic landscape and daring adventure opportunities.

R&R Partners and TEAM Unlimited began working with NCOT in 2001 with a three-year agreement to sponsor the Nissan XTERRA USA Championship Race at Lake Tahoe every September. Since the first year, participation in the race has grown from 125 athletes to 700, and the race was voted the best off-road triathlon of 2003 by the 50,000-member USA Triathlon, the national governing body for triathlon in the United States.  Along with 5,000 live spectators, the 2003 race reached more than 5 million television viewers through syndication of the championship show and associated XTERRA Planet programs.

The Nevada Passage was developed to build on the success of XTERRA’s USA Championship Race and carry the same high-level exposure to the state’s rural regions.

September 29, 2004   Posted in: United States NorthWest