Adventure race gets real without 'reality'

0 Comments | USA TODAY, January, 2004 | by Sal Ruibal

If you're sick of whiny Paris Hilton and loathe The Bachelor , you can blame adventure racing.

That's because the epidemic of reality TV shows can trace its beginnings to the first Discovery Channel Eco-Challenge adventure race in 1995.

Eco-Challenge creator and television producer Mark Burnett quickly determined there was more ratings potential in exploring the psychology of team dynamics than in watching sleep-deprived outdoors jocks run, bike, swim, paddle and climb over hundreds of miles of wilderness. From that revelation, his popular Survivor series was spawned and television programming was transformed.

Meanwhile, adventure racing has blossomed despite never being featured on network television -- until Saturday. The Subaru Primal Quest is getting two...