Thirty-eight teams have officially signed up so far for Primal Quest Badlands, the grueling 600-mile race through some of most rugged and pristine areas of the South Dakota’s Black Hills and Badlands, according to the Primal Quest website.

There are teams from across the United States, as well as St. Maarten/Netherlands Atilles, Canada, Mexico/Spain, Norway and New Zealand. There’s even a Team South Dakota. Last I heard, its members are Paulette Kirby, Lisa Gustin, Gary Haven, all of Rapid City and Dan Jensen of Sioux Falls.

Primal Quest Badlands begins Aug. 15. Race teams will have to be skilled in things such as off-road running, mountain biking, caving, swimming, kayaking and fixed-line ropes. Ought to be exciting.

Did I mention that the teams will travel nonstop day and night? We’re talking six days for the best teams, 10 days for the others. There’s a reason they call this the world’s most challenging human endurance competition.

The website doesn’t say what role spectators will have, but I’m guessing there will be chances to see the athletes as they compete.

In any case, this is a great chance for South Dakota to show the world what it has to offer adventure travelers. Sometimes I think people in other parts of the country see the Black Hills as sort of a Wally World destination for the Griswolds in their family truckster.

There are a lot of family things to do in the Black Hills, but I think families these days are more active on their vacations than when I was a kid. They’d rather rent bicycles and ride the Mickelson Trail than stare out the car window at the scenery.

That’s one of the reasons Matt Reed of the Rapid City Convention & Visitors Bureau helped lure Primal Quest to the Badlands. The media attention will paint a very active, and more accurate, picture of what travelers can find in the Black Hills and Badlands.