Outlook Magazine - Fall 2024

int 400. Baja 1000. Gumball 3000. The Cannon ball Run. Motor culture has long been captivated by road rallies that push the limits of vehicle durability and driver determination. And while lesser known, North America’s longest may be its most extreme. Comprising 10 days of 14-hour legs through serious con ditions, the biannual Alcan 5000 is a challenge most of us would never consider. Take on the winter event, and you’ll face whiteouts, deep-freeze temperatures, ice roads and everything else a route from Seattle through the northern M For the race’s 40th anniversary last February, automotive journalists Andy Lilienthal (’01) and Mercedes Thauer Lilienthal (’00) packed an INEOS Grenadier 4X4 full of survival gear and entered the 2S “seat of the pants” class (no computers, no navigation instruments) against 16 other adventure teams. By day two, the Lilienthals were ahead, a lead they held for seven of the 10 days. By the time they reached Anchorage, they had not only won — they’d set the third fastest time in race history. #StoutProud. Canadian wilderness to Alaska will throw at you. A couple of Stout grads just won the whole thing.

Driven to the Extreme

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University of Wisconsin-Stout