THIS WEEK: As America celebrates Independence Day, XTERRA celebrates the athletes that are taking full advantage of their freedom to LIVE MORE. Peter Reid returns to XTERRA, Will Kelsay’s wild ride continues, Audie Smith heads to race No. 50, Emma Garrard wins then writes about her race, Yvonne Kraus organizes a gear collection for kids, trail runners in Tennessee earn regional championships, and the TEAM TV crew plans its coverage of the XTERRA Mountain Championship while current shows hit the airwaves across the U.S.
Happy 4th of July everybody…
UPCOMING RACES:
6/30 – XTERRA Wildwood Romp Trail Run (St. Louis, MO)
6/30 – XTERRA I.C. King of Trails Race (Knoxville, TN)
7/8 – XTERRA M2Xtreme (Ellicottville, NY)
7/8 – XTERRA Lock 4 Blast (Gallatin, TN)
7/8 – XTERRA Loon Mountain Trail Run (Lincoln, NH)
7/14 – XTERRA Iron Creek (Spearfish, SD)
7/14 – XTERRA Snowbird Challenge Trail Run (Salt Lake City, UT)
7/14 – XTERRA Stump Jumpin Trail Run (Lawrence, KS)
7/14 – XTERRA Renegade Trail Run (Chicago, IL)
7/15 – XTERRA Thompson Lake (Poland, ME)
7/15 – XTERRA EX2 (Flintstone, MD)
7/15 – XTERRA Midwest Mudder (Lawrence, KS)
7/15 – XTERRA Vashon Island (Vashon Island, WA)
REID’S RETURN: Canadian triathlon legend Peter Reid is back, and for the first-time ever will race in an XTERRA outside of Maui. The three-time Ironman World Champion and six-time Hawaiian Airlines Double award winner has announced his intention to race at the XTERRA Mountain Championship in Ogden, Utah (Aug. 18), the XTERRA USA Championship in Incline Village, Nevada (Sept. 30), and the XTERRA World Championship in Makena, Maui (Oct. 28).
Reid said last year he moved to Squamish (British Columbia, Canada) - an amazing mountain biking community - and has started swimming and running again so it’s time to get out to the races – XTERRA races.
“He’s been practicing on the mountain bike and there’s no question about his endurance, or his speed in the water or on the run, so now that he’s got the mountain biking skills and won’t be weary coming off an Ironman, we could be in for a whole new era of XTERRA racing,” said “Kahuna” Dave Nicholas, the managing director of the XTERRA Global Tour.
Reid, 37, is the best there has ever been in the Hawaiian Airlines Double competition that combines a racers Ironman World Championship and XTERRA World Championship time (a grueling task as the two races were just eight days apart). He was the first official winner of the award back in 1998, won again in 2000, then four straight years from 2002-to-2005.
In his last attempt in 2005 (when he placed third at the Ironman) he finished 14th at XTERRA and had a combined time of 11:10:09 (8:20:04 in Kona and 2:50:05 in Maui). During that race Reid had the quote of the day when he passed a bunch of reporters midway through the mountain bike course saying, “There’s a 50-year-old in front of me!” – referring to XTERRA Hall of Famer Ned Overend who had the 9th best bike split.
At past XTERRA World Championships Reid has finished 16th (2004), 7th (2003), 20th (2002), 10th (2000), 49th (1999), and 6th in his first try in 1998. He celebrated all three of his Ironman Hawaii wins (‘98, ‘00, & ‘03) with a trip to Maui for XTERRA Worlds.
WILL’S WILD RIDE: XTERRA Pro Will Kelsay – best known for his colorful mohawks and beaming smile – is on race No. 5 of his 12-race epic journey across the country. This weekend’s scheduled event is the XTERRA M2Xtreme in Ellicottville, New York…assuming he gets there because on his blog post today he says that the engine block on his RV may be cracked.
For those just learning of Will’s XTERRA Adventure, his mission is pretty straightforward…
“With one RV, two bikes, and over 10,000 miles, I will zig-zag coast to coast promoting off-road racing this summer. For 90 days, I will hold XTERRA clinics at Fleet Feet stores during the week and then race an XTERRA triathlon on the weekend,” Kelsay explains.
Now a solid month into his adventure, the stories and pictures from the road are nothing less than hilarious. You’ve got to check it out for yourself at http://www.willkelsay.com/
AUDIE’S 50TH: This Sunday Audie Smith – the 2001 and 2002 Southeast Region Champion - will compete in his 50th XTERRA event at the XTERRA Lock 4 Blast in Gallatin, Tennessee.
The 54-year-old Cardiac Anesthesiologist, musician, father, and athlete started his XTERRA career at the same race eight years ago and despite terrific mishaps on the bike portion that day, he was hooked.
“It was great fun...and still is,” says Smith.
Look for a feature story on Audie and his adventures in Triathlete Magazine's October issue.
XTERRA Tahoe City Review: XTERRA racer and journalist Emma Garrard from the Sierra Sun newspaper in Truckee, California won the women’s overall at the inaugural XTERRA Tahoe City race last weekend. Garrard, who has emerged as the best in the West in the 25-29 age group by posting wins at XTERRA REAL, the XTERRA West Championship, and XTERRA Tahoe City - wrote about her adventures for the paper and you can read them here.
BIKE PARTS 4 KIDS: At the XTERRA Vashon Island race on July 15 XTERRA ambassador Yvonne Kraus is urging athletes to bring gear and bike component donations to the race with them.
Kraus spearheaded the idea to join forces with BikeWorks, a Seattle non-profit organization (see bikeworks.org) to collect donated used gear – water bottles, stickers, bike shoes, clothing, tubes, tires, and any bike component still in decent shape.
The second-hand gear will be utilized by BikeWorks to educate children about bicycle mechanics, provide affordable bike services to the community and ultimately “build sustainable communities by educating youth and promoting bicycling”.
For example, “Earn-a-Bike” is an initiative where kids have the opportunity to master the basics of bike repair in eight fun classes. During "Earn-a-Bike time" outside of class, donated bikes are used as guinea-pigs to practice their new skills and a way to earn their own “recycled cycle” to take home.
“After the XTERRA World Championship in Maui last year I left a few gear items behind as it was the end of the season and I didn’t want to bring them back to the mainland,” said Kraus. “I had done that at other races before and I’m certain other athletes do it as well, especially the more serious racers or those who regularly receive new gear from sponsors. So, why not tap this resource and help others?”
KNOXVILLE TR CHAMPS CROWNED: The final race of the 2007 XTERRA Tennessee Trail Running Series proved to be the most arduous event to date. Unlike the first two races of this series, the XTERRA I.C. King of Trails Run jumped immediately onto single-track trails lined with hardwoods, cedars, and pines. The 7.2-mile course began with a roller-coaster run over four brutal hills, then wound its way through rolling gullies before finishing along the lake.
In a tight race for first, it was former Webb standout Andrew Press (21) who took home top honors on Saturday.
"I'm from Knoxville and just transferred to the University of Tennessee from William & Mary. I'm excited to be back and love our local trails,” said Press. He led all runners with a winning time of 41:25, followed closely by Randy Ashley of Asheville, NC (41) in 41:53.
In the women’s race local adventure racer and XTERRA racer Patricia Williams-Smith (33) won convincingly in a time of 45:57. A first timer for the trail running series, she noted that the course was tough, "but any day on the trail is better than a day on the road." Also running an XTERRA series race for the first time, Kari Brown (25) made the trip from Michigan to come in second overall in 51:09. Rounding out the top-3 women was the winner of both the first races, Sally Evenden (52) in a time of 53:53. Evenden said "I loved that XTERRA hosted a series of races this year instead of just a single race like the last two years. There should be even more of them!"
The 2007 Tennessee Regional XTERRA Trail Running Champions are: Lucy Branam (F 10-19), Tracy Brooks (F 20-29), Nicole Howe (F 30-39), Beth Rice (F 40-49), Sally Evenden (F 50-59), Shirley Sirois (F 60+), Ethan Johnson (M 10-19), Elijah Shekinah (M 20-29), Jack Kilislian (M 30-39), Barry Lucas (M 40-49), Tony Branam (M 50-59), and Ken Sirois (M 60+).
XTERRA TV 2 UTAH: The upcoming XTERRA Mountain Championship weekend on August 17-18 in Ogden and Snowbasin, Utah will be covered by the award-winning TEAM Unlimited TV crew for inclusion in a 2008 XTERRA Planet television production.
The main focus of the show will be race coverage from the scenic Wasatch Range, with several cameras following the action. The TV time means extra exposure for professionals competing in the main event and for the region itself. Last year after her victory Melanie McQuaid was quoted as saying:
“With the altitude here and how friendly the people are and the great facilities that exist here this would be an incredible place for triathletes to train so I can see as people become more aware of how great Utah is this could become the next Mecca for endurance sports…it’s gorgeous.”
Viewers from across the nation will now be able to tune-in and see for themselves as the program is tentatively scheduled to begin its run in national syndication in May of 2008.
MORE XTERRA TV: The XTERRA lifestyle is on display for millions of viewers across the country this weekend with prime air times in big markets like New York, Boston, Chicago, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and multisport towns like Colorado Springs, Reno, and Salinas…
Date
City
Network
Time
Show
7/5
New York, NY
FXSP (CAB)
9:00-9:30 am
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/7
Albany, NY
WTEN (ABC)
3:30-4:00 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/7
Bluefield, WV
WVVA (NBC)
6:00-6:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Hawaii
7/7
Boston, MA
WCVB (ABC)
1:30-2:00 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/7
Cedar Rapids, IA
KCRG (ABC)
1:00-1:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/7
Chicago, IL
WBBM (CBS)
12:00-12:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/7
Great Falls, MT
KFBB (ABC)
12:30-1:00pm
XTERRA Planet
7/7
Great Falls, MT
KFBB (ABC)
12:00-12:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/7
Greenville, SC
WNEG (CBS)
12:30-1:00 pm
XTERRA Planet
7/7
Helena, MT
KHBB (ABC)
12:30-1:00 pm
XTERRA Planet
7/7
Helena, MT
KHBB (ABC)
12:00-12:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/7
Las Vegas, NV
KLAS (CBS)
3:00-3:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/7
Portland, ME
WMTW (ABC)
4:00-4:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Hawaii
7/7
Portland, ME
WMTW (ABC)
5:00-5:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Hawaii
7/7
Portland, ME
WMTW (ABC)
5:30-6:00 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/7
Portland, ME
WMTW (ABC)
4:30-5:00 pm
XTERRA Saipan Championship
7/7
Reno, NV
KOLO (ABC)
3:30-4:00 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/7
Tyler, TX
KFXK (FOX)
2:00-2:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/7
Waco, TX
KWTX (CBS)
12:30-1:00 pm
XTERRA Planet
7/7
Waco, TX
KWTX (CBS)
12:00-12:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/8
Bluefield, WV
WVVA (NBC)
6:00-6:30 pm
XTERRA Saipan Championship
7/8
Clarksburg, WV
WVFX (FOX)
3:30-4:00 pm
XTERRA Planet from Hawaii
7/8
Clarksburg, WV
WVFX (FOX)
3:00-3:30 pm
XTERRA Saipan Championship
7/8
Colorado Springs, CO
KRDO (ABC)
11:30am-12:00pm
XTERRA Planet from Hawaii
7/8
Colorado Springs, CO
KRDO (ABC)
12:00-12:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/8
Indianapolis, IN
WISH (CBS)
12:30-1:00 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/8
Monterey/Salinas, CA
KCBA (FOX)
9:30-10:00 am
XTERRA Planet from Hawaii
7/8
New York, NY
FXSP (CAB)
7:00-7:30 am
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/8
New York, NY
FXSP (CAB)
1:00-1:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/8
Salt Lake City, UT
KSL (ABC)
4:00-4:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/8
Syracuse, NY
WSYR (ABC)
1:00-1:30 pm
XTERRA Planet from Hawaii
7/8
Syracuse, NY
WSYR (ABC)
1:30-2:00 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/8
Tampa, FL
WTSP (CBS)
12:30-1:00 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/8
Topeka, KS
KSNT (NBC)
3:00-3:30 am
XTERRA Planet
7/8
Topeka, KS
KSNT (NBC)
2:30-3:00 am
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/8
Tri Cities, TN
CW4 (CW)
2:30-3:00 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/8
Wausau, WI
WSAW (CBS)
11:00-11:30 am
XTERRA Planet from Nevada
7/9
New York, NY
FXSP (CAB)
2:30-3:00 pm
XTERRA Planet from Nevada