Raid the North Extreme (RTNX), Canada’s premiere expedition adventure race, is proud to announce that the 2011 event will be broadcast in an hour-long high-definition documentary across Canada and the USA.

Raid the North Extreme, the six-day, non-stop expedition race will take place from July 23 to 31st, 2011 in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. It will feature co-ed teams of four from around the world as they navigate more than 500 kilometres of unmarked terrain through the Selkirk, Purcell and Monashee mountains. Teams will face extreme challenges including a rugged wilderness, team dynamics, sleep deprivation and gear failure as they bike, trek, paddle and use ropes to navigate the course.

The country’s top adventure race organizer, Frontier Adventure Sport and Training (FAST), in partnership with New Edge Entertainment of Vancouver, are focused to take adventure racing to new heights on Canadian television. The broadcast is the first airing of a five-year agreement with New Edge Entertainment. Plans are for the 2011 broadcast to air with Global TV in December and on Public Broadcasting Stations in the USA in 2012. It is anticipated that 60 to 100 PBS outlets could pick up the feed in the USA. In addition, the feature will be released for international distribution in at the MIPTV convention in Cannes France on April 1, 2012.

“We are happy to partner with producer John Lovelace and New Edge Entertainment once again,” said Geoff Langford, president of FAST and RTNX. “We worked with John and his team for our 2007 Raid the North Extreme event held in Prince Rupert and Haida Gwaii. The level of exposure they brought to the race was exceptional and this has allowed us to continue promoting adventure racing for the exciting sport that it is.”

The film crews will capture the action, drama and emotion of the teams in High Definition (HD) as they navigate the rugged course in the West Kootenay region.

“It’s good to be back working with Geoff and the gang at Raid the North,” said New Edge Executive Producer John Lovelace. “The 2007 broadcast got excellent ratings on Global Prime Time airing and it looks like we will get the same Saturday night time slot this year.”

Raid the North Extreme is already approaching sold-out status of 50 teams from around the world including Canada, the U.S., Australia, Mexico, Ireland, Switzerland and St Maarten.
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American novelist Earnest Hemingway wrote that “Switzerland is a small, steep country; much more up and down than sideways.” The Apex racers have spent four days proving Hemingway’s assertion. They have the blisters and swolen joints to prove it!

Day #4, Saturday, saw Silva Gerber Adventure cross the finish line first to win the race in impressive fashion. They did the final trek of scenic valleys and forests, concluding with one racer dramatically paragliding down to Interlaken while the rest of their team ran down the mountain. Reunited at the landing field, the team had a final short trek to the finish line. The Silva team only slept for 1 hour 40 minutes throughout the entire event, and raced without making any significant mistakes; their experience and teamwork powered them to the victory, finishing 4 hours in front of the Swiss team R’Adys Black Diamond. R’Adys attracted a good crowd of supporters for their final trek through Interlaken town, and they waved the Swiss and Canton Bern flags as they jogged under the finishing archway. For a team with 2 novice expedition racers, 2nd place is an amazing result and may indicate the resurgance of elite Swiss adventure racing on the world scene (the Salomon Suisse team was consistently one of the best in the world, but had disbanded several years ago).

A close battle for 3rd place developed almost right from the start of the race; for the Swedish “Sweco Adventure Team” and French “PowerBar Lozere Sport Nature” teams, it has been a sustained back-and-forth contest between these two European rivals. Ultimately, Sweco Adventure claimed third place crossing the finish line 1 hour and 50 minutes ahead of PowerBar Lozere Sport.

All the race finishers thus far have commented about the taxing elevation gain (15,000 meters is a figure most teams agree on based on their route selections) and phenomenal natural beauty of the course. Some have called it the most scenic race ever. From the scorching hot prologue to the freezing Alpine storm on the Schilthorn trek, from the crystal clear paddle on the Thunersee to the canyoneering at rocky Grimsel canyon . . . this race has showcased the Swiss landscape in all its many wonderful shapes and sizes.

There are still many teams racing, all on the final trekking leg that took the race leaders over 12 hours to complete. The weather is clear overnight and temperatures moderate, so the stage is set for teams to have a strong push to the finish line.

The official top 5 teams are:

1. Silva Gerber Adventure (Sweden)
2. R’Adys Black Diamond (Switzerland) — 4 hours, 1 minute behind the leaders
3. Sweco Adventure Team (Sweden) — 5 hours, 50 minutes behind the leaders
4. PowerBar Lozere Sport Nature (France) — 7 hours, 40 minutes behind the leaders
5. Accom/Nutrend/Merida (Czech Republic) — 11 hours behind the leaders

For up-to-the second details on the race, please visit http://www.TheApexRace.com

The APEX : Alpine Expedition Switzerland has entered day #4. Day #3 has showed the nastier side of Swiss weather, with almost constant wind, rain, and snow in the higher reaches of the course. Teams completed a fun canyoneering activity despite the weather conditions; racers really enjoyed the ropes, pools, and swims (and their thick wetsuits!).

The race leaders continued quickly into the Brienzer Rothorn trekking leg, which is an exposed series of ridge trails at high altitude over the scenic Brienzersee (Lake Brienz). Conditions on the ridges deteriorated as the day wore on, and race organizers wisely re-routed the trek into lower elevations more safe for the slower teams who would take this section on at night. Many teams, however, have elected to sleep a few hours at a transition area further up the valley from the Brienzer Rothorn trek . . . replenishing their energy for the final push to the finish line either tomorrow or Sunday morning.

The race leaders, Silva Gerber and R’Adys Black Diamond, ended the day with less than 30 minutes separating them. Silva must feel like they have a shadow! Both teams are on the final paddling leg as we write this, and the final push to the finish line tomorrow will be one to remember!

The race for 3rd place right now is shared between the Swedish “Sweco Adventure Team” and French “PowerBar Lozere Sport Nature” team; less than 15 minutes stands between 3rd and 4th place, and 5th place isn’t far from them, meaning we will have more than 1 sprint to the finish to follow.

The top 5 at this point in the race are:

1. Silva Gerber Adventure (Sweden)
2. R’Adys Black Diamond (Switzerland) — 13 minutes behind the leaders
3. Sweco Adventure Team (Sweden) — 7 hours behind the leaders
4. PowerBar Lozere Sport Nature (France) — 7 hours, 10 minutes behind the leaders
5. Accom/Nutrend/Merida (Czech Republic) — 7 hours, 45 minutes behind the leaders

For up-to-the second details on the race, please visit http://www.TheApexRace.com

Raid the North Extreme (RTNX) is pleased to announce that the City of Trail will act as the Official Race Finish Host Community for the event.

As British Columbia’s “Number One Sports Town”, it is very fitting that Trail be selected as the host community for the finish line and end-of-race activities for Canada’s premiere expedition adventure race. The city’s long history of athletic achievement is a defining characteristic of the community.

“We are excited to experience the energy and grit associated with the Raid the North Extreme event and we are eager to welcome these elite athletes to our community after many grueling days out in the wilderness,” said Trail Mayor Dieter Bogs. “And we plan to show them some of the warm hospitality for which Trail is known.”

Raid the North Extreme, the six-day, non-stop expedition race, will take place from July 23 to 31st, 2011 in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. It will feature co-ed teams of four from around the world as they navigate more than 500 kilometres of unmarked terrain through the Selkirk, Purcell and Monashee mountains.

“Given that the West Kootenay holds rich mining history – one that the event intends to showcase throughout the racecourse – it’s very appropriate to hold the race finish in the City of Trail,” said Geoff Langford, president of RTNX.

Trail is home to Teck Metals Ltd., one of the world’s largest primary metals refining complexes and its economy is the backbone of the West Kootenay region.

Raid the North Extreme is already approaching sold-out status of 50 teams from around the world including Canada, the U.S., Australia, Mexico, Ireland, Switzerland and St Maarten.
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The APEX : Alpine Expedition Switzerland has entered day #2. Day #1 consisted of a scorching hot prologue of 4 loops through Interlaken (2 orienteering loops, 1 scootering loop, and 1 whitewater rafting loop). Local Swiss team R’Adys Black Diamond emerged as the leader after the prologue, and started the real race 4 minutes in front of the Swedish powerhouse team Silva Gerber Adventure. A few minutes behind Silva, the Czech team Accom/Nutrend/Merida rounded out the prologue top 3.

The real race began with a short 45 minute run through Interlaken village, and then a kayak on the scenic Thunersee with steep Swiss Alps all around. Gorgeous views! The sun set just as the first teams finished the kayaking, and R’Adys had been overtaken by Silva during the paddle and the 3rd place Czechs slipped several places in the standings. The top 5 after the kayaking leg were:
Silva Gerber Adventure (Sweden)
R’Adys Black Diamond (Switzerland)
Sweco Adventure Team (Sweden)
Quechua.com (France)
PowerBar Lozere Sport Nature (France)

Many teams pushed too hard on the race prologue, and they started to pay for their exertions with leg cramps, dehydration, and general fatigue on the kayak leg. The race features over 10,000 m of elevation gain and 100 hours of non-stop racing, the longest adventure race in Switzerland in nearly a decade. 28 teams started the race, and it remains to be determined how many of those will reach the finish line.

For up-to-the second details on the race, please visit http://www.TheApexRace.com

North American team round-up for theApex: Alpine Expedition Switzerland adventure race.

DART-nuun-Sportmulti: I chatted a bit with these bunch of West Coast Americans and they looked relaxed and in high spirits. Kyle Peter was sporting a shorter version of his beard since I last saw him, and they all looked lean, mean, and ready for action. Ryan Vangorder and I had a particularly pleasant chat about balancing training/working etc and what it’s like to move to a new city, so I think I can crown them winners of my pre-race “down to Earth” honours!

Running Free: For years one of Canada’s top teams, Running Free has high hopes for this international race and for good reason. They struck me as a bit wound-up yesterday, having just flown to Switzerland and harried or jet-lagged with all the travel. They had their game faces on today, though, and this gentle pre-race schedule with plenty of time for packing and maps should help them get into A+ race mode.

Tree Huggers: Barb Campbell is the heart if this team, and while she claims her team is here to “take lots of photos and moderate their intensity” I know she’s a FIERCE competitor just about any time she’s got a map, compass, and passport in her hand. She may be trying to humor her teammates before the racing starts, or fly under the radar of these other quality teams, but I think Barb the Bonecrusher might be playing possum at this Apex race.
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The APEX (Alpine Expedition Switzerland) race gets underway tomorrow morning (10am local time—2am ET). Below is an outline/outline on the event, along with a map and race overview.

Timetable APEX Race
24 May 08.00-11.00: Mandatory race check-in and formalities at race HQ. Bring all mandatory TEAM gear! After completed check-in you will receive the race maps.

24 May 17.00: Official opening ceremony at race HQ and afterwards a captains meeting. Drinks will be served, no food.

25 May 06.00-08.00: Gear check-in at parking lot close to Balmers. Make sure to weigh you bins before you check them in! Scales are available at Balmers. If your bins are to heavy you will be last in line again.

25 May 08.30: Last race instructions at race HQ and collective walk to the start.

25 May 10.00: The APEX Race begins with the prologue.

28 May: Winners cross the APEX Race finish line during the day.

29 May 14.00: The Apex Race course closes.

29 May 18.00: Awards ceremony and closing festivities at race HQ. Food and drinks will be served.
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The best off-road triathletes in the world – South Africa’s Conrad Stoltz and Canada’s Melanie McQuaid – won the XTERRA Southeast Championship on arguably the best off-road triathlon course in the world at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, Alabama today.

“This place is amazing, and I know I speak for all of us when I say we love it here,” said Stoltz.  “It’s a true XTERRA course with a nice warm water swim in a beautiful lake, a real mountain bikers course with climbing, technical sections, and fun corners, and a tough but scenic run.  This really is my favorite course.”

It’s Stoltz (pictured) fifth straight win in Shelby County, third straight on this year’s America Tour, and 40th career XTERRA championship victory.

“Impressive, isn’t it,” said Dan Hugo, 25, who finished in second place just 19 seconds behind his fellow countryman to make it a 1-2 showing for Stellenbosch, South Africa.  “You must give credit where credit is due, and what Conrad did today was impressive.  When he needs to produce a good swim, he does.  When he needs a strong run, he delivers.  He doesn’t make mistakes on the bike.  He’s seemingly flawless. I guess 20 years of experience will do that for you.”

What really did it for Stoltz was a great swim that had him out of the water within seconds of the leaders Craig Evans, Branden Rakita, and Seth Wealing, and the fastest bike of the day that was two minutes quicker than Hugo and four minutes better than the one guy most likely to catch him on the run, Josiah Middaugh.
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By Nicholas Mulder

Last week, Team Cyanosis raced to a second place finish at Expedition Africa, the continent’s premier 500km adventure race. The team raced well over a very fast course to finish in 2 days, 15 hours and 38 minutes, finishing about 2.5 hours behind Team Merrell, also from South Africa and 3 hours ahead of Team Accelerate from the UK. The team was a mixture of experience and youth, with Nicholas Mulder and Clinton Mackintosh being joined by Nathan Thompson and Jane Swarbreck, both competing in their first expedition length race.

The race was a tight affair over most of the first half of the race with Cyanosis, Merrell and Accelerate regularly changing the lead. With a sunrise start on Monday morning, Cyanosis quickly established an early lead on the first 14km trail running leg around the streets and mountains of Hermanus in the Western Cape. Merrell then took the lead on the extremely windy paddle on the Klein River estuary linking Hermanus and Stanford, where wave heights reached 1 metre in a head-on gale. Cyanosis and Accelerate subsequently set about chasing them down on the next leg, a 35km beach trek along Walker Bay to Gansbaai.

Teams left Gansbaai on a 140km mountain biking stage that would see them through most of Monday night. Cyanosis put together an excellent ride through some consistent riding and navigation, first taking a joint lead with Accelerate before getting the outright lead as the teams passed near the Quoin Point lighthouse, a tough section with tricky navigation in the rolling sand dunes. Upon arriving at the foot of the Bredasdorp mountains, the team had opened a gap of 40 minutes on Accelerate and 1 hour on Merrell.

A tough 47km mountain trekking stage proved to be the turning point of the race, with Cyanosis taking a route choice between two checkpoints that proved significantly slower than anticipated. This gave the lead back to Merrell and Cyanosis, with two developing injuries in the team, found themselves unable to keep the growing gap in check. The end of the stage brought teams into the half-way mark at Beloftesbos, at the foot of the Salmonsdam Nature Reserve and a compulsory 5-hour rest stop. Continue Reading

XTERRA Pacific Championship photo gallery

Smiles ruled the day as Conrad Stoltz, 37, from South Africa and Lesley Paterson, 30, of Scotland won the inaugural XTERRA Pacific Championship at Wilder Ranch State Park in Santa Cruz, California this morning.

The tone was set by XTERRA great Jamie Whitmore (pictured), the most successful off-road triathlete of all-time with a world title and 37 championship wins, who was back on the bike and in her first race since 2007 after a bout with cancer that took her glute muscle, hamstring, calf and left her with no feeling in her foot.  With a help of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and a brace for her leg, she raced and won the physically challenged division of the XTERRA sport race today to the heart-warming admiration and joy of the entire XTERRA community.

Combine the good vibes from Whitmore with the sexy swim start spot right on the Santa Cruz Wharf with crowds lining the pier, waves crashing on the shore, and the sun shining brightly on a cool and crisp Northern California morning and you had all the right ingredients for a fabulous event.

The victory for the “Caveman,” however, didn’t come easy as his fellow countryman Dan Hugo pushed him to the extent of his resources.

“I’m really happy to win here today because it’s been a tough week, a tough couple weeks actually as I’ve been sick since I got back from Spain,” said Stoltz, who won the ITU Cross Tri World Championship in Spain on April 30.  “Since then I swam once and ran once. Yesterday I didn’t feel like racing, and the day before I was in bed all day, so today I just really hung in there because it was tough. Glad I won this race despite everything not going to well. That’s what the Caveman’s all about.”
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Part One: Postcards from the Pointy End…

With five months to go until the Adventure Racing (AR) World Championship kicks off in Tasmania, around 90 per cent of the field of combatants has been confirmed. It’s an illustrious line-up of off-road adventure talent, with the biggest names in the sport locked in, including the World Champions from the last two years and Australia’s own adventure elite.

Every available team slot was snapped up months ago, and those not yet entered are pinning their hopes on scoring a place from a handful of qualifying AR World Series events still to take place around the globe.

Excitement and expectation has been rising in antipodean adventure circles since it was announced in 2010 that the next iteration of Australia’s infamous XPD race had secured the honour of being declared the World Championship event for 2011.

A sporting spectacle truly worthy of the epithet ‘World Championship’, the AR World Championship will pit the very best adventure athletes on the planet against each other, as they tackle a 700km wilderness-based course involving a mixture of outdoor disciplines, including paddling, mountain biking, trekking, orienteering and roping. Over 90 teams will take part, with competitors hailing from 22 different countries.

Navigation, psychological strength and team tactics are key elements in determining who emerges victorious – or even who simply survives the full distance – in this highly demanding expedition-style adventure race, as teams race continuously for five-plus days, sleeping, eating and resting whenever they choose to (or when carrying on is no longer an option).

There are two ways of securing entry: you can pay for the privilege and pain of trying to keep up with the planet’s best off-piste athletes by securing a limited number of online entries, or you can earn a spot by winning or placing second in a Qualifier event that forms part of the AR World Series (comprising the most respected and demanding adventure races that take place internationally each year).
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The stars of XTERRA, featuring some of the world’s finest triathletes and mountain bikers, are headed to Santa Cruz, California for the inaugural XTERRA Pacific Championship at Wilder Ranch State Park on May 15, 2011.

It’s NorCal’s chance to meet, greet, mingle, learn, and race right alongside some of the coolest characters in the endurance world.  Long-time event sponsor Paul Mitchell will host a free XTERRA University session on Saturday, May 14, along with some fun and scenic 5k/10k and 20k trail runs for those up for experiencing the off-road racing scene themselves.  Then, on Sunday the main event kicks off at Cowell’s Beach right next to the pier as pros battle for $10,500 in prize money and amateurs race for qualifying spots into the XTERRA World Championship.

Leading the elite-side of the “XTERRA Tribe” is two-time Olympian and four-time XTERRA World Champion Conrad “the Caveman” Stoltz of South Africa (pictured above and right).  At 37-years-old Stoltz is as good-as-they-come in the sport of off-road triathlon, and holds the XTERRA record for most championship race wins at 38.  He also just won the ITU Cross Triathlon World Title on Saturday in Spain.

Interestingly, Stoltz picked up his first XTERRA win a decade ago at the 2002 West Championship that was held nearby at Half Moon Bay (which is the last time XTERRA was in NorCal for a major event).
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The man and woman with the most XTERRA World Championships – Conrad Stoltz with four and Melanie McQuaid with three – appropriately became the first man and woman to win an ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship.

On Saturday in Spain, Stoltz and McQuaid put their stamp of excellence on the inaugural ITU event at “The Ring” in Extremadura, an International Innovation Centre for outdoor sports in “El Anillo” (Caceres).

Stoltz (pictured above courtesy JACVAN-TRIHEBDO) crushed the bike with a 50-minute split that was three minutes faster than that of runner-up Seth Wealing, and held on during the run for a winning time of 1:26:40.  Wealing was second in 1:27:36, followed by Olivier Marceau (1:29:43), Josiah Middaugh (1:30:27), and Richard Stannard (1:31:04).  Also of note, 3x XTERRA World Champ Eneko Llanos placed sixth, Branden Rakita eighth, Craig Evans 10th, Brian Smith 13th, and Cody Waite 15th.

Both the men’s and women’s elite fields were dominated by regular XTERRA racers from the America and European Tours, none of whom seemed to have a problem adjusting to the exceptionally fast course that combined a 1km swim, with a  20km mountain bike and 6km run.
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The Mongol Derby is a 1000km horse race, based on the horse messenger, or Morin Urtuu, system set up by Chinggis Khaan in 1224.  At its heart was a network of horse stations where messengers of the Khaan could change horses, take on food and rest before riding on at full speed on a fresh mount. The system was military in its original purpose, and allowed the Mongols to perform rapid and invaluable reconnaissance and change the rules of warfare forever, creating the largest land empire in history at astonishing speed.

We Europeans have much to thank the Morin Urtuu messenger system for.  In December 1241 a messenger of the Khaan delivered a vital dispatch to the magnificent General Subetei, as he crossed the frozen Danube and rode within smelling distance of Vienna.  On hearing of the death of Ogedei, the Grand Khaan, the Golden Horde immediately melted away, and returned to their homelands in Mongolia to nominate his successor.  In so doing they spared Europe the same devastating fate that had befallen lands from Hungary to Korea, Russia to Persia.  As fate would have it, the Mongols never returned so far west.  A slower messenger system would surely have found Europe already under the Mongol yoke.

On his travels home from China in the late thirteenth century Marco Polo wrote of the postal system, in awe of the efficiency and sheer scale of the operation.  “Never had emperor, king, or lord, such wealth as this manifests! For it is a fact that on all these posts taken together there are more than 300,000 horses kept up, specially for the use of the messengers. ….. The thing is on a scale so wonderful and costly that it is hard to bring oneself to describe it.”
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Where Imagination Is Your Only Limit

A Look at Pain, Suffering and Success at One of the World’s Most Gruelling Races.
By Steve Hay

When I first signed up for the 2009 UltimateXC, a 56km trail run in the rolling hills of Mont Tremblant, Québec, I thought to myself “great…another long happy trail run.” Nothing could have been further from the truth. The race ended up being an utter, and complete slog from beginning to end and challenged me to reconsider how I view racing.

Taking part in adventure racing for the past ten years, I believed I was an athlete who had become accustomed to the pain and suffering that comes along with the sport. If I could get myself through a sleep-deprived, 1000km expedition race such as Primal Quest, then surely I would be able to handle a mere 56km “trail run.” With the race start and finish at the base of the Mont Tremblant ski village, the setting is serene, beautiful, and it lulls racers into a false sense of security. Being able to run a comfortable marathon in 3 hours, the UltimateXC should have taken me no longer than 5 hours to complete.

But, after crossing the finish line in over 9.5 hours I was humiliated, and defeated. After a couple of days of pouting, I vowed to return the following year to recover my pride. In order to do
so, I would have to learn to love pain and make it my best friend.

When 2010 rolled around, the UltimateXC itself had changed. Not only was there a 56km trail section, but it began with a 67km down-river paddle, and ended with an arduous 110km mountain bike ride. Now this was more like it. Long distance, hard conditions, and challenging terrain. Again, I believed that my race experience had prepared me for this type of race. After all, expedition adventure races were my thing. Wrong again.

Although I largely dominated the kayak section, I managed only 31km of the trail run before bowing out of the race after falling several times on my recently recovered fractured wrist. The pain in my hand was too much to handle the next days mountain bike ride. I would have to deal with those dreaded feelings that come from seeing DNF (did not finish) beside my name. It had no longer become a question of wanting to win, but merely finishing. Again, I was going to have to find a way to deal with pain. If I was going to defeat this race, I needed to focus all my energy on pain management. Continue Reading

Third Times a Charm for TAINTASTIC!

The 2011 Big Blue series kicked off with Taintastic defending its title at the Folsom Lake AR Sprint this past weekend. As always the weather and venue were great. All the winter rain resulted in the lake being much higher than years past making for a longer kayak (something that would prove critical). The other sections of the course were all a bit longer to better challenge the racers. A nice Easter touch was collecting PEEPs throughout the day as evidence of hitting check points. PEEP + Folsom Lake = Syrup in Your Pocket.

The race began with a ~3 mile (who’s counting?) trail run which really spread the field. Taintastic! entered the transition area in 3rd place but figured the lead teams may have gone out a bit too fast. Unfortunately, they did not and would remain in front through most of the race. We decided to keep a quick but manageable pace on the bikes and hopefully stay within striking distance or hope someone makes a wrong turn. One solo team did after some of the markers were altered. We too lost a bit of time but the Big Blue crew were on site in minutes and we were quickly back on track although the mix up cost us a few spots.

The bikes transitioned into another run where we were able to pass a few teams and regain 3rd place. The top three held our respective spots through the remaining run, bike, physical challenge, beach run and final mountain bike. Entering the transition area for the last time, we could see the lead teams already about 200 yards into the kayak. Not good. We hit the water with lead teams in sight and tried to set a good pace while staying on course. We noticed the other teams having a bit of trouble staying on course and figured we had an outside chance if we really bore down. At the turn we overtook the solo racer (huge disadvantage in the kayak alone) and had closed the gap to less than 100 yards on the leaders. At the same clip, we’d be neck and neck hitting the beach. That proved exactly right as we pulled up and took the lead about 50 yards from shore.

Once we hit the beach, it was a quick run with the kayak for TAINTASTIC! to take the Folsom Lake Sprint title for our third year in a row. Huge props to My Brothers Keeper who set the pace for the entire race. And as always, many thanks to Big Blue crews for putting on a great race and California Adventure Racing Association for their continued support of events like this.

The 2011 XTERRA Trail Run National Championship half-marathon is moving to Snowbasin Resort near Ogden, Utah, on Sept. 25.

Located just 35 miles north of Salt Lake City, and just up the road from the adventure capitol of Ogden, Snowbasin is easy get to and an increasingly popular adventure travel destination. It also has an incredible collection of trails, which are nothing short of spectacular in late September as the fall colors start bursting in an array of red, pink, orange, green and yellow.

The race will be held one day after the XTERRA USA Championship of off-road triathlon, creating the ultimate XTERRA racing weekend.

The championship race is again a half-marathon, and will start and finish at Snowbasin Resort – a world-class ski resort that hosted the downhill and super G races for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and most recently served as the final stop of the Winter Dew Tour.

All 2010-2011 XTERRA Trail Run Series regional champions, like the recently crowned Arizona Trail Run Series Champs, earn a comp entry into Nationals and runners from the 12 respective regions in the U.S. Series can now focus on Snowbasin in Sept. as one of their goals.

The championship race is open to the public and no qualification is necessary, so one and all can challenge the best-of-the-best trail runners and race for a national championship.

As the final event of the 70-race XTERRA U.S. Trail Run Series, the race will be filmed for a nationally syndicated XTERRA Adventures TV show.

The half-marathon championship race will be accompanied by 5km and 10km trail runs along the same run courses that the XTERRA Utah short and long course triathletes ran the day before. In addition to the races, XTERRA will host an expo in downtown Ogden with free kids races, vendor booths, a Paul Mitchell hair cut-a-thon for charity, and evening dinner parties.

“We are terribly excited to bring our entire XTERRA Tribe together in Utah this September, the energy level is going to be off-the-charts,” said Janet Clark, president of TEAM Unlimited/XTERRA. “Ogden and Snowbasin are proven winners – between the facilities at Snowbasin, the great restaurants and atmosphere along Historic 25th Street in Ogden, and the unbelievably supportive community – we couldn’t have asked for a better situation.”

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“Until now, there has been no definitive ultra championship race,” says current Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run record holder, Geoff Roes, also the Trail Runner UROC Elite Athlete Liaison. “Most elite runners want a race that will guarantee them a chance to run against other top runners, and those I’ve spoken with say they are willing to change their racing schedule for the opportunity to run the inaugural Trail Runner UROC.”

“We want this to be the event,” says Gill. “We’ve been developing the concept for several years, and are doing everything possible to bring the best of the best together for one day, while keeping Trail Runner UROC open to all runners.”

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By Richard Ussher
Photos by Jon Barter

DAY ONE

This year I decided to return to one of my favorite race series, the Anaconda races in Australia. These races combine Swimming, Surf ski paddling, Mountain biking and running to form a real test of Multi discipline racing.

The first race in the 2011 series was held in Forster, several hours north of Sydney and unlike any of the other races in the series is run over two days instead of one.

The line up for race one in the series included last years overall series champion Grant Suckling, former series winner Jarad Kohlar and former Olympic triathlete Simon Thompson to name just a few.

Day one’s course started with a 2.1 km swim before a 16km kayak, 15km MTB and finished with an 11.9km run.

As the hooter went and we piled into the water for the opening swim I managed to get some clear space quite quickly and was feeling good. There were several guys disappearing in to the distance quickly but I was with the second group and feeling quite comfortable. I managed to stay with the group right through to the end and exited the water far further forward in the pack than several years ago when I last swam there. Didn’t spot any sharks unlike in training (wasn’t a real man eating shark, just a carpet shark) so that may have been the reason I wasn’t further up – not enough incentive!

Onto the ski and there was very little shore break so the beach exit was very easy and we headed round to the local breakwater that lead us into a huge tidal lake system where we were heading for the far end – luckily with an incoming tide. Continue Reading

Thirty-four racers from nine states and Canada punched their ticket into the XTERRA World Championship race in Maui on October 23 by virtue of their performance at the XTERRA West Championship at Lake Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday.  All the age group champions plus a few of the top performers in the most populated age groups qualified for the big event in Kapalua, and here’s a look at that list:

XTERRA WEST CHAMPS CHAMPIONS (FEMALE)

Division Name Time Hometown

15 – 19 Hannah Rae Finchamp 3:02:08 Altadena, CA

25 – 29 Erin Beresini 3:17:05 Redondo Beach, CA

30 – 34 Kim Baugh 3:05:05 Colorado Springs, CO

35 – 39 Tamara Donelson 3:09:26 Edwards, CO

40 – 44 Gina Rau 3:08:38 Sandy, UT

45 – 49 Keri Grosse 3:01:20 Leavenworth, WA

50 – 54 Tamara Tabeek 3:06:29 San Diego, CA

55 – 59 Barbara Peterson 3:29:12 Berkeley, CA
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South African Conrad “the Caveman” Stoltz won his record-breaking 38th career championship on a picture-perfect, breezy, 75-degree afternoon at Cameron Park in Waco, Texas today.

It took every ounce of energy he had to make it happen as just 15 seconds separated the top three men.  American Josiah Middaugh was more than three minutes behind Stoltz at the bike-to-run transition but made up all but eight seconds by the finish line.

“I looked behind me with about one kilometer to go and just saw these elbows and knees coming at me and knew I had to kick into another gear so Josiah wouldn’t catch me,” said Stoltz.

Middaugh, however, had already put it into his highest gear as he was in a full sprint the last mile trying to chase the Caveman down and simply couldn’t go any faster.

“I ran really, really hard on that run and when I caught Seth he stayed with me on the flats and we picked up the pace together and closed in on Conrad but I had already been sprinting when he turned around and saw me behind him so there was no turbo button left to push to close the gap that last half-mile,” said Middaugh, who posted the fastest 5.5-mile run in 34:50, more than a minute better than Wealing’s run split.
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