High-performance meets high-technology at this year’s XTERRA East Championship / USA Triathlon Off-Road National Championship media day in Richmond, Virginia, as XTERRA pros face-off in a pre-race shoot-out to showcase their talents, the City of Richmond and the innovation of Luck Stone.
The ‘shootout’ is the first-of its kind and acts as a prelude to the 16th running of XTERRA in Richmond.
On Thursday 12 June, fifteen of the fastest professional XTERRA triathletes in the world will split into five, three-person relay teams to take on each other in a micro-sized XTERRA event featuring a short swim in the James River, a mountain bike ride over the footbridge and through the pump track on Belle Isle, and a run past the colourful murals along the Canal Walk before finishing on Brown’s Island. The fastest team should conquer the challenge in about 15 minutes.
Luck Stone, presenting sponsors of the event, will equip each team with a GPS tracking device and stream all the action live in high-definition at luckstone.com – so viewers from around the world can get an up-close (and overhead using an aerial drone) look at world-class athletes juxtaposed against ‘the coolest urban XTERRA venue ever’.
“We are extremely excited to showcase a little bit of Richmond and a whole lot of our sports’ biggest stars,” said XTERRA Managing Director Dave Nicholas. “While the distances are but a fraction of what these men and women will be up against on Sunday, to see them work their way around downtown like human race cars will be something to behold and is sure to get everyone fired-up for race day.”
Who: Among the 15 racers competing there are World Champions and Olympians from seven countries, including Conrad ‘the Caveman’ Stoltz and last year’s East Championship race winner Dan ‘The Man’ Hugo – both from South Africa. Representatives from XTERRA, Luck Stone and the James River Park System will also be on-site to take in all the action.
What: A Shoot-out! Five, 3-person relay teams versus each other with the goal of winning bragging rights!
When: Thursday 12 June, High Noon
Where: Brown’s Island, downtown Richmond, Virginia
Why: Prelude to the 16th edition of the XTERRA East Championship race which will double as this year’s USA Triathlon Off-Road National Championship on Sunday 15 June in Richmond, Virginia.
XTERRA Pro Relay Teams
Name – Racers – Honorary Captain (tentative, as of 6.5.14)
BermudAfrica – Dan Hugo (South Africa), Flora Duffy (Bermuda), Brad Weiss (South Africa)
Honorary Captain: RichmondOutside.com
Da Locals – Alex Modestou (Washington DC), Suzie Snyder (Fredericksburg), Conrad Stoltz (South Africa, but honorary local as seven-time XTERRA Richmond Champion who first raced in the River City back in 2001)
Honorary Captain: Richmond Times-Dispatch
CanaMex – Karsten Madsen (Canada), Mauricio Mendez (Mexico), Christine Jeffrey (Canada)
Honorary Captain: NBC12 Sports
Stars and Stripes – Craig Evans (Tennessee), Shonny Vanlandingham (Texas), Branden Rakita (Colorado)
Honorary Captain: CBS6 Sports
Pacific Rim – Mieko Carey (Japan), Charlie Epperson (Guam), Takahiro Ogasawara (Japan)
Honorary Captain: ABC8 Sports
XTERRA has been racing in Richmond since 1999, and the city has firmly established itself as an urban adventure destination with a hip city culture that compliments ripping trails and the unpredictable James River. This year’s 16th annual XTERRA East Championship on 15 June ‘will be unlike any before as it will double as the USA Triathlon Off-Road National Championship race.’
“We’re excited to partner with USA Triathlon and proud to bring a national championship event to our friends in Richmond,” said XTERRA’s Dave Nicholas.
Amateur racers who win their division will be crowned a USAT Off-Road National Champ and an XTERRA East Champion all while earning qualifying spots to both the 2014 XTERRA World Championship and the 2015 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship.
The XTERRA East Championship triathlon combines a 1K swim in the James River with a 20-mile mountain bike in and around James River Park and a seven-mile trail run. There is a US$15,000 prize purse for pros as the third of five stops in the XTERRA US Pro Series.
The course itself annually attracts racers from across the country and around the world to discover the epic trails in the James River Park System – where they are greeted by a raucous bunch of bike and trail fanatics who annually throw a trail party at the trickiest section in Buttermilk Heights known as ‘Rock Face’.
They bang out music, BBQ, dress in costumes, scream, shout encouragement, and blast on vuvuzela’s to the delight of riders all day long.
As for the run, it has been best described as the ‘Fugitive 10K’ because of its similarity to some of the chase scenes in the movie The Fugitive including river crossings, rock jumpings, the ‘Mayan Ruins’ stair climb and train track crossings.
In addition to Sunday’s main event, on Saturday 14 June the schedule includes the XTERRA Fugitive 10K and 21K trail runs, a free kids run, plus the XTERRA expo at Brown’s Island.
Registration for the 2014 USA Triathlon Off-Road Nationals/XTERRA East Champs, sprint race, and trail runs is open to everyone.
www.xterrarichmond.com
www.luckstone.com
www.xterraplanet.com
