September 16, 2014 – The XTERRA National Championships are set for this Saturday and Sunday at Snowbasin Resort near Ogden, Utah. The elite and amateur off-road triathlon races will take place on Saturday.
The best riders in the country will compete on the 1500 meter swim, 28 km mountain bike, and 10 km trail run course. The course will have a total of 4100 feet of climbing throughout.
International stars include XTERRA World Champion Ruben Ruzafa, XTERRA U.S. Pro Series Champion Josiah Middaugh, South Africans Dan Hugo and Dan Weiss, and Australian Ben Allen.
In the women’s race, look for XTERRA World and US champ Lesley Patterson, and Bermuda’s Flora Duffy.
Utah resident Emma Garrard is a favorite, along with Suzie Snyder and former MTB pro Shonny Van Landingham.
For Utah triathletes, racers can participate in the Utah XTERRA also on Saturday, September 20, 2014. There will be a long course race on the same course as the pros, and a shorter sprint course race too. The sprint course will have a 750 m swim, 19 km mtb race, and a 5 km trail run.
The elite races start Saturday at 9 am, and the amateur races start at 9:20 at the Port Ramp Marina on Pineview Reservoir near Ogden.
Lastly, on Sunday, the XTERRA Trail Run Nationals will take place in Snowbasin on a half-marathon course. Additionally, there will be 5 and 10 km trail runs.
For more information, visit: www.xterrautah.com
We asked Trey Garman of XTERRA a few questions about the event:
Where are the best places for spectators to watch?
The race will start at 9am sharp from Port Ramp Marina at Pineview Reservoir with a one-mile swim. Lots of good angles for the two-lap swim from the shoreline area. From there racers will transition to their bikes and head up Wheeler Canyon. After the swim spectators should drive up to Snowbasin Resort for bike-to-run transition, finish line, Paul Mitchell Cut-a-thon, expo, great food, etc… Note: When leaving Pineview, the fastest route to avoid intermittent road closures while bikers cross into Wheeler Canyon at the spillway (dam) will be to take a right turn out of the parking lot and go around the reservoir through Huntsville to the main highway (Trappers Loop) to Snowbasin.
What is the prize list?
Pros will race for $80,000 in prize money, and dozens of cameramen will position themselves around Wheeler Canyon and the Wasatch Range to capture all the action for a nationally syndicated one-hour TV show (you can watch last year’s show online at
2013 XTERRA USA Championship from XTERRA TV on Vimeo.
Other than Emma Garrard, are there any other Utah riders in the Elite races?
Nope, Emma is the lone elite from Utah, but she’s a good one! She’s been the fastest American at every race she’s entered since this time last year, is ranked 2nd behind only two-time Olympian Flora Duffy in the Pro Series rankings, and is fresh off a big win at the XTERRA England Championship last month.
What is the tie-in with the Harvest Moon Festival?
This will be the 13th year for Ogden’s Harvest Moon Celebration and XTERRA has been in town for 11 years now. Our athletes and their families love coming down to the block party and tasting all the great food and being part of the community for the weekend. At night, we show a highlight video from the day’s racing action and recognize the national champions on the main stage in between sets during the concert. It’s really neat, and a special honor for the XTERRA racers. They’ve got elite criterium races on tap this year too, at 6pm (women) and 7pm (men). Can’t wait to see it. You can find the whole schedule at
http://www.historic25.com/events/item/422-harvest-moon-celebration.html and www.xterrautah.com
What makes this race unique?
Hundreds of amateur athletes from nearly every state in the U.S. come here to pursue their dreams of becoming an XTERRA National Championship. It’s the last race of 70-stop XTERRA America Tour and a true gathering of our “Tribe” … and did you know Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell founded the first XTERRA here in Ogden back in 2006!
The tentative start list is below:
PRO MEN
Rank – Name – Age, Hometown
1 – Josiah Middaugh – 36, Vail, CO
2 – Bradley Weiss – 25, Cape Town, South Africa
3 – Mauricio Mendez – 18, Mexico City, Mexico
4 – Craig Evans -36, Hendersonville, TN
5 – Dan Hugo – 29, Stellenbosch, South Africa
6 – Branden Rakita – 33, Colorado Springs, CO
7 – Ryan Ignatz – 35, Boulder, CO
8 – Chris Ganter – 35, Boise, ID
9 – Ryan Petry – 23, Boulder, CO
10 – Alex Modestou – 27, Durham, NC
11 – Jeff Smith – 31, Portland, OR
16 – Brad Zoller – 36, Avon, CO
18 – Cody Waite – Lakewood, CO
NR – Ben Allen – 29, Wollongong, Australia
NR – Rory Downie – 25, Scotland
NR – Andy Lee – 42, Lakeway, TX
NR – Ruben Ruzafa – 30, Malaga, Spain
NR – Louis Tafuto – 26, Glenwood Springs, CO
NR – Adam Wirth – 36, Boise, ID
PRO WOMEN
Rank – Name – Age, Hometown
1 – Flora Duffy – 27, Boulder, CO (Bermuda)
2 – Emma Garrard – 33, Park City, UT
3 – Suzie Snyder – 32, Fredericksburg, VA
4 – Chantell Widney – 34, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
5 – Shonny Vanlandingham – 45, Durango, CO
6 – Danelle Kabush – 39, Calgary, Alberta,Canada
8 – Jaime Brede – 37, Breckenridge, CO
9 – Kara LaPoint – 27, Truckee, CA
10 – Amelia McCracken – 31, Philadelphia, PA
11 – Debby Sullivan – 32, Rocklin, CA
12 – Caroline Colonna – 50, Taos, NM
13 – Rebecca Blatt – 34, Lakewood, CO
14 – Catherine Sterling – 37, West Boylston, MA
15 – Sara Schuler – 33, Boulder, CO
21 – Maia Ignatz – 34, Boulder, CO
22 – Kim Baugh – 34, Colorado Springs, CO
NR – Genevieve Evans – 41, Carnelian Bay, CA
NR – Lesley Paterson – 33, San Diego, CA
NR – Barbara Riveros – 27, La Pintana, Chile
NR – Susan Sloan – 32, Gauteng, South Africa
NR – Carina Wasle – 29, Kundl, Austria
