XTERRA Off-Road Triathlons: May ‘24

Of the 6 XTERRA World Championship qualifiers set for the month of May, one race has already guaranteed itself a place in history. When the inaugural North American Champs heads to Oak Mountain on May 18, this will be the first time in the 27 years of XTERRA racing that all the countries in the North American region will have the opportunity to go toe to toe for championship glory. It will be the first time the colours of Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Granada, and many more countries will be represented in a single regional championship, and those who cross first in their age division will hold the honour of being the first to be crowned as an XTERRA North American Champion. There is nothing quite like XTERRA championship racing, but this one feels ready to pack even more of a punch.

Oak Mountain will set the stage for the event, and few locations could be more fitting. It has been said that Oak Mountain feels as if it was designed specifically for off-road triathlon, with the pristine waters of Double Oak Lake sitting calmly alongside a world-class trail network that has drawn international praise from many at the top of the sport. 

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This will be one for the books, and it comes amidst a busy month of racing as the season continues to build momentum and those looking to join the big dance in Italy look to earn their place on the line.

May opens in the home country of both reigning XTERRA World Champions, with at least one of those champions expected to be on the starting line in the 2024 edition of XTERRA Nouvelle Aquitaine. Arthur Serrières has claimed the top step of the podium here for 3 years in a row, and after shaking off the rust in his season opener in Greece, the double-champ will surely be out to make it 4. 

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XTERRA Nouvelle Aquitaine has just about everything you’d expect from a race set in the south of France, with the Full Distance race delivering a course that is playful, technical and demanding for athletes of all levels as it winds through the wilderness of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. 

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The race begins on the sparkling waters of Lake Vassivière, one of the country's largest artificial lakes that now serves as a proud landmark of the region and central hub for water sport enthusiasts. Sectioned off for XTERRA athletes for the event, the race opens with a 2-lap, 1.5K swim featuring an Australian exit half way. 

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The bike section will test both endurance and skill with a total 38K of riding and 912m+ of elevation across two loops. In return, the course offers a constant flow of vistas and panoramas throughout the entire loop, winding through vineyards and forests before finishing on a section of lake-side trail and sending athletes back for a second loop. 

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The race concludes with a 2-loop, 11K run with 180m+ of climbing along a course that offers a multitude of challenges, from winding trails to technical passages. For the pros, they’ll be running for their share of the €7,500 prize purse while 28 World Championship slots will be at stake for age division athletes.

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The event will also serve as an opportunity for youth athletes to earn their World Champs slots in the Sprint and Super Sprint Triathlons held on the same day as the Full Distance Race. The following day will be dedicated to the trail runners with a 42K Marathon and a 25K Half Marathon offering runners a ticket to the Trail Run World Champs, while the 13K and 7K races offer runners a taste of the natural beauty of Nouvelle Aquitaine.

Ready to back up its debut event last year, XTERRA Weston Park returns in May to give UK athletes the chance to get the knobbley tires dirty on a course built purely for XTERRA racing. It’s the only course on the circuit that exists entirely within a private estate, with the 2023 XTERRA Weston Park bike course now a permanent fixture on the 1,000-acre estate. 

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The course is designed to be straightforward enough for those dipping their toe into off-road tri. But those ready to push hard will be properly tested through the tight and twisty sections. 

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The Full Distance race opens with a 2-lap, 1.5K swim in the private lake of the estate. The event organisers and estate owners have worked hard to deliver a quality swim experience, with contraction complete to ensure clear waters without obstruction from weeds in the opening sections of the race. 

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The 2-loop, 27K bike section makes full use of the entire estate, darting between wooded singletrack sections and fast-paced gravel tracks. Delivering a very different experience depending on how fast you ride it, the course offers the perfect opportunity to build off-road skills and hone your racing snake technique. The now well-established trails are a firm part of the estate's offering to visitors throughout the year.

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The race finishes with a brand new run section for 2024, designed to add more of a challenge that favours the strong athlete over the speed demon. The 2-lap, 11K trail run this year packs in more singletrack, a scramble through a quarry, and a tough climb to truly test who saved some gas for the very end. 

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The event features a pro prize purse of €7,500 and 28 World Championship slots for age groupers. Youth B and Junior athletes will also have their chance to earn World Champs slots in the Sprint Triathlon held on the same day. 

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Camping is available on the estate, with local vendors serving up a mixture of healthy but hearty grub and local brewery, Hobsons, on site to provide ample refreshment. Adding to the festival atmosphere, Dirty Rockin' Scoundrels will be bringing the best music from the golden era of the 50's and 60's with an electrifying live show after the race.

With the 2024 Asia-Pacific Champions already crowned, it’s now over to countries of North America to compete for the newly-minted crowns at the second of three regional championships this season. The USA has a long history with off-road triathlon and is home to some of the biggest legends in the sport such as former World Champion Josiah Middaugh and USA Champion Suzie Snyder. Now, for the first time, the growing communities of cross-triathletes in the likes of Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico will have the opportunity to race for a regional title, and the honour of bringing back the crown for their country. 

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The Full Distance race will serve as the headline act of the 3-day, 6-race festival with the signature XTERRA championship racing atmosphere set to carry through all three days. 

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The battle for titles begins in the pristine waters of Double Oak Lake, where an Australian exit separates the 2 loops of the 1.5K swim. 

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From the swim, athletes will then transition into what multiple pros and age groupers alike have called one of the most fun, fast, scenic, and difficult rides on the XTERRA circuit. It’s a course built by MTB riders for MTB riders, where the faster you go the harder it gets. The bike section connects many of the well-established trails on the extensive trail network on offer in Oak Mountain, linking plenty of singletrack flow in the 33K single loop.

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The 10K run course goes around Double Oak Lake on hard-packed, tight, and twisty trails with scenic views at every turn before finally connecting with the rocky Rattlesnake Ridge trail and the flowy Family Trail to take runners back into the race village and across the championship finish line. 

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As a regional championship the race offers double the amount of slots, giving 58 of the top age division finishers the chance to represent their country once again at the XTERRA World Championship. The event will also serve as stop #3 of the XTERRA World Cup, with a long list of international pro athletes set to be on the starting line as they compete for series points and the $30,000 elite prize purse.

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The event will also deliver the complete festival experience, with plenty for athletes and spectators to tuck into. For those looking to experience the trails of Oak Mountain, there will be a Kids Sprint, a Kids Bike Race, and a Sprint Triathlon where youngsters can also claim their slots to the first ever XTERRA Youth Championship this year. And for athletes and spectators alike, there will be free yoga sessions, Q&A’s with the pros, a battle of the bands competition, and plenty of local vendors to keep you fuelled. 

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Be sure to also stick around for Sunday when the top 30 male and female triathletes will go to battle once again in the fast and furious Short Track race. The race gives those on site and watching the livestream the chance to get front-row seats to the action as the best in the sport go elbow to elbow.

One hour from Nagoya lies the home of XTERRA Japan Nenouekogen, where the highlands of Japan offer the perfect terrain and conditions for some of the best XTERRA racing of the region, and the penultimate stop on the APAC Tour. 

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The Full Distance race presents a varied course that caters to athletes of all skill levels, from those exploring the world of off-road triathlon for the first time to those looking to bag their slot for the XTERRA World Championship.

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The race begins with an open water lake swim, where athletes will cover 1.5K before returning to dry land to transition onto the bike. The bike takes athletes on a 2-loop, 25K adventure through the mountains of Japan, racking up a total of 800m+ of climbing before finishing the race on foot. The run is a single 10K loop that weaves between the 3 lakes in the area before returning to the race village to determine the 2024 age division champions of XTERRA Japan Nenouekogen. 

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The 2024 edition of the event is set to pack a punch with a massive 10 races squeezed into 2 days. Alongside the Full Distance Triathlon, there will also be three other triathlons of varying distances, 2 duathlons, and 4 trail runs - including a 32K Half Marathon that will give top runners their slots to the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship later this year.

The first of 4 Italian races on the circuit, XTERRA Lake Garda will celebrate its 6th edition of the event with the signature mix of culture, beauty and challenge that has defined the race since its debut in 2018. 

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The event is held in Toscolano-Maderno, often described as the place where Lake Garda plunges into Italian history. The ancient hill-side town, once two separate towns divided by the Toscolano River, begins right on the water’s edge of Lake Garda and crawls immediately up the slopes of Mount Pizzocolo, with Italian styled housing dotted between cypress trees, vineyards, olive groves and lemon orchards. Oozing with culture and history on every corner of the narrow little streets, Toscolano-Maderno is everything you would imagine to be on a postcard direct from Italy and holds the honour of being a Blue Flag location.

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As the host nation of the 2024 XTERRA World Championship, the event boasts a total of 58 WC slots, with a €7,500 elite prize purse for the pros on the starting line.

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The race begins on the West coast of Lake Garda, leading athletes along a 2-loop, 1.5K swim in the chilly waters of Italy’s largest lake. At the halfway mark, athletes will exit the water for a 50m transition across a spectacularly built pontoon.

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The bike course features a number of changes and improvements for 2024. New this year, 31K bike loop will have athletes navigating 2 separate loops featuring plenty of rocky climbs, fast descents, technical sections, and open sprints with no shortage of lake views along the way. 

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The run features a single 11K loop with 300m+ of elevation as athletes make their way back to the finish, with some of the best post-race meals and refreshments any athlete could ask for.

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The event will also be an opportunity for local youngsters to earn their slots for the XTERRA Youth World Champs in the Sprint and Super sprint races as Italy prepares for the final chapter in its three-part story. 

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The evening after the race there will be live music to continue the party, and on Sunday the race venue will offer more racing action with the Kids Race, the Open Water Swim rounding out 2-day festival of XTERRA racing in northern Italy.

May ends with another milestone moment as XTERRA Colombia makes its debut on the World Tour, offering local and travelling athletes the opportunity to explore the history, ancestral culture, and local cuisine of the town of  Paipa, and the endless beauty and trails of the eastern side of the Andes Mountain Range.

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The unique geography of Paipa makes the location ideal for the preparation and training of high-performance athletes. Coming in at 8,000 feet above sea level, XTERRA Columbia now holds the honour of being the highest starting elevation of any major on the XTERRA World Tour, which likely has a lot to do with the town's unofficial (and translated) slogan of ‘training here does you well’.

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Those who've put in the training will be in the runnings for the 28 WC slots at stake, with a $7,500 elite prize purse for the pros. 

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The race begins with a single-loop 1.5K swim through the waters of Lake Sochacota before heading into an epic 30K bike loop that will put the beauty of the location on full display. 640m+ of elevation sees out the ride before transitioning to the final footrace. The 10K trail run begins with lakeside views as it winds along the waters of Lake Sochacota before heading into the mountains for a total of 325m+ of elevation.

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The debut event will bring together trail enthusiasts of all kinds with the 2-day festival set to feature a Trail Half Marathon and a 10K race for the trail runners, and XC MTB race for the riders, and a Run4Kids race for the little ones to get in on the action.