XTERRA Last Stand Report

Race morning brought unexpected perfect weather for a mid-May race in Michigan – sunny and 75F. The swim was definitely a wetsuit swim at 69 degrees but the temperature felt just right to me in my long sleeve wetsuit. The swim course was set up really well to minimize the sun in your eyes. One half mile later you were sprinting up a small hill to the transition area.

The bike started out following a park road but quickly turned on to a two track and less than a ½ mile later the real fun began. The bike trail at Ft Custer is nothing but fun! The route started out in the twisty technical “rocks & roots” section of the trail and then headed out for a semi-technical jaunt around two of the parks lakes. Just to make sure you knew you were at an XTERRA event there was a water crossing which I was expecting just to be a quick splash but came at least halfway up my wheels (I can’t wait to see the event photo’s they were taking there!) Just as you were feeling confident in your bike handling skills the course headed into the famed “Granny’s Garden”. Granny’s is full rock laden drop offs, followed by quick turns and short steep root filled climbs. If you didn’t get off your bike at least once in this section you’d either ridden the trail a bunch or are an expert mountain biker. The rest of the course just kept the excitement coming with two steep climbs, many twists and turns, lots of LARGE logs piles, and one excellent drop off where you pretty much just let gravity pull you down and back up the other side of the gully. I heard several other racers yelling “yahoo” after clearing logs piles or hills and had to add in a few fun filled shout outs myself.

After T2 the run headed out and immediately routed you along the sandy beach where the swim had started. Nothing like adding to that dreaded brick feeling by starting the run on sand! The rest of the 4 mile run was all on trails, hilly enough to keep you breathing hard and twisty enough to keep your brain focused on your footing. The last portion of the run was on a two track with a quick out and back that allowed for some high (or low) fiving with your friends and a check of where your nearest competitors were.

The awards ceremony featured a catered lunch of pulled pork, baked beans, sweat corn bread, and coleslaw. I don’t think there were too many people stopping for fast food on the drive home after that feast.

This race was run just about flawlessly, the course layout was fabulous and the trail markings were spot on. Thanks to Elite Endeavors for making the 1st Custer’s Last Stand a reality.

As far as the racing, it drew a very competitive field from all over the Midwest. Brad Jessup caught Eric Fernando on the run to win the tri by just 14 seconds. In her XTERRA debut Megan James won the women’s race. In the duathlon John Meyer one of Kalamazoo’s top cyclists decided to try a little multisport and nabbed the top spot. Kerry Miller came out of semi-retirement to take the women’s title.

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