XTERRA Snow Valley Race Report

By Scott Muir, XTERRA Rep

A great winding climb up the mountains above San Bernadino brings you to stunning views and a challenging course for the XTERRA Snow Valley.  If you want to train for the conditions at nationals, this is the same sandy fun as Tunnel Creek Rd and the climbs above Marlett Lake.

This years XTERRA Snow Valley race attracted over 200 entrants for a clear, warm day in the dry mountain air.  Mother Nature had a little fun with the course as the drought had lake levels down at least 15 feet but Race Director Josh Morey and assistant Jesse did an awesome job making the swim fun. With racers commenting about making it a “Muddy Buddy” the swim course was a shortened to 2.5 laps totaling about 500 yards and wave starts got all 200 athletes in the water together! 

The 11 mile bike course is a rarity with the swim venue being 400’ above T2 so you get more downhill than up on this ride!   Loose sand and rocks make for a little tricky riding but overall a smooth fast course with a few steep grinds and nothing flat.

The run was amazing being completely off trail, cross country up and down the ski hills.  A technical and fitness challenge with the steep ups and downs for a quick 4 miles.

Racing was great as the short swim had the field out battling on the bike quickly.  Will Kelsay was Fourth (Best Ever?) out of the swim and was quick to take the lead on the ride.  Trevor Glavin was hard on his wheel for the whole ride and followed right into T2.  Ben Travis was third off the bike and reeled in Trevor but was unable to catch Will on the run.  Will finished in 1:33.03 with Ben at 1:35.10 and Trevor at 1:36.56.

Marie-Helene Trembla from La Jolla took the women’s race in 2:01.06 with Meiling Yee and Linda Lindsay rounding out the top three.

A great big thank you to the Inland Inferno Tri Club for all their help with the race and a get better soon to Race Director Josh Morey who crashed his road bike into a car 10 days before the race.

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