Sorenson, Lion Win XTERRA EX2

By Frank Febbraro, XTERRA Athlete

XTERRA EX2 took place on July 13th, 2008 in beautiful family friendly Rocky Gap State Park in Western Maryland.  Jim Harman and EX2 Adventures welcomed competitors for the 5th year to this gorgeous race venue which offers some of the best experiences that XTERRA has to offer.  From a swim in refreshing Lake Habeeb to a rock-fest on Evitt's Revenge to a long challenging scramble into and out of the canyon, the course and mother nature tried it's best to defeat the 300+ competitors.

The race started fast on this 90 degree humid morning with a 2 lap 1200m swim in refreshing Lake Habeeb.  Eric Sorensen and Thomas Ayd got off to a fast start blazing the swim course and getting a good lead to start the race. Thomas Ayd (20:25) and Alicia Markey (20:16) had the fastest swim splits and set the pace for the rest of the field.

On the bike, the 2 lap course took bikers around the perimeter of Lake Habeeb over swoopy, rocky terrain.  Once on the other side of the lake, the trail climbed out of the lakeside campsites, up rock strewn Evitt's Revenge and across Evitt's homesite trail to a bombing descent through rough terrain back to the campsites and the fast lakeside trail.  The husband and wife pair of Pierre Martel (1:03:37) and Kathy Coutinho (1:17:41) blazed the trails and had the fastest individual bike splits of the day.

Racking their bikes and donning their trail shoes the racers were faced with a 5 mile loop that followed the lake side trail, crossing the dam and climbing Evitt's Revenge for the 3rd time, this time on foot. Once at the top the trail pointed downward on a rocky descent into the canyon, once crossing the creek racers were pummeled with a rock scramble up the other side of the canyon and back around the lake to the finish.  Frank Febbraro (37:57) and Anne Feldman (43:53) were best on their feet today.

The spectator friendly race went off without a hitch, which is par for the course with Harman and EX2.  The race consisted of over 300 competitors including over 30 relay teams.  Top male finishers were three amigos (training partners) 1) Eric Sorensen (2:07:53) 2) Frank Febbraro (2:08:06) and 3) PIerre Martel (2:12:36).  Top Female finishers were 1) Danelle Grant (2:33:01) 2) Kate Lucas (2:35:22) and 3) Adrianne Kroepsch (2:40:49). Solo Pro Alisha Lion was unchallenged cruising to a (2:30:48).

The XTERRA Ambassadors, led by Bill Swann, presented the spirit award to Paul Leonard, a Army veteran who lost his calf in Somalia.  Leonard, determined to continue to do what he loves, completed his second XTERRA of the season. It was a truly inspirational sight.  Sadly, long time mainstay Scott Scudamore could not be there as he was helping his wife Margaret recover from surgery. The Scudamores were certainly missed on this perfect day of racing, our best goes to them.

Look forward to seeing you all there next year.

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