Yurish, Nguyen Top Field at Virginia's First XTERRA Series Event

The inaugural race of the XTERRA Virginia Trail Run Series took place this past Sunday at Ashland's Poor Farm Park. The XTERRA Trail Tromp Trail Run gave area runners two challenges, the main 12km endurance event along with a 5km fun run.

Mark Yurish, coach of the kids running program at the local YMCA in Staunton, VA, claimed the title for the men's 12km race clocking in at 54 minutes flat. Jason Tate of Beaverdam and Paul Eley from Fredericksburg took second and third place with their times of 54:49 and 55:14 respectively.

The women's 12-kilometer event crowned Prissie Nguyen of Richmond as its first place finisher as she crossed the line in 1:00:39. Richmond's Mindy Adamonis took the runner-up position in 1:04:02 with Courtney Klein right on her heels just 15 seconds later.

It was a youth showdown for the men's 5km event with 16-year old Jesse Parrish of Glen Allen finishing in just 20:13 to edge out Richmond's Connor Partlow, 14, by less than a minute. For the women, Malina Richardson, 13, claimed victory in her hometown with a time of 24:48 while Karla Haislip of Richmond earned second place just 50 seconds later.

According to race director Mark Junkermann, "Everyone had a great time, and we are looking forward to the growth of the new XTERRA Virginia Trail Run Series. We hope everyone will join us for the next one on May 9th."

Since this was the first of four races in the XTERRA Virginia Trail Run Series, participants will have three more opportunities to earn points toward their series' totals. The top runners in the longest distance of each event will receive points, and those finishing the series with the highest totals will be crowned Regional Champions and win free entry to the XTERRA Trail Running National Championship on September 13 in Bend, Oregon. From there, runners have the chance to race in the XTERRA Trail Running World Championship on December 6 on the spectacular Hawaiian island of Oahu.

Coming up in the XTERRA Virginia Trail Run Series…

XTERRA Cinco in Mayo Trail Race 8km - Oilville, VA - 5/9/2009
XTERRA Richmond Trail Runs 10/21km - Richmond, VA - 6/13/2009
XTERRA Dillon Lake Trail Races 15/30km - Maidens, VA - 8/22/2009

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