Hammond, Schmitt Place First at XTERRA Paris Mountain Trail Run

(Greenville, SC) – XTERRA traveled to Greenville, SC this past weekend for the first of three runs taking place on the Paris Mountain Trails. The first and longest run at 15-kilometers drew 144 athletes ranging in age from 16-72 years old.

Greenville Track Club President Joe Hammond, 47, broke the finish tape in a blazing 1:10:54 to record the fastest finish of the day while junior biology major at Furman University, Matthew Stutz of Westerville, OH, claimed the runner up position just over two minutes later.

In the women’s race, Greenville’s own Margaret Schmitt, 37, won with her time of 1:17:25. Competition was fierce as Schmitt edged out Seneca’s South Carolina Master Runner of the Year Lisa Tolley, 42, by a mere eleven seconds.

Since a majority of the athletes lined up at the start of Saturday’s race are proud to call Greenville their home, those who frequent the Paris Mountain Trails surely had a “home trail” advantage. However, race director John Lehman made sure to challenge them by winding participants through the rugged terrain lined with steep, rocky climbs and long deep downhills to the ravines below. According to Lehman, “We have done many runs on the Paris Mountain Trails, but we have never run a distance like this before. Everyone had a great time in the woods.”

The top fifteen runners in each age group will receive points toward their XTERRA South Carolina Series totals, and since this was the second of three races this year’s series, runners will only have one more opportunity to pad their scores for 2009. Those ending the season with the highest scores will be crowned the XTERRA Regional Champions and receive free entry to the 2009 XTERRA Trail Running National Championship on September 13 in Bend, Oregon. From there, area runners can say aloha to the spectacular Hawaiian island of Oahu for the XTERRA Trail Running World Championship on December 6.

Complete race results are attached and more information can be found online at www.xterratrailrun.com. Media interested in photos from this event should contact emily@xterraplanet.com.

Coming up in the 2009 XTERRA South Carolina Trail Run Series…
8/8/09 – XTERRA Paris Mountain Trails 7km Trail Run – Greenville, SC
11/7/09 – XTERRA Paris Mountain Trails 11km Trail Run – Greenville, SC (#1 for 2010)

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