XTERRA Vulture's Knob Victories for Hickey, Liebling

(Wooster, OH) – The inaugural race in the brand new XTERRA Ohio Series kicked off Saturday morning as Buckeye State runners bolted off the start line of the XTERRA Vulture’s Knob Trail Run. Even though this 15-kilometer course was arguably the most challenging in the five-race series with its 1,000 feet of climbing, Patrick Hickey and Mel Liebling had no trouble tackling the technical terrain to take home the first place titles.

Hickey, 31 traveling all the way from York, PA, blew away the rest of the competition with his winning time of 1:14:48. More than three minutes behind him, Fairlawn’s Nate Loman, 42, and Stow’s Brian Bernard, 24, battled it out for second, but Loman snuck in just 13 seconds ahead with his runner-up time of 1:18:02.

The women’s race crowned Mel Liebling, 31 of Northfield, and her blazing time of 1:25:13. Tracy Meder, 30, finished second in 1:26:41 while Cleveland’s Lee Conner, 37, rounded out the podium in 1:28:48.

An exciting buzz followed the race as Ohio runners got their first taste of the XTERRA off-road experience. According to Renee Bischoff of Cleveland, “The course was lots of fun. All those twists and turns really kept me on my toes (sometimes literally)! This was a great event!”

As race number one of five in the 2010 XTERRA Ohio Trail Run Series, this was the first opportunity for Ohio runners to accumulate points toward their season totals. The top runners in each age group will be awarded points, and those ending the series with the highest scores will be crowned XTERRA Ohio Regional Champions and win free entry into the XTERRA Trail Running National Championship on September 18th in beautiful Bend, Oregon.

From there, runners are invited to travel to the tropical Hawaiian island of Oahu for the December 5th XTERRA Trail Running World Championship. Open to all runners, this one-of-a-kind event takes place at the spectacular Kualoa Ranch, which has been the location for major productions like Jurassic Park, Godzilla and LOST. For more information about the XTERRA Trail Run Series, visit www.xterratrailrun.com.

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.

2010 XTERRA Ohio Trail Run Series Schedule

5/22 – XTERRA Hargus Lake Trail Run – 7km – Circleville, OH
6/26 – XTERRA Chapin Forest Trail Run – 8km – Kirtland, OH
7/10 – XTERRA Mohican Trail Run – 18km – Loudonville, OH
8/21 – XTERRA Oak Hill Trail Run – 8km – Boston Township, OH

For more information about the XTERRA Trail Run Series, visit www.xterratrailrun.com.

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