Christian, Kretzer Win XTERRA Richmond 16km Trail Run

Will Christian, 27, of California, Maryland and Natalie Kretzer, 23, of Charlottesville, Virginia won the XTERRA Richmond 16km trail run on Brown’s Island this morning.

Christian, a former cross country and track star at the University of Virginia, dominated the men’s race with a winning time of 53:34, more than three minutes ahead of runner-up Christopher Bain of Takoma Park, MD.

“The course is an animal, completely different from anything I’ve ever experienced before,” said Christian, a Navy Lieutenant who works at the admissions office at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. “The toughest part was going across the rocks. There’s an open gap where you don’t know where to go exactly, so you’re just trying to find your way. It was fun; I had a blast out here today.”

Kretzer won the women’s race in 1:04:27, more than three-and-a-half minutes ahead of friend Sarah Breevoort, also of Charlottesville.

In the XTERRA Fugitive 10k trail run Thomas Taylor, 34, of Phoenix, Arizona took home top honors with a winning time of 33:57, more than four minutes ahead of runner-up Matt Warner of Richmond. Richmond native Mindy Reese, 34, won the women’s 10k, almost three minutes ahead of Cheryl Hickey from New Orleans, LA.

Nearly 700 runners from 22 states took part in the two XTERRA trail runs this morning, which featured some of Richmond’s greatest riverfront attributes including Brown’s Island, the Canal Walk, James River Park, Belle Isle, and the Floodwall. With features like the “Mayan Ruins” climb and rock hopping across the riverbed known as the “dry way”, runners are immersed in a truly unique XTERRA experience.

Also of note were five veterans from Team Xtreme, three in the 16k and two in the 10k, who raced in gas masks to raise awareness and funds for the Wounded Warrior Project.

“We restrict our breathing to make it a lot harder to compete in order to honor our wounded veterans who put their bodies, hearts, and minds on the line to preserve our freedom,” said Matt League.

Tomorrow, Sunday, the XTERRA East Championship off-road triathlon will take place in Richmond for the 12^th straight year. The half-distance race kicks off at 7:30am, and the championship is at 8:00am.

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