XTERRA Whitewater Race Report

By: Jennifer Marsh - XTERRA Point Series Co-Manager

The US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte made for an awesome new XTERRA Course this past weekend!  With a terrific turnout for a first time event - almost 150 XTERRA athletes showed up to check it out.  The weather was hot, but not too terrible and the day was tons of fun.

The swim was a very unique portion of the event.  It started out with a 550 meter swim in the Catawba River.  After which athletes threw on a pair of running shoes and trudged up the hill, around part of the Whitewater Center's rapids, over the bridge that went over the rapids, up another hill, and down to the holding pond.  There you entered into the water again and swam an additional 200 meters across to transition!  It was certainly an adventure and pretty cool!

Next up was the AMAZING trails of the Whitewater Center.  It was 13 miles of some incredibly fun mountain biking.  Seriously - you East Coasters that love good old fashioned fun East Coast singletrack - this is calling your name!  Rocks and roots and sweet fast spots - 2 STEEP declines to shake you up a bit, some climbing to bring your heart rate up and perfect conditions for the course.

The 5 mile trail run took you on the beginning portions of the bike course and you were thankful for all the great volunteers passing out cold water and Gatorade.  Your brain kept moving thinking about your next step and the woods were beautiful!

Sprinting into the finish line you passed people rock climbing at the Center and rafters braving the rapids through the awesome Whitewater course.  Folks with paddles and helmets cheered you on as you finished up an incredible day of racing.

Ian Smith (41) of Cornelius, NC came in first in 1:48:58.  Not too far behind was Donny Forsythe (44) of Charlotte, NC in 1:50:00.  I think these two guys have ridden out there a few times before;)  Rounding out the top three - and just barely missing 2nd - was Mark Woody (40) of Chapin, SC in 1:50:20.  For the ladies it was Margo Pitts (44) of Raleigh, NC in 2:14:18 who took top spot on the podium.  Amy Quinn (33) of Pine Knoll Shores, NC was second in 2:17:27 and Julia Radmann (32) of Smyrna, GA was third in 2:21:17,  Congrats to all competitors who raced - this was a great day! Complete results are available on www.XTERRAplanet.com

Thanks to all the volunteers, the Whitewater Center, and to Marcus Barton and his crew for making this a great day of racing!

© 2013 TEAM Unlimited LLC