Carter, Halloran win XTERRA Appalachia

After news that there was an additional 4 miles of single track added to the course, athletes were excited to get the day started. With the morning passing storms, the water was calm and everything in place to start. Craig Zonna was among the eager athletes wanting to get on the course. Last year at this race he took a bad fall on one of the bridge crossings that left him with a broken shoulder and broken collarbone. After the race he said "he was glad he finished in one piece and he got his revenge".

Kevin Carter led the swim after a rushed arrival due to getting lost and not finding the correct entrance to the park, and took off on the bike like he was being chased. Oh but wait…he was being chased. XTERRA Ambassador Frank Febbraro and Joseph Ruggery saw the target on Carter's back, they knew he was the one to beat. It was no surprise that Carter was the first back into transition with no one else in sight for over 6 minutes. Doug Crytzer, the RED for the race went out to do a spot check on the course markings and came back saying "that guy is SUPER fast WOW".

Carter finished the race with a time of 1:39:05 and looking like he could have done it again. Febbraro came in 2nd  place with a finishing time of 1:45:32 and Ruggery had a 3rd    place finish time of 1:46:25.

It was a hot day but not as hot as the women's race, Michelle Corcetti was first out of the water but she had very close company. Sue Anne Clark was 46 seconds behind followed by Leah Halloran. Corcetti and Clark were about equal on the bike until out of nowhere Halloran came flying past. They looked at each other like "was that really a woman that went by"? Halloran was first into transition, with Clark and Corcetti right behind. Clark allowed Corcetti to take the lead but 2 miles into the run she turned on the gas and left Corcetti in the dust. Clark tried to catch Halloran but she was no where in sight. Not bad for Halloran's 1st XTERRA race and only 3rd triathlon EVER. She finished with a winning time of 2:12:27, followed by Clark with a 2:17:42 and Corcetti 2:20:34.

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