Boobar, Harden win XTERRA Lake Placid

By Ann Mickey

There was no mistaking where the venue for this race was. Anyone who came into Lake Placid could see the Olympic Oval and the transition setup right in the middle of it. You couldn't help but get goosebumps when you stood on the Oval and looked at the picture of the Legends of the Oval. Still today the track is filled with 2 inches of water during the winter months and anyone can enjoy ice skating around the ring.

Racers were in for a brutal day on the race course. The rain started around 9pm the night before it did not take a break even for a minute, it rained the whole entire day making the course extremely slippery and twice as technical. On a course that is slow on a dry day with all the technical roots and tight twisty turns, the rain was an added challenge.

Matt Boobar the only pro in the field came to defend his title from last year. His background is mountain biking so the conditions did not intimidate him at all, in fact he was excited to get out there and hammer the course. His time on the bike was 2:01, he said "that is a long time to be out on a course at a Point Series race, I felt like I was at a Regional Championship".  His overall time was 3:24:59.

2nd place was grabbed by Mike Wynn of Queensbury, NY with a time of 3:29:38.

3rd Place Kevin Bouchard-Hall with a time of 3:34:29

This was Valerie "Val" Harden's second overall win. Her first coming from King of the Hill a couple of months ago. She is no stranger to XTERRA having done countless races during the years. "Getting a $500 paycheck at the end of the day is not a bad day" said Harden. She did go on to say that the course was a lot tougher than it was last year, and given the amount of rain that had fallen it was even more of a challenge.
Her overall time was 4:47:36.

Caroline Boily of Canada was one of 18 competitors that came down for the race was award 2nd with an overall time of 4:50:01.

3rd place Mara Fronhofer rounded out the top 3 for the women.

XTERRA Spirit Award

Usually this award is given to someone who does the longer distance but on this day we could not ignore the will and courage of young 14 year old Alaina Robins. This being her 1st XTERRA Sport distance race, 1st triathlon she couldn't have picked a harder one to try. She has done some adventure races with her Dad, XTERRA Ambassador Ken Robins but having watched her Dad race she wanted to give XTERRA a try. This course had it out for her and wanted to throw in every challenge to her. Tried to get her to quit but she prevailed. She was slipping and sliding all over the place when she realized her derailer was broken and her back tire was just spinning with 2 miles to go. All she knew was she had to get back to transition so she began the long run with her broken bike back. Once she entered transition she gathered her courage and will not to quit and to go out on the run. Meanwhile her Dad had finished the race and after getting re-hydrated he went out backwards on the course to try and find her and bring her home to the finish. During the run she came upon the famous mud bog, the day before several athletes on the trail run said it tried to eat their shoes while crossing. Alaina was not so lucky as the mud bog ate her shoes and she started to sink. She got out but her shoes weren't so lucky, they were gone a quick search she decided she didn't need them. Taking off her socks and leaving them behind she finished the last mile in her bare feet. With proud Papa next to her she had just completed her first triathlon.

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