Rufo and Shike prevail at Wild Horse Trail Run

More than 320 participate in inaugural race of XTERRA Florida Series

By finishing first at the XTERRA Wild Horse Trail Run, Louis Rufo and Amanda Shike will always be first on the list of winners in the XTERRA Florida Trail Run Series.

The  Wild Horse Trail Run, completed on Sunday, Nov. 7, was the first XTERRA Trail Run ever staged in the state of Florida.

Rufo was the overall winner in the 21-kilometer long course, finishing with a time of 1 hour, 35 minutes, 39 seconds. Shike was the first female with a time of 1:55:29. Rufo, 28, is from Lutz, Fla.; Shike, 24, is from Clearwater, Fla.

Bill Wenner from Orlando placed second overall with a time of 1:38:35. Kirsten Hite of Polk City was the second female at 1:56:42.

More than 320 runners participated in the inaugural event, which included four courses to choose from: the 21K (half-marathon), 10 miles, 6.2 miles, and 4 miles.

Colder than usual temperatures in the 40s, and a unique course made for challenging conditions.

"I think it surprised everyone because it was more difficult than they thought it was going to be," race director Jim Hartnett said. "The course was a nice mix of single track and double track. The one section didn't have a trail - we just carved out a path and they had to climb up and down a number of small ravines, so that was totally different running than most people have ever experienced."

Complete results can be found at www.xterratrailrun.com or www.tamparaces.com.

The next event in the 2010-11 XTERRA Trail Run Florida Series is the XTERRA Trout Creek Trail Run on March 6.

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