Johnson & Johnson win XTERRA Waco 20km Trail Race

Dripping Springs (TX) High School track star Dylan Johnson, 17, passed Dallas’ Tyler Johnson (no relation) on a tight, twisty downhill section of singletrack at about mile nine and never looked back in winning the XTERRA Waco 20km Trail race at Cameron Park in Waco, TX this morning.

Dylan Johnson (pictured), who runs the mile and 800-meter and is shooting to earn a track scholarship to college, would’ve certainly excited recruiters on this day as he tackled the grueling up-and-down trails with reckless abandon and won with a time of 1:28:53, nearly a minute ahead of his nearest competition.

“He caught me coming down this gnarly section of near vertical downhill trail and I moved out of his way because there was no way I could keep up with him.  I couldn’t believe how fast he was running those technical sections,” said runner-up Tyler Johnson.

“This course is awesome.  I love running through the trees, it’s like being an animal.  Not sure about Jacob’s Ladder (pictured below) though, that was tough, those stairs set your calves on fire,” said Dylan Johnson, who won the 10km Waco trail race last year.

In the women’s race Baylor University graduate Ashley Johnson (wife of men’s runner-up Tyler Johnson) from Dallas out-ran last year’s winner Claudia Spooner from Austin by more than four minutes with a winning time of 1:37:29.

“This was a lot of fun but man this course is tough,” said Johnson as she took off her shoes to expose a huge blister on the side of her foot.  Johnson, who won the 25-29 division at Ironman Arizona this year and is training for the Ironman World Championship, will also race in the XTERRA triathlon tomorrow along with her husband.

After the race Johnson and Spooner embraced and talked about how much they pushed each other to keep going faster and faster.

More than 200 runners from eight states and Mexico enjoyed a magnificent morning at the park with picture perfect conditions for a race.  In the 10km event Midway High School runner Caleb Riehl from Waco took the overall title in 51:30, more than two minutes ahead of runner-up Richard Hansard.

In the women’s 10k race a trio of Baylor University cross country runners – Cate Westenhover, Samantha Patty, and Katie Shaw, ran side-by-side the entire race and crossed the finish line together with identical times of 52:17, however, the win was awarded to Westenhover.

Zach Eshelman from Vail, Arizona and Sarah Ginsbach of Spring, Texas won the XTERRA Waco 5km trail races in 16:05 and 22:23, respectively.

After the race participants enjoyed a beautiful afternoon at the park with bbq by El Potosino Restaurant and VOSS water and MGD 64 beer donated by Glazer’s Distributors.

Tomorrow morning hundreds of athletes will take on Cameron Park in the XTERRA South Central Championship off-road triathlon that starts at 9am.

5km Results | 10km Results | 20km Results | Photos

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