XTERRA Northern Ohio Trail Run Series Opens 2011 Season

Collins and Conner set the pace at Vulture's Knob

Setting an early pace was a key component to victory in the XTERRA Vulture's Knob Trail Run last weekend.

Ryan Collins and Lee Conner both used that strategy on the way to winning their respective divisions. Collins was the overall winner, completing the 15-kilometer course in 1 hour, 15 minutes, 39 seconds; Conner was the first female, finishing with a time of 1:24:38.

More than 100 runners participated in the unique race, which followed a technical mountain bike trail that was made even more challenging by muddy conditions. The race was completed on Saturday, May 28, at Vulture's Knob Park in Wooster, Ohio, and it was the opening race of the 2011 season for the XTERRA Northern Ohio Trail Run Series.

"Vulture's Knob is a very tough, rugged and technical course by itself," said Collins, 28. "But the mud slowed everything down considerably. It was a challenge just to find enough room to open up my stride and really get going."

Collins, who is from Dalton, Ohio, got to the front of the pack early in the race and never looked back. Well, he tried to look back but just never saw any other runners.

"After a couple miles, I noticed I had opened a small lead, but the trails twisted and curved so much I could never really tell how much of a lead I had," he said. "My main objective then was just not to wipe out."

Collins wound up winning in convincing fashion. Runner-up Dominic Wyzomirski of Allison Park, Pa., finished nearly five minutes behind at 1:20:35. Charles Novak of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, was third in 1:21:57.

In the women's division, Conner also raced to an early lead and stayed in front all the way to the finish line. She competed in races at Vulture's Knob in the past, so she relied on her knowledge of the course throughout.

"At the start, because the course narrows to single track quickly, I took off from the front about as quickly as I could manage," said Conner, who is 38 and resides in Cleveland.  "I knew Beth (Woodward) was behind me and had no idea how much of a lead I had or when she might appear. On that course, another runner might be 50 yards behind you without you being aware of it."

Woodward actually was close to Conner the entire way, and finished second with a time of 1:26:54.

The course itself was perhaps the biggest challenge for the runners. As Conner put it: "There are no really long hills on the course, but there are also no flat spots. This year our area had a whole lot of rain so the course was full of mud puddles and some of the ascents were rocky single track that had been taken over by ankle deep streams."

Laurie Schroeder of Galion, Ohio, finished first in the women's 25-29 age division, and said the Vulture's Knob race is her favorite event in the Northern Ohio Series.

"It was amazing," she said. "After a long week of rain, rain, and more rain, the course couldn't have been tougher. There were slips and slides, and puddles, but most of all, mud!"

Complete age-group results for the race can found here.

The Vulture's Knob race was the first of seven events in the 2011 XTERRA Northern Ohio Trail Run Series. The next event on the schedule is the XTERRA Hampton Hills Trail Run at Akron, Ohio, on June 11.

To register for a race or to find out more about the series, please visit www.xterraohio.com or www.xterratrailrun.com.

© 2013 TEAM Unlimited LLC