Bowman, Conner Take Top Honors at Chapin Forest

The XTERRA Northern Ohio Trail Run Series made its way to Chapin Forest last weekend, and Kyle Bowman was the first to navigate his way through the trees.

Bowman, 27, completed the 8-kilometer course in 31 minutes, 25 seconds, to win the XTERRA Chapin Forest Trail Run at Kirtland, Ohio, on Sunday, June 26. It was quite a debut for Bowman, who was entering an XTERRA Ohio Series race for the first time.

The battle for second place came down to an exciting finish, with only nine seconds separating three runners. Tom Thurston took second with a time of 32:01. Jeremy Foster was third in 32:04, and Dominic Wyzomirski was fourth in 32:10.

In the women's division, Lee Conner continued her winning ways, finishing first with a time of 36:46. She has won all three XTERRA Northern Ohio Series races so far this season.

"The course is fairly non-technical, and at five miles, pretty darn short," Conner said of her fast time.

Making this win more impressive, Conner completed a 40-mile race the week before the Chapin Forest race. She said her legs were still recovering, so didn't want to try to break away from the other women early. Instead, Conner ran with the other top women for most of the course, then broke away on the final hill - about a half-mile from the finish.

Janna Mutum placed second in 37:10, which was 24 seconds behind Conner. Kelly Zaleski was third in 37:39.

Around 100 runners participated in the race, ranging in age from 15 to 63. For complete results, click HERE.

The Chapin Forest Trail Run was the third of seven races in the 2011 XTERRA Northern Ohio Trail Run Series.

The next race in the series is the XTERRA Mohican Trail Run in Loudonville, Ohio, on July 9. The 18-kilometer course is one of the most challenging in the Ohio Series, as it features several grueling hill climbs, and more than 1,400 feet of elevation gain throughout the course.

To register for a race in the Northern Ohio Series, or to learn more about it, please visit www.xterraohio.com or www.xterratrailrun.com.

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