Press and Media Center

Waco Community Rallies for XTERRA

The XTERRA South Central Championship triathlon and trail running races are returning to Cameron Park in Waco, Texas on April 16-17 thanks in large part to an ambitious collection of locals who rallied to bring the event back to their home park.

Last year’s inaugural event took place in late May and attracted 500 racers – both professional and amateurs - from 25 states.  The feedback was overwhelmingly positive on all fronts – from the epic course to the cultural experience.

“This course is so much fun, it’s like a long dance, up-and-down and round-and-round. You need both hands all the time because there are so many turns, and there is never a long flat section where you can catch your breath, so there’s no time to rest,” said last year's women's champ Renata Bucher from Switzerland.

“It’s very different from anything we’ve done before,” added men’s winner Conrad Stoltz from South Africa.  “It was only my second time in Texas so for me it was a cultural experience at the same time, and I really enjoyed it.”

For Shonny Vanlandingham, the reigning XTERRA World Champion who grew up in Arlington, Texas, racing at Cameron Park gave her the opportunity to brag about some of the great riding that can be found in her home state.

“This park is great.  I feel like it’s one of the best parks in Texas and not a lot of people know about it. You think of Waco and you think Baylor University, but this park has so many great activities from water sports to hiking, and trail running.  And the community has been great.  They have really embraced the racers.”

The local community also embraced TEAM Unlimited, the Hawaii-based sports marketing company that owns and produces XTERRA, by proactively asking for the event’s return in 2011.

“Without local support we couldn’t have come back,” said Dave Nicholas, the managing director of the XTERRA World Tour.

The plea for help was answered shortly after last year’s event by Ian Moore from Bicycles Outback, and culminated with Thad Hairston from Arm-Tex spearheading a local sponsorship campaign.

Waco-based companies and individuals that have signed on as local sponsors include Arm-Tex, Boozer Jewelers, Medi-Weightloss Clinic, CTMI, Glazer’s, Insurors of Texas, Capstone Mechanical, Bicycles Outback, City of Waco Parks and Recreation, Greg May auto dealerships, and the Waco Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“It’s been incredible to see so much individual effort to bring this event back to Waco.  We think it’s a great way to show off our park and the adventure travel opportunities that are available here,” said Hairston.  “Ian has arranged for a transit shuttle to move spectators to different spots on the course to watch the action and he got a local radio station that will broadcast live from the site.  Brad Boozer bought 1,000 Waco-labeled water bottles for all the participants. Billy Ellis from Glazers arranged donations for Miller 64 beer and Voss water.  It’s going to be a great weekend.”

The weekend schedule includes 5km, 10km, and 21km trail runs on Saturday, April 16, along with a free clinic taught by pro athletes. On Sunday, XTERRA hosts the South Central Championship race, which combines a one-mile swim in the Brazos River with a 15-mile mountain bike through Cameron Park and a 6.2-mile trail run, and a half-distance “sport race.”

Entry into all events is open to the public at www.xterrawaco.com and admission to the festival area is free.  Paul Mitchell stylists will also be on-site Sunday with a hair cut-a-thon to raise money for the Challenged Athletes Foundation. 

The XTERRA South Central Championship is one of six major regional events in the XTERRA America Tour, offering $10,500 in prize money to some of the world’s best triathletes.  Amateur competitors race for points in the America Tour as well as for qualifying spots into the XTERRA World Championship which takes place in Maui, Hawaii on October 23, 2011.

“The locals really did an amazing job last year getting the park, the trails, and all the details fine tuned so we could make a big splash in our first year, and now they’ve made it possible for us to come back and do even better. We are extremely grateful,” said Nicholas.