As featured in another outstanding issue of Running Times MagazineThe XTERRA championship series includes a host of regional championship races held across the country. Overall winners as well as age group winners are designated and offered free entry to the national championship race in Bend. As a result, over 30 of these titleists have chosen to travel to Bend this week to compete. The world championship XTERRA race is held in Hawaii.
More than 320 runners from across America have already registered for the Sept. 18 national championship race. By race day, more than 500 trail runners are expected to be on the starting line at Bend. Many of them are considered the best of the best in the ever-growing sport of trail running.
It all starts with the “XTERRA King of Trail Running,” Max King. He is the two-time defending champion of the XTERRA Trail Run National Championship. King, 30, works as a bio-chemical engineer right in Bend, so the trails of Central Oregon serve as his training base. King won last year’s 21-kilometer race with a time of 1 hour, 6 minutes, 46 seconds. He finished more than six minutes ahead of his closest competition – an astonishing margin when considering the depth of the field.
Unlike many races with the "national championship" designation, XTERRA does not fall under the USATF umbrella and, therefore, does not fall under their rules and regulations. In this case, a contender for the title is Japan's Fujio Miyachi. He placed fifth at the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship race in Hawaii last year, and this will be his first try at the XTERRA Nationals in Bend.
Scotty Carlile, Greg Mitchell, and Mike Olson are other strong trail runners who hail from Oregon while Californians Sean Kievning and Scott Dunlap, who placed 10th and 12th, respectively, at in 2009, and Derek Schultz of Pennsylvania are back to try and improve on their finishes from last year.
Also of note, two teenagers made headlines in their respective regions of the XTERRA Trail Run Series and are looking to stay near the lead pack in Bend. Dylan Johnson of Texas actually finished first overall at an XTERRA race last month; Jaxon Rickel of Arizona was a consistent top-10 finisher at the popular XTERRA SoCal Series races. Both Johnson and Rickel are 16-year-old high school students.
The women’s field appears to be far less predictable, and a new national champion could emerge. Defending champion Lauren Fleshman of Eugene, Ore., is questionable to enter the XTERRA Nationals this year due to a scheduling conflict. Also, Susannah Beck of Maine will not enter the 2010 race. Beck won the women’s national title in 2008, and placed second to Fleshman last year.
With that said, another elite runner from Bend – Kami Semick – will likely be the top seed among the women. She placed second at the 2008 XTERRA Nationals, and third last year, and is one of the world’s best ultra-marathon runners.
If Semick is to break through this year, she will have to be faster than several other top female contenders from Bend, including Katie Caba, Stephanie Howe and Pam Bradbury. At last year’s race, Caba placed fourth among the women and Howe was eighth.
Female out-of-state contenders include Rachel Cieslewicz of Utah and Claudia Spooner of Texas.
XTERRA TRAIL RUN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
WHEN: Sept. 18, 9 a.m. start; first finishers expected around 10 a.m.
WHERE: Bend, Ore. Start/finish will be at Old Mill District, and course will traverse along the Deschutes River.
WHO: More than 500 runners from around the world, ranging in age groups from 10-14 to 80-older.
COURSES: A 21-kilometer course will serve as the national championship race, but there are also separate 10-kilometer and 5-kilometer races that runners can enter.
ENTRY INFORMATION: http://www.xterraplanet.com/xduro/nationals.html
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