Patanella's King of the Hill Off Road Triathlon

By Brian Brett, XTERRA Rep
Photos courtesy of Brian Brett

(Lebanon, NJ– May 22, 2005) The fifth annual King of the Hill Off Road Triathlon had bad weather forecasted for the race weekend. The rain was on and off the day before and on race morning, but an hour before start until the end of the awards the weather was great.

The Round Valley Recreation Area is a beautiful park with lots of hiking trails, technical mountain biking trails and a huge lake. The swim was a quarter mile out and back course, done twice. The water temp was 58 degrees, and wetsuits were a must!

Race Director Joe Patanella started the athletes off with a 100-yard dash across the sand before hitting the water. First out of the water was Jason Caradine (VA) in 12:06 and about 30 seconds back, the pre-race favorites started coming out. First onto the bike was a local road triathlete, Scott Duprex (NJ), followed by 18-year-old sensation Ian Sullivan (NH) with Caradine in tow. Next out was Michael Nahom, (back to racing, after taking off a year from a bad mountain bike crash), and Eric Bowker (VT), a past winner of this event.

The 12-mile mountain bike course was a lollipop shape, technical, course. The first few miles were rolling, and then the climbs got steeper and more technical. The course had a few rocky areas, including a rock graveyard and a long climb loaded with rocks. After that a welcomed fire road winded back along side of the lake for about 2 miles. Coming back, you hit the technical downhill you climbed earlier. The course is a great tune-up for Richmond.

First into T2 was Eric Bowker, followed closely by the 18-year-old Ian Sullivan. About 30 seconds back was Michael Nahom, who was the most dangerous runner in the field. The run course started off with a few hills and leads up to the infamous “Toboggan Hill”, a hill so long and steep that almost all the athletes walk it. The rest of the run was scenic trails around the lake, with a finish on the beach.
Winners

Michael Nahom passed Bowker and Sullivan and took first place in 1:28:49, followed by Eric Bower in 1:30:08 and in third was Ian Sullivan in 1:30:54. (Photo from left: Joe Patanella, Ian Sullivan, Eric Bowker, and Mike Nahom)

The Women’s race saw Gae Orsini doing her first NXPS race. She led after the swim, came off the bike in first and won the race in 1:51:46, followed by long time XTERRAist Valerie Hardin (PA) in 1:53:12. In third was Erin Olafsen in 1:57:52

Several XTERRA Ambassadors were on hand, including Jay Hachadoorian who drove 36 hours the day before from Las Vegas coming back from Temecula, CA.
Jay looked strong during the race, until he avoided a crash with another athlete and snapped his carbon handlebars in two. Jay ran his bike back to the transition, and Race Director Joe Patanella gave him his bike. Wow!! Another Ambassador, 16 year old Andrew Robbins broke his rear derailleur and chain on a climb and came running into T2 with his bike on his shoulder (to his parent’s relief). The XTERRA Spirit award went to Jason Caradine, who broke his chain early on the bike, and ran the bike course several miles to the finish.

At the Awards Ceremony, Joe decided instead of raffling off the XTERRA wetsuits, he said to the crowd “First one to jump in the cold lake wins”. A few crazy guys sprinted to the water and jumped in fully clothed. A great way to end an awesome day!

Many thanks goes out to the crew at Greenbrook Pacing, the Round Valley Recreation Area, and all the volunteers and sponsors for making this race one of the best XTERRA Races on the circuit.

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