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Iron Creek Off Road Triathlon



By Kirk Ermels, XTERRA representative

(Spearfish, SD – July 16, 2005) Sometimes it’s good to go home again. Especially if you are James Scott Marr returning to your boyhood home of Spearfish, South Dakota for the Iron Creek Off-Road Triathlon. Marr, who now resides in Glenwood Springs, Colorado scorched the course and the competition on his way to the overall victory in 1:56:55. Luke Nelson came in second at 2:03:33 and Alex Stevens was third in 2:07:21.

On the women’s side, Lara Usinowicz passed Molly Bockman coming out of T2 and never looked back, en route to a winning time of 2:22:41. Bockman held on for a strong second place with a time of 2:33:46. Ellie Pryor was third in 2:36:57.

Despite both heading out onto the run with a lead, both Marr and Usinowicz continued their strong day by turning in the fastest men’s and women’s run splits, 38:04 and 46:05, respectively. Usinowicz (16:23) edged Becky Batizy (16:24) for the quickest swim, while Michael Nunez was the first overall out of the water in 14:54. Nelson (60:57) and Bockman (78:29) turned in the fastest bike times on the day.

Mother Nature lent a helping hand to the racers by warming Iron Creek Lake to the point that over half of the field swam sans-wetsuit and then providing light cloud cover just after the 3 pm start. The shade and light breeze made the 1K-22k-9k course all that much more enjoyable.

The big story on this day however was the mountain bike course, which had athletes from all over the mountain region raving. A slightly different course from last year, it featured rolling climbs, open meadows, fast single track, and several “fun”-technical sections. To those who’ve ridden it, it is quickly becoming a favorite on the XTERRA circuit.

While he was happy with his finish and thrilled to be racing on such a great course, Marr hopes to see a few more of his Colorado neighbors at next year’s event. “Anyone who comes up would be thoroughly impressed with the riding available and the Black Hills,” he said as the day was winding to a close. “People need to come out, stay, and see how good the riding is. It’s definitely worth the trip from Colorado. You won’t regret it.!”
XTERRA