Moonlight Basin Off road Triathlon

By Mike Caldwell, XTERRA representative

(Big Sky, MT – July 24, 2005) XTERRA - welcome to Montana!

Moonlight Basin Resort, Montana’s newest ski and resort area played host to the first XTERRA Race to visit the big skies of Montana and it didn’t disappoint. Over 100 athletes conquered this off-road triathlon and lived to talk about it.

Race day started with a 900 meter swim in a pond on loan from the local moose population. Swimmers braved chilly water and made their way through the abundant lily pads and aquatic wildlife for 2 laps before sliding into their running shoes to make the three-quarters of a mile run down to the transition area at the temporary Madison Lodge. Runners emerged from the post-swim-run to a picturesque transition area that looked straight up at the Montana sized bike course. Climbers delighted in the 1,600 feet gained per 5.5 mile lap, non-climbers couldn’t believe they had to make another circuit as they rolled through the spectator area with tongues dragging. A tee-shirt from the local bar summed up the local population’s attitude nicely “never trust anyone below 8,500 feet.”

Luckily the Big Sky Fire Department was on course as Washington’s strongman Jason Jablonski set the field on fire with a blistering bike split. Jablonski flew into transition and onto the run course while we waited over 10 minutes for the next individual competitor to arrive. Not content with his bike lead, Jason cruised to the quickest run split of the day by over 3 minutes as well for an almost 16 minute lead over the second place finisher. Ouch!

Quick bike and run splits however were quickly forgotten as the excitement and hospitality of the Big Sky locals left an indelible impression on everyone. The spectator friendly course was lined with people that cheered everyone, first to last. This was a true mountain triathlon that spread the diverse field and everyone stayed to cheer the finishers for the entire 3 hour finish window. This close tribe of XTERRA’ists linked through their sweat and efforts smiled, laughed and shared war stories over cold local brews and BBQ. Ahhh Montana. See you next year! Congratulations to Karen and Scott for all the work to put this great race together.

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