RESULTS: XTERRA Bonneville Basher 12K Trail Run

Michael Raemisch and Alydia Barton Take Home The Gold

The morning of Saturday, June 2nd was a cool and calm 54 degrees in Ogden, but the Weber State University campus was sizzling with excitement as a crowd gathered at the Dee Events Center for the XTERRA Bonneville Basher 12k Trail Run.

As seventy of Utah's fittest and finest trail runners amassed the staring line, "whoops" and whistles led to an energizing group round of applause just seconds before the gun shot screamed "go".

TOP MEN
Michale Raemish (38) out of North Salt Lake, UT was the overall men's champion of this epic and fun-filled journey on Utah's historic Bonneville Shoreline trail.  He finished in a time of 53:24 a mere inch before Kevin Tuck (50) of Salt Lake City, UT who crossed one second later at 53:25.  Upon finishing and congratulating Michael, Kevin commented that he needed an extra foot in his stride to win today, but didn't quite have it.

Nevertheless, it was an exciting finish to watch.  Dave Elger (50) running out of Mountain Green, UT rounded out the top 3 with a strong finish.

TOP WOMEN
On the women's side, Ogden's own Alydia Barton (38) took the title in a time of 59:40 with a very impressive win over two strong runners -- Genevieve Keogh (38) and Terri Holmes (34) who finished 2nd in the time of 1 hour and 3rd respectively in 1 hour and 6 minutes.

With many top finishes under her belt, Alydia is a bit of a celebrity in the Ogden running scene.  A track and cross country coach at Ogden High School, she is currently training with an elite group of runners at Weber State as she looks to make a splash in the national running circuit.

The XTERRA Bonneville Basher is the first of four trail running events under the Utah Circuit of a national trail running championship series.  These races are designed for runners of all ages and skill levels and aim to get individuals off the couch and into nature.

Although the skill levels were varied, the enthusiasm at the Bonneville Basher was high across the board.  Here is a sample of the individuals we caught up with:

Some competitors shot out peace sign and strained as they hit the base of a steep downhill.  Matt Bell shouted, "Bonneville Basher, Baby!" as he came trucking by.  Matt was running in his first trail race with his wife Cami -- who was just minutes behind looking determined to catch and bury her husband.

Sisters, Ruth Huggins and Ronda Shurtliff ran by together smiling and waving with thumbs up; both having a great time but keeping pace ahead of a couple of male runners on their heels.

Shelly Stinson fell multiple times but, still managing to keep smiling to hold onto 3rd place in her age division. Mike Fresh, getting caught up in a chase missed a turn-off.

Brad Anderson's finished with bloody knees and on asking if he was okay, he responded by saying, "Oh, it happens to me all the time on this trail.  It looks much worse than it really is".

That's XTERRA -- a fun adventure that pushes you to "LIVE MORE".  The next event is the XTERRA Snowbird Challenge on June 14.

For full race results and information on the XTERRA Utah Series visit: www.stridersrunning.com

© 2013 TEAM Unlimited LLC