XTERRA King of the Hill Report

By Brian Brett, XTERRA Rep

The Weekend of the 5th Annual XTERRA King Of the Hill, that takes place in the Picturesque Round Valley Recreation center in Lebanon, New Jersey got off to a shaky start with rain on and off most of Friday and Saturday. Come race day, the weather was perfect!

The course starts off with a two hundred yard dash down the beach before hitting the sixty two degree water. The swim is a quarter mile out and back (twice) with plenty of volunteers in kayaks, keeping an eye on the athletes. Then the athletes are greeted by a tough, hilly, and somewhat rocky twelve mile mountain bike course. This course is lollypop shaped and has rocky hills that seem to never to end.

The run course is a three mile scenic run around paths overlooking the lake, and a climb up the infamous “Toboggan Hill”. This hill is so steep, you can walk it as fast as you can run it, and coming down is a killer on your quads. The Finish is right on the beach in front of the registration/awards area.

Race Director Joe Patanella sounded the horn and the athletes were off. First out of the water was Johan Duba with about a minute lead over the next pack of swimmers. Back in about 15th place was pre-race favorite Scoogie Snyder. For the women, first out of the water was Liz Vineis with a slight lead on Toni Axelrod and Andrea McGuire.

The tough bike course looked like it took its toll on the athletes as they came into T2. First off the bike was Scoogie Snyder who passed several talented mountain bikers to come in with a comfortable lead. Second in off the bike was Chris Pickerell followed closely by Howard Greenfield.

On the women’s side, Toni Axelrod did a great job on the mountain bike course and came into T2 in first. Next in was Liz Vineis, followed by Andrea McGuire. Andrea beat Liz out of T2 and seemed determined to catch up to Toni.

First over the finish line was Scoogie Snyder in 1:33:33, followed by Howard Greenfield in 1:34:08 and in third was Chris Pickerell in 1:35:32. For the woman, Toni Axelrod was first in 1:51:00, followed by Liz Vineis in 1:53:04. In third was Andrea McGuire in 1:55:01.

The post-race party was crazy as usual. Joe Patanella had his push-up contest, but also added the Gatorade drink off. Athletes had to guzzle four cups of Gatorade to win XTERRA prizes. Then of course, there was the “first to jump in the water” prize.

XTERRA would like to thank all the volunteers, Round Valley Recreation Center, and Greenbrook Racing for an awesome XTERRA Points Series Event.

© 2013 TEAM Unlimited LLC