XTERRA Buffalo Creek Report

By Circ Toepel, XTERRA Rep

Robert Martinich only puts on one race a year but it is coveted by many XTERRA veterans.  There were close to 100 on the wait list!   One of the most beautiful bike courses around got even better this year by the abundant display of purple, yellow and red wildflowers due to a late, wet, spring.  Those 220 athletes lucky enough to register early ran into Wellington Lake for a slightly shocking 58 degree swim.  There was still snow on the mountaintops surrounding the lake which made a gorgeous setting even more magnificent but the late runoff caused all but 2 or 3 hardy souls to put on wetsuits.  Most competitors were grateful for the 1.5k swim to be shortened to 1k.  The 20 mile bike is one of the longer courses in the point series but it attracts a large number of first timers due to its less technical terrain.  Colorado single track is tough to beat!  The 5 mile run up to the waterfall and around the lake is pretty sweet too. 

The race began to unfold with Eric Snowberg from Golden pulling off a 13:13 swim.  Combined with a 1 minute and 3 second transition Eric hit the road and the steep descent which began the bike leg in first place.  Becky Batizy was not far behind in the women’s field coming out in 15 minutes flat.  Do these people even get wet?  Pro Greg Krause began his domination of the day by coming in off the bike with a substantial lead which he proceeded to expand on the run.  His total time was 2:09:12.  Among the mortals/amateurs Todd Murray from Colorado Springs garnered the top spot with a 2:24:57.  Local boy Taylor Carrington (Denver) was next in 2:26:01.  Ed Oliver from Michigan made a great race for the top 3 by coming in 6 seconds later.  This was the race of the day as they came out of the water 4 seconds apart.  Their bike splits were 8 seconds apart and on the run there was only 7 seconds separating the two.  Taylor made the change in T2 in 56 seconds and Ed made up precious seconds by getting out in 47.  Where Taylor pulled it off was T1.  He got out of his wetsuit and onto his bike in 1:23 while Ed took a mere 1:42.   You gotta love chip timing!

Sara Tarkington took the top spot as a Pro in the Women’s race in 2:40:01 but Suzie Snyder didn’t make it easy for her.   She was only 47 seconds back taking first place amateur female.  Not to be outdone by the men, these two must have been in sight of one another all day.  Their times were almost as close as the guys.  Not more than a minute separated them at any given point.   Sara pulled ahead on the run after smoking out of T2 in 31 seconds!  Always so humble, Suzie never said anything to me about what a great race she had.  Instead, focusing on what an awesome job Robert does putting on this event.  Buffalo Creek remains one of her favorites.  

Megan McCarthy Carrington took second place in a time of 2:42:43 with Molly Hummel rounding out the top 3, 36 seconds behind.  There are so many fast women coming up, Tahoe is going to be killer race to watch.  It will also be interesting to see who goes pro and gives the big girls a run for their money.

For those not ready to tackle the full XTERRA, there was a shortened sport course which drew another 136 competitors.  One of them was 12 year old Hannah Rae Finchem.  Hannah said the swim was “cold but not too bad”.  She obviously has better circulation than some of us older folk.  Hannah liked the run course, describing it as “beautiful”.   We may be seeing the future of our sport as she finished with a very respectable time of 1:41:35 for 12th place!

Robert is trying to increase the number of athletes allowed on his permit for next year but if that doesn’t come through, remember to register early to get a spot!  Several racers and their families took advantage of the Saturday race and spent an extra night for some world class camping at the lake before heading home for Father’s Day.

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