XTERRA Lock 4 Blast Post Race Report

By Jennifer Trapp

In its’ ninth year, we believe the XTERRA Lock 4 Blast to be  the 3rd longest running XTERRA in the world.  Not surprisingly  Andrew Marsh Manager of the XTERRA Point Series has been to all but two of them!  There are many memories of that  first XTERRA back  in 1999 – some we can tell, some we must keep to ourselves!

The day started out with a half mile swim in Old Hickory Lake – and just like the past 4 years, it was XTERRA Pro Craig Evans coming out of the water first in 10:40.  Nipping at his heels were solo athletes Bruce Gennari (41, Brentwood TN) and Omar Fraser (27, Birmingham AL) in 11:03 and 11:54.  The second fastest OA swim of the day went to Biker’s Choice Team #2 Swimmer Lucas Siska who sat on Craig’s heels the entire swim with a 10:44. On the women’s side it was Cheryl Stine (40, Bloomington IN) beating XTERRA PRO Jamie Whitmore out of the water in 12:47.  Jamie finished in 13:05 and Patricia Smith (32, Maryville TN) rounded out the top 3 in 14:59.  The race was off to a great start!

Next up – 12 miles of fun, fast single track – I’m telling you, this course is awesome!  It is broken out into 2 loops and each time you have to come down near transition and get some cheering on from the crowd to push you back out for the second loop!  First into transition was Craig Evans at 1:09:47 – that was a 59:07 bike split! Next up, it was the Middle Tennessee Swim Club and BC#2 riders. For the solo men it was a race between Casey Fannin (48, Birmingham AL) and Bruce Gennari – Casey used the  second fastest bike split of the day (1:03:42) to jump to second place and enter transition at 1:16:17.  Bruce was close behind in 1:17:26.  Jason Howard (32, Chattanooga TN) had the first fastest bike split in 1:04:15.

Jamie Whitmore used the bike section to show why she is a pro.  She came into transition at 1:19:50 – with a 1:06:45 bike split – and that put her almost 8 minutes ahead of the next lady.  Patricia Smith was next in at 1:27:40 – she had the second fastest bike split for the ladies in 1:12:41.  The next two slots were close as Lucia Colbert (49, Cordova TN) and Cheryl Stine raced into transition in 1:32:58 and 1:33:26.  It was Jackie Ryan (49, Birmingham AL) however that had the 3rd fastest bike split for the women in 1:16:06.  Great job ladies!

The run is set up like the bike – fun, fast, windy single track and a 2-looper so you can come back through transition, see everyone (even those who are already done way ahead of you – ugh!) and head back out.  With the fastest swim, bike, and run split (27:19) Craig Evans finished up with a 1:37:06 and stole the show yet again.  By the time he finished the entire race – only 4 solo athletes and 2 teams  were done with the bike portion of the race!  The relay teams worked hard to track Evans down but only served to push him that much harder. Congratulations Craig!  To celebrate, his daughter Haley tried to sit in an ice cold  Gatorade bucket to beat the heat

It was again Bruce and Casey racing through the run course trying to outdo each other.  Bruce had the faster swim, Casey had the faster bike, who would come out on top?  With a run split of 29:13 and a finishing time of 1:46:39, it was Bruce Gennari taking second place.  Casey had a 30:41 run split and finished up right behind him in 1:46:58.  Not bad!  Third place for the amateurs went to Jeff Richards (37, Atlanta GA) in 1:49:23.  The second and third fastest run splits went to Patrice Hommeau (37, Germantown TN) and Mike Duncan (21, Henderson KY) in 28:24 and 28:52.  Nicely done men!

The fastest female split went to Tina Eakin (36, Redstone Arsenal AL) – 30:10 and beating out Jamie Whitmore’s split of 30:30 – nice job Tina!  You may remember her, she was the amateur champion at XTERR Southeast Championship in Pelham back in June.  But, Jamie did take the overall spot with 1:50:20.  Second place, and first amateur went to Patricia Smith in 1:59:05 – she also had the 3rd fastest run split in 31:25.  Tina Eakin finished next in 2:05:41 and Lucia Colbert rounded out the top 3 amateur ladies in 2:09:43.  All in all a great day had by all!

Let’s not forget that this was Audie Smith’s 50th XTERRA event – his first one being here in 2000 during the America Tour.  With his wife and 2 of his daughters helping out at aide stations, he finished up the day in 2:36:40 – congrats Audie – we look forward to your next 50!

After a slew of prizes and give-aways – we’re talking Gatorade chuggin’ contests, best injury (I think we saw some guy’s butt), and of course “Who has Feet?” sock give-away – the day wound down, the athletes went home, and the crew sat around a cooler, drinking a nice cold Pacifico and laughed about the fun and excitement of the weekend.

Check out pix from the weekend at www.jarrettgazaphotography.photoherald.com/

Thanks to Dave Brown at Lock 4 Park for always making us feel so welcome.  Thanks also to David Hardin of Biker’s Choice and the Race Director for putting together another awesome event.  Thanks to his wife and daughter for helping out and putting up with him!  Thanks to all the volunteers, families, athletes, and friends who helped make this the incredible day it always is.  XTERRA Racing at its’ best!

See you at the races

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