XTERRA Wild Horse Creek Race Report

By Circ Toepel, XTERRA Rep

Montana conjures up images of buffalo and cowboys.  We saw neither at Hyalite Canyon just south of Bozeman.  We did see a killer bike course; a kick-ass run course and the most exciting women’s finish anywhere!  A longer than usual 1300m swim in the 66 degree reservoir preceded a bike ride that had a little of everything.  At 6800’ riders made their way around the lake on single track that wound through the trees, rolling up and down on lots of roots, some rocks and good old dirt.  On the other side of the lake the trail opened up into a spectacular meadow with perfectly placed, triangular peaks in the background.   It was so stunning it left many riders wanting this section to go on forever.  Nothing is perfect though and a left turn onto a gravel road brought the bikes around the lake to the start of a 2 loop climb with a technical loose rocky descent.  Back in transition the fun was about to begin again with a run course that eventual winner Will Kelsay described as perfect preparation for the upcoming Championship races. 

Scott and Karen Muir being swimmers at heart gave the 1st person out of the water a $100 prime.  Water might be a stretch because there was so much algae this year it more closely resembled pea soup.  Trever Gray from Sandpoint Idaho emerged from the green several minutes ahead of his neighbor Jeff Smith but had stomach problems on the bike and couldn’t finish.   Perhaps his gills got clogged with the algae and caused him breathing problems.  Brandyn Roarke-Gray was 4th overall out of the water and only 40 seconds behind Jeff.  I am considering moving to Sandpoint to learn to swim. 

Will Kelsay made up the 3 minutes he lost to Jeff in the swim during the bike and the pair came into T2 very close together.  That was the last Jeff would see of him as Will put the hammer down and passed him shortly into the first of 2 laps.  After the race Jeff said  that guy can run!  Will’s finish time of 2:19:50 awarded him half of the extremely generous $500 1st place prize money.  Jeff’s time of 2:21:23 gave him the top amateur spot in addition to the $100 swim prime.  2nd place went to Ross McMahan from Incline Village with a time of 2:26:56 and 3rd place to Douglas Cook from Jackson, Wyoming another 4 minutes back at 2:30:04.  Everyone agreed this was one of the most difficult, challenging run courses anywhere.  Ross described it as brutal but real XTERRA.

Close does not even begin to describe the women’s race.  Six minutes after Brandyn cruised out of T1 with her 20:44 swim split, Lisa Lieb and Heather Lien proceeded to give spectators the most incredible race I have ever seen.  In addition to looking almost like twins and having last names separated by only 1 letter, they were mere seconds apart from start to finish.  They ran virtually side by side during the entire run.  Those fortunate enough to witness the finish saw Lisa light the turbo and make a final pass at the top of the steep, rocky descent which preceded a 75’ sprint to win by 1 second!  Spectacular, to say the least.   Afterwards it was inspiring to watch these 2 close competitors hug and congratulate each other on a great race.  Brandyn held off the same stomach problems her husband was experiencing and finished in 3rd place taking advantage of the 50yd optional swim finish which cut off about 200 yards of the run.  Post-race  Lisa said she had a little trouble in the swim with “algae eye” after her goggles were kicked off but settled into her rhythm on the bike on a course that had just about everything you would want in an XTERRA.

Scott Muir, being a master chef, changed hats, jumped behind the grill and fired up some tasty burgers and homemade chili before the awards were presented.   Tons of free schwag was given away and I doubt if anyone went away empty handed.  This course will only get better as the race directors are working on a single track alternative to the gravel road.  We had the opportunity to ride some other trails before the race and this undiscovered area has so much to offer, it will be exciting to see what they come up with.

On a personal level this race meant a lot to my wife Cindi and me.  Our 21 year old nephew Ben Richards lived in Bozeman up until this past spring.  He was killed in an avalanche on Yellow Tail Mountain just outside of Big Sky.  Cindi felt his spirit with every pedal stroke and every step as she carried his picture on the bike and the run.  We dedicated this race to him.

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