XTERRA Onteora Race Report

Livingston Manor, NY

By Andrew Marsh, XTERRA Point Series Manager

You didn't have to check the calendar to know that summer and the XTERRA Point Series was coming to a close - Mother Nature made that call. While much of the rest of the country was sweltering in triple digits - turning leafs and frost on the pre-dawn transition grass was a certain indication that fall was on the way to the Catskill Mountains.

Given that the ambient air temp was below 40 for the 8:00am start - forget the water temp - wetsuits were required before entering Orchard Lake. The GPS confirmed .5 mile swim was a left-handed single rectangle loop. Michael Halstead (41, Stone Ridge, NY) was first to exit Orchard Lake in 0:13:10 with Chris Budden (30, Rye Brook, NY) 0:13:20 and Donald Griffin (39, Belmar, NJ) 0:13:23 giving chase. Transition efficiency came into play as Jerry Brescia (40, Niskayuna, NY) and XTERRA Ambassador Nathan Chubet (35, Plantsville, CT) passed to Budden to form a chase pack in pursuit of Halstead who maintained his lead.

Joan Lynch (Greenwich, CT), in her first ever off-road tri, was the first lady to exit T1 having posted a 0:15:08 - nearly a minute up on Emily Johnson (Brooklyn, NY) 0:16:02 and almost two minutes up on Andrea McGuire (Troy, NY) 0:16:53.

The two loop bike course had more variety then a yard sale - fire roads, forest paths, both new and old single track, rock gardens, log jumps, swamp flats, and a screaming downhill power line cut challenged the experienced and newbie alike. The tour of the Onteora Scout Reservation was thorough - passing every fixture you'd expect to find at a Scout camp - the dinner hall, craft lodge, archery range, and camp sites by the dozen. Brescia and Chris Robins (38, Southampton, NY) picked off everyone ahead of them in the first 5.5 mile lap - headed back out ahead of early leader Halstead.

Chris' brother Ken (45, Cutchogue, NY) was closing ground quickly until a flat - a mere 100 feet short of the turn-around - enabled the assembled crowd to witness a variety of flat repair techniques which took Ken out of contention for the win. Were the Onteora spirits playing with the Robin's tribe this day? No sooner had Ken returned to battle - Chris returned to Transition without a chain - done for the day.  This left the third Robins sibling Klint (43, Lincoln, CA) to carry on without, hopefully, any mechanicals.

Having trashed her derailleur at XTERRA Schiff Scout the week prior Andrea McGuire didn't seem to mind that she was riding a temporarily bandaged bike as she crushed the women's bike in 1:19:39 (16th best OA) to take a commanding lead. Johnson maintained her second place spot posting the 2nd best bike: 1:32:15.

Going into the last race of the season Ray Hanley (43, Simsbury, CT) was sitting 3rd in the NE 40-44M AG. Ahead of him in the standings were Jerry Brescia and Tad Norton - tied for 1st place. Norton enjoyed a weekend at home with the family - leaving it up to Ray and Jerry to determine his fate. Ray knew that an AG division win would lock all three into a three-way first place tie forcing the XPS tie-breaking rules to proclaim him Champion. Jerry knew that an Onteora victory would give him sole ownership of the title. For either there was only one way to secure a spot on stage at the Tahoe Night of Champions banquet and the coveted 2007 Regional Champion jersey - WIN! 

Brescia was in 3rd following the Swim. Hanley departed T1 seven spots down in tenth. Brescia had taken the OA lead early in the bike. Hanley was sitting fourth as he rounded the turn around.  A combination of attrition, superior speed, and luck would quickly come into play for Ray. Chris Robin's early departure handed Ray third = attrition. Ray passed Halstead via the best bike split of the day, a 1:07:26, to move into second = speed. With less then a one half mile to go - a rear flat almost took him out of contention = luck.

Looking like he had the day locked up - Brescia posted the second quickest bike, 1:07:31, to maintain his two minute Swim lead over Hanley. Meanwhile Bob Horn (31, Brick, NJ) ripped a 1:08:09 to move from eighteenth after the Swim to third off the Bike! This tale was going to be told on the Run.

Pinpoint foot placement; moss covered rock hopping, and straddling trees freshly felled by beavers forced athletes to a slower pace during the first quarter mile of a beautiful lake side "trail" run.  Just as you got settled in, the run took an immediate left hand up-hill turn climbing via fresh cut single track toward the main camp dirt road. With quads burning the road greeted you with a gentle downhill stretch. At the bottom the course turned up a slight grade - lulling one into thinking that the back half of the run was going to be simple. Suddenly a "red for run" arrow forced your gaze upward - as in straight up. Bordered by ferns the trail gained 250 feet in ½ of a mile topping out on the ridge above camp.  A logging road and an open single track trail took athletes gradually downward toward the finish. Midway back the published raging waterfall and 3' deep creek crossing turned out to be a trickle thanks to a dry summer. Pictures from past years give a glimpse of future XPS highlights.

Combining the quickest T1, Bike, T2, and Run splits Andrea McGuire almost caught husband Phike enroute to the women's title. Total time: 2:10:00. Emily Johnson (2:29:37) and Joan Lynch (2:38:09) were out classed on this day maintaining their post bike positions.

As any experienced XTERRA athlete will tell you - luck can play a heavy roll or take a heavy toll. For Jerry Brescia it was the latter. A self guided tour off the well marked run course used up every second and more of his two minute lead. Ray Hanley burst from the weeds and took the tape in 1:50:59 surprised to learn that he had won the race and the NE 40-44 M Regional Championship. Jerry Brescia rerouted himself back into competition finishing up in 1:51:50 - understandably frustrated. Bob Horn maintained the third spot with a 1:52:45. Early leader Michael Halstead posted the best Run split of the day (25:22 for 5K) to take fourth OA.

Warm sun welcomed all to the finish, post-race BBQ and festivities. Age Group champs received a bottle of wine from California's Cycle Gladiator vineyard and race sponsor. Raffle prizes - including very cool digital cameras from Canon - were well received by lucky winners.

Looking toward the 2nd Annual XTERRA Onteora - JP and his crew are already in discussions with the good folks at Onteora Scout Reservation to add a trail run and overnight camping to the off-road fun fest. We're certainly looking forward to another excellent weekend of XPS fun at XTERRA Onteora. Live More!

© 2013 TEAM Unlimited LLC