Akerson and Chavarria Win XTERRA Costa Rica

The laidback town of Tambor, located in the northern Puntarenas province of Costa Rica, hosted the inaugural XTERRA Costa Rica Championship on Saturday.  

Reigning XTERRA amateur World Champion (turned pro) Rom Akerson chased down long-time XTERRA pro Ben Travis on the run to take the men’s overall title in 3:00:36.  Oscar Gutierrez was second in 3:04:08 and Travis filled out the podium in 3:06:32.

In the women’s pro race Viviana Chavarria won in 3:42:55 followed by Alejandra Gutierrez in 4:09:39.  Race director Enrique Wong brings us this account of how the race unfolded…

The race started at 9:30 a.m. and the beach was nice and clear, but there were some 2 to 3-foot waves that made the entrance into the ocean a little rough.  Once racers passed the wave line the ocean was nice and flat for the two 750 meter loop course.   The first racer out of the water was Ben Travis with a time of 25:58.

After 3 kilometers on the bike a powerful hill (3.2k long with an elevation from 30 to 175 meters) faced competitors.  In some parts many racers had to walk and actually rest before continuing the climb.  A very technical downhill followed the climb and the course was mostly gravel and mud.

''Hard, muddy, dangerous, and scenic. It was perfect,” said one competitor.

After going through all this variety of terrain and having a luxury view of Bahia Ballena (Whale Bay) and the Pacific coast, Travis was the first to the bike-to-run transition with a bike time of 1:40:35 followed by Gutierrez and Akerson with a six minute delay.

The signature feature on the run course was a 3k upstream trek through a river in ankle deep water.  As the trail run continued racers were challenged with crossing over big rocks, navigating loose gravel and mud, and alas, another river crossing (this one waist deep).  The final stretch is on the sandy beach to the finish line and to everyone’s surprise Akerson was the first racer in sight, having passed Gutierrez and Travis for the victory.

Overall it was an incredible day with beautiful weather, great parties, and a lively atmosphere.  I’m looking forward to a bigger field and even better experience next year and encourage the XTERRA family to come join us.

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