XTERRA Miami Race Report

Pictures courtesy of www.floridaactionsports.com

By Jon Schafer, XTERRA Athlete

With the upcoming presidential election, it would be easy to assume that people are in one of the two major camps: Republican or Democrat.  In the XTERRA world however, things are a little different.  While there are definitely two distinct factions at this time of year, they aren't based on political affiliations, but rather geographical locations.  Since I have little to no interest in taking the time to actually research this, I'll just use numbers that I think should be right: 75% of XTERRA athletes live someplace where the weather sucked last weekend.  And you other 25%?  Well, those of us in the majority hate you for it.  Now before we have these two groups on Cross Fire screaming at each other for no good reason, there is a solution: XTERRA Miami.

XTERRA Miami, as you might expect, has great weather.  But did you know that it also has a super-challenging course, two races to choose from and good, deep fields?  Plus, and perhaps most importantly, it is a great place to throw down after the race - I mean come on, Tahoe is cool and all that, but I can tell you from first-hand experience that hanging w/ the models in South Beach is a lot of fun.

Now before you scoff with your wherever-the-heck-you're-from attitude about mountain biking in Florida, let me assure you, the course is legit.  I've lived in California, Colorado and the East Coast and while this course certainly isn't hilly, it certainly isn't easy.  Don't take my word for it though, a recent Bike magazine article on the best place to ride in every state has this park listed by a Mountain Bike Pro as one of their favorite spots to ride - anywhere.

The Bike course isn't alone in terms of challenge either.  The run is just as twisty and turny as the bike course and features three, large river crossings, skull-cracking branches, bridges, ditches and plenty of ankle-twisting roots to go around.  These elements all complement each other well too, as you quickly forget how much your ankle hurts when you are focusing on not getting eaten by a crocodile while slogging through the multiple, chest-deep, briny, croc-rich rivers.

This year's swim course mysteriously did not include the barnacle-caked rope that we have swum over multiple times in the past years, which is a shame, as this was formerly one of the only XTERRA courses where one could actually bloody themself on the swim.  I personally liked that course configuration as it was extra easy to justify replacing my wet suit once it had been shredded by the razor rope.  Now I have to upgrade with only the feeble excuse of, "I dunno, I just want one." 

As for how the race actually unfolded, Matt Miller (32, Ft. Lauderdale, FL) had a blistering swim in 14:12 - he was clearly on board with my gator forecast.  Casey Fannin was next out in 15:00 and Olivier Andre (40, Mexico) was third out in 16:13.   Rachael Wood had the fastest women's split with a 17:55.  May-li Cuypers posted an 18:07 and Alexis Endicott (17, Alamo, CA) came in at 20:48.

On the bike, Sean Chrichton (30, Jacksonville Beach, FL) tore off the fastest bike split of the day - 1:32:24.  He clearly brought his 'A' game as this smoked everyone else by over 5 minutes.  The nearest competitors were Francisco Fernandez-Posse (38, Deerfield Beach, FL) and Jose Tabares-Ossa (38, Miami, FL) who completed the bike in 1:37:55 and 1:38:42.  As for the women, besting her competitors by over 19 minutes was again, Rachael Wood (47, Deerfield Beach, FL) who completed it in 1:50:37, so Rachael was also flying on the swim and the bike.  Melissa Stacy (28, Windermere, FL) finished in 2:09:40 and May-li Cuypers (Belleair Bluffs, FL) finished in 2:13:55.

It was XTERRA Ambassador Casey Fannin (48, Birmingham, AL) who posted the fastest run split of the day - 40:06.  Nick Clayton (30, Gainesville, FL) was a little bit back in 42:41 and Robin Vandekreeke (40, Miami, FL) was right behind him in 42:42!  As for the ladies, Melissa Stacy had a great run in 48:55.  Rachael Wood posted a 50:16 and May-li Cuypers had the third best split in 51:21.

When everything was said and done, who won?  That would be Casey Fannin taking top honors in 2:34:55 - almost 4 minutes faster than the rest.  Not bad for someone coming up on 50.  Sean Chrichton used his speedy bike split to come in second overall in 2:39:20.  Scott Ewing finished off the podium in 2:41:38. 

As for the ladies, not surprisingly it was Rachael Wood, finishing in 3:00:37 - almost 25 minutes ahead of the rest of the ladies - quite a gap.  Melissa Stacy took second place in 3:25:19, beating out May-li Cuypers, who took third in 3:25:32, by just 13 seconds.  I told you it was a good field.

For those of you that have spent the past few months bundled in every sort of conceivable warmer (arm, leg, knee, etc ) for rides and runs, here's a news flash: Miami is substantially warmer than Philly - Or Boston - Or Chicago.  But that's why you're going to Miami.  Just don't be surprised when you start sweating walking to the water for the start.

Most importantly, this is a fun race.  What generally makes XTERRA athletes cool people to be around is that they are people who like challenges and usually don't complain much when things don't go quite as planned.  So if you fit this description, next year in late March instead of spending the weekend riding the rollers watching Sports Center or freezing your ya-ya's off on the same trail you always ride, fly to Miami.  Not only is it a great race to get the year started, but what better way to prepare for the season than a race in March.  If all goes well, maybe I will see you in Tahoe.

Editor's Comment - So you don't have to ask him about HIS race, Jon Schafer finished in 3:01:48 to come across the line in 12th place.

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