Horn, Cayler Win XTERRA Trimax

By Rich Costello, XTERRA Athlete

In its' second year, the XTERRA Trimax was held at the scenic and remote Raymond B. Winter State Park, conveniently situated, somewhat in the middle of the state of Pennsylvania, tucked away neatly amongst the rolling hills and fields of local farms that make up the surrounding landscape. The venue is the same location as last year's race, but with a few noticeable changes this year. Better scheduling on the tour made it possible for not only locals, but also many XTERRA athletes from out of town to make this race a must do on their personal race schedules' this year. The shift in the date of the race meant that racers would also get the added opportunity to take in the many flower and plant life in bloom, as well as wild blueberries, that many enjoyed snacking on whilst up top of the mountain during pre-rides. The biggest change that was noticed was by the returning competitors and dealt with some changes to the race course as compared to last years. New sections were added to the trail run, to go along with the famously known rocky sections of the bike course. These course changes were laid out by the devilish tandem team of race organizers, John & Lauren Cressman of Trimax Endurance Sports. Athletic competitors themselves in various sports, the two of them used their experience and set out to make this years' course, one that would challenge all athletes and test's ones mettle before completion.

Things got started with a .5 mile swim located in Halfway Lake Beach. The flat, two-lap lake swim went off without a hitch for competitors and those excitedly gathered to support and or witness the athletic competition. Once out of transition, it was onto the bike and through the forest on route to the first of many climbs that would be seen by athletes. The distance of 11.5 miles on the mountain bike should not be taken lightly by those thinking that it is not enough or lacking substance for this type of race. Once atop the first climb, the biking fun begins on tight rocky single track that only serves as an appetizer for what lies ahead. I've heard that the rocky sections last from anywhere from a mile, to three miles (after this years' race, I still was unable to get an official number on that). Moss covered rocks accompanied by loose rocks sitting about, soon gave way to the real fun. ROCK GARDENS! Rock gardens [that were only traversed by the highly skilled mountain bikers of the lot] soon began to litter long sections of the trail. The full bloom of mountain laurel that was in effect didn't make riding those rocks any easier, but it sure made traveling through them much more pleasant to the senses. Throw in some wet wooded bridge crossings, some mud pits, and a slippery black plastic drainage pipe and you've got some real XTERRA bike course fun. Reaching the plateau, bikers went screaming downhill on fire road at great speeds and back into transition for the change-over to the 3.9 mile trail run.

Out and onto the run, athletes took off headed for the road, before venturing off road on forest single track for what many would say is a real XTERRA trail run. Competitors, whose tired quadriceps and calf muscles had just adjusted to the change-over from the bike, were in for a surprise. That surprise came in form of an uphill scamper that would ignite and invoke many outbursts of pain from various age grouper's suffering from tired legs and lungs. Rocky single track then led to a fast downhill on macadam that would eventually dump runners back into the forest and, once again, a final serving of what off road triathlon is all about. After some rock strewn paths, one found themselves looking up at an enormous climb that, at least when I saw it thought, "ugh, are you serious? ". The famed climb on the Mayan ruins at the East Coast Regional Championships in Richmond, would only serve as a speed bump in comparison to this one! Finishing out, runners dashed through tight rocky trails and finally, darted on forest single track through the finish line and to the delicious barbecue that awaited them.

Top three finishers male & female were -

1, Bob Horn, 1:37:49
2, Roger Masse, 1:42:26
3, Thomas Ayd, 1:43:20

1, Sarah Cayler, 1:57:09
2, Sarah Lichtenwaln, 2:01:35
3, Christina Bohensky, 2:07:41

Great job to John & Lauren from Trimax Endurance Sports, and all other race volunteers for putting together an awesome race and bringing a stop on the American Tour that looks like it will only grow bigger and bigger each year. Also, I saw many XTERRA athletes and race staff taking advantage of the camp sites at this location. It was pretty cool to see athletes, some who didn't even know each other, make their way to other athlete's camp sites and mingle amongst each other. Once again, another example of people choosing to not only compete, but to truly LIVE MORE!

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