Stoltz, Vanlandingham Win XTERRA Snow Valley

By Jennifer Marsh, XTERRA Rep

It was another hot day in sunny California for the 4th Annual Avia XTERRA Snow Valley.  But not hot enough to keep three time XTERRA World Champions Conrad Stoltz at home!  He came out to mix it up with the age groupers at this XPS Race - he hung out all day Saturday and chatted with the athletes, raced on Sunday, did a little interview on Sunday - it was great!  Mountain Bike phenom and XTERRA Pro Shonny VanLandingham also came out to show her stuff and it was great to have them both there!

Race morning starts with a bit of a trek up to T1 and the reservoir at the top of Snow Valley Ski resort.  Once there it was a lap and a half swim (yup - it was a swim this year - no mud run like last year!).  Darin Buschmann (33, Los Angeles, CA) was 1st out of the water in 11:11 with Stoltz right on his tail in 11:16.  Art Custer (40, Ventura, CA) was a close third in 11:41.  Chris Linkletter (42, San Pedro, CA) led the ladies out in 13:31 with Erin Beresini (25, Hermosa Beach, CA) close behind in 13:56.  Shonny was the third lady in 14:33.

The good part of the bike is that it is actually more down than up!  But you gotta start with the up right out of the swim.  It is again about a lap and a half finishing you up back down at the bottom of the hill for T2.  It is dusty and dry and there are rocks and sand and rivets and it is tough!  Conrad wowed the crowd with an amazing 37:54 - that's why he's a Pro!  James Walsh (30, Carlsbad, CA) had the second best split in 40:45 and Chad Green (36, San Diego, CA) posted the third fastest bike split for the men in 42:57.  Shonny completed the bike course in 41:27 to post a smoking bike split for the ladies - and 3rd best overall!  Tamara Tabeek (48, San Diego, CA) and Meiling Yee (46, Sunnyvale, CA) came into T2 neck and neck and posted splits of 54:12 and 54:13.  It was a foot race!

The run went up, and then down.  Then it went up some more, and then down some more.  Then it went BACK up, and back down.  And then…well, you get the picture! It was tough!  James Walsh actually posted the fasted bike split in 31:31 - 34 seconds ahead of Conrad's 32:05!  Jon Clark (34, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) had the third best split in 32:45.  Shonny again had an amazing split by posting a 34:07 - she is taking the XTERRA world by storm!  Simone Messerschmidt (43, Auburn, CA) had the second fastest ladies run in 42:30 and Erin Beresini was third in 44:27.

So, at the end of the day it was the two Pro's taking top honors - Conrad Stoltz in 1:21:16 and Shonny Vanlandingham in 1:30:07 (good enough for 3rd overall).  Congrats and thanks for coming out!  For the amateurs it was James Walsh in 1st in 1:26:04, Art Custer in 2nd in 1:30:09, and Jon Clark rounding out the men's podium in 1:30:34.  Meiling Yee took top honors for the ladies in 1:57:33 with Tamara Tabeek in second in 1L59L08 and Simone Messerschmidt in third in 1:59:33.  Congrats to all!

Thanks to Snow Valley, Mountain Multisport Events, HBT Events, all the volunteers, sponsors, and athletes for helping to make this an incredible day!  See you all next year! 

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