Stapley, Snyder Win XTERRA Sky High

By Chad Denning, XTERRA rep

What does wet weather and Northeast have in common?  XTERRA of course! We are two races into our North East Series and so far we have seen two exceptional courses that have had an added twist - mud!!  The weather here in New England this summer thus far has been rather questionable but it sure has not dampened any spirits when it comes to racing XTERRA.  XTERRA Sky High took place on Sunday, August 3rd in Grafton, NY.  When Sunday rolled around the weather held off just long enough to get the race in before the rains began again.  

There were 97 individuals that toed the start line and they all looked ready to play.  The swim course is 1 km long but it is two laps with a beach run in the middle much like the worlds held in Maui.  A very cool twist to the course.  The beach at Grafton Lakes is really pristine beautiful sand so the racers had a nice transition in and out the water.  Paul Stapley from Canada held the lead on the first lap followed closely by Nathan Chubet with Ian Sullivan not far behind.  On the ladies side Sarah Caylor, Suzie Snyder, Andrea McGuire and Kelly Ault were all within striking distance of each other upon entering the bike transition.  The ladies were all within three minutes of each other . Sarah Caylor did have a minute jump on Suzie Snyder after the swim.

I knew that we were going to see some good mud on racers as they exited the woods on mountain bikes but we were in for much more of a treat than I anticipated.  The mountain bike course was really nicely laid out and gave racers 16km of fire roads, single track, technical rock gardens and nice hills.  Throw in a little mud and the FUN in XTERRA always comes out!  Ian Sullivan was in the top five of the guys side after the swim but he is always a threat on a mountain bike.  I knew that we were going to have a fight on our hands as the racers came into the second loop around the second pond.  Ian had made up some great time on the bike and had passed Nathan Chubet to get within striking distance of the leader Paul Stapley.  Paul looked very comfortable up front but he knew that Ian was not far behind.  The top three men off the bikes into the run transition were Paul Stapley, Ian Sullivan and Anthony Snoble.  The ladies lead changed hands during the mountain bike section and Suzie Snyder passed Sarah Caylor to take the lead followed by Andrea McGuire.  Suzie and Sarah were within two minutes of each other into transition.

On the run Paul Stapley went off on the run with a 30 second lead on Ian Sullivan… would he be able to fend off the late charge from Ian?  In the end Paul was able to hold off the late charge and even put another minute and a half  to his 30 second lead to finish first in 1:34:48, Ian Sullivan finished second in 1:37:50.  Andrew Degraw was also able to make his move during the run to pass Andrew Snoble and take over the third place spot on the podium in 1:40:19.  Suzie Snyder held off Sarah Caylor to finish first on the ladies side in 1:51:34 with Sarah in second with a time of 1:53:26 and Andrea McGuire finishing off the top three in a time of 1:59:15.

Love the course the people and the place! 

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