Mader, Shaffer Clinch Close XTERRA Wins

(Pelham, AL) – The shaded, twisting trails of Oak Mountain State Park set the stage as Brandon Mader and Kerry Shaffer narrowly beat their competition to win this morning’s 10-kilometer XTERRA Trail Run.

The XTERRA Oak Mountain Trail Run welcomed over 150 runners from seven states to this inaugural event produced by race director Tim Schroer of Dirty Spokes Productions. He is responsible for the extremely popular XTERRA Georgia Trail Run Series and has since brought his challenging, off-road adventures to the Heart of Dixie.

Huntsville’s Brandon Mader, 26, stole the men’s title with his blistering time of 37:37 with Nathan Lewis, 19 of Hanceville, right on his heels just five seconds later. Josh Horsager, who has been an XTERRA Georgia Trail Run Series standout, took home the bronze to make his hometown of Columbus, GA proud in 43:44.

The women’s race came down to a photo finish as Kerry Shaffer of Milton, FL and Birmingham’s Rachel Winford battled for today’s top prize. But in the end, 26-year old Shaffer broke the tape just one second ahead of Winford with a time of 50:49. Pelham’s own Valerie Davis, 28, took third in 53:38.

The third of four races in the 2010 XTERRA Alabama Series, the completion of XTERRA Oak Mountain Trail Run leaves only one event for athletes to pad their season scores. Runners finishing the series with the highest point totals will be crowned XTERRA Regional Champions and win free entry to the 2010 XTERRA Trail Running National Championship on September 18th in Bend, Oregon.

Then on December 5th, all athletes are invited to the spectacular Hawaiian island of Oahu for the XTERRA Trail Running World Championship to race in the very place where major productions such as Jurassic Park, Godzilla and LOST have been filmed. For more information about the 2010 XTERRA Trail Run Series, visit www.xterratrailrun.com.

Complete race results are attached and more information can be found online at www.xterratrailrun.com. Media interested in photos from this event should contact emily@xterraplanet.com.

Coming up next, the XTERRA Alabama Series is returning to Oak Mountain State Park on June 12th for a set of three dirty mud run adventures alongside the XTERRA Southeast Championship weekend. With 5/10/21km races to choose from along with two distances of off-road triathlons the following day, this is definitely an event athletes will not want to miss.

COMING UP IN THE 2010 XTERRA ALABAMA TRAIL RUN SERIES

6/12/10 – XTERRA 5/10/21km Mud Runs – Pelham, AL - Part of the XTERRA Southeast Championship Weekend
9/19/10 – XTERRA Cheaha State Park 10km Trail Run – Delta, AL (#1 for 2011)
10/24/10 – XTERRA Monte Sano 5/15km Trail Run – Huntsville, AL (#2 for 2011)

For more information about the XTERRA Trail Run Series, visit www.xterratrailrun.com.

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