Kelsay, Ellis win XTERRA Deuces Wild

By Circ Toepel  XTERRA rep

Thanks to Debbie and Seton Claggett, XTERRA Deuces Wild is one extraordinary weekend of fun suffering.  Thanks to the good Lord, the weather was righteous this year.  No-one puts on an event like this.  They have a short road tri, a long road tri, an aquabike, kids events, of course an XTERRA, and if you like the pain of back to back races, there is the Double with Farmington's XTERRA Four Corners.  Not to mention a raffle to die for.  If you are not a racer, just hang out at Fool Hollow Lake which is where all the fun starts.

800 meters in a beautiful mountain lake is a great way to start the day.  May-Li Cuypers started her day by only spending 15 minutes 44 seconds in the 65 degree water, followed by Jessica Noyola and Beth Steen.  Fresh from racing Four Corners yesterday, Mike Melley was out of Fool Hollow in less than 12 minutes.  Patrick Valentine, who also did Farmington, was only 6 seconds behind.

A few hundred feet out of transition, the 24k bike course dives off the road and heads out onto a mix of single and double track through the pine trees.  A 4.5 mile, sustained, climb that gets steeper and rockier the higher you go, tested the riders legs before plunging off the mountain top.  A steep loose and rocky road leads to some super fun single track that makes you want it to go on forever (unless maybe you are racing).  Pro Will Kelsay was untouchable on the bike with a 1:02:30 bike split but Luke Jay held his own by doing a 1:02:39.  Mike Melley did not have the fastest bike time but 1:06:48 was more than impressive considering he was riding a super-cool carbon fiber single speed.  Katie Ellis, the single pro woman was untouchable on the bike as well with a 1:13:03 split but the battle with Jaime Brede and Jessica Noyola was spectacular all morning. Jaime was 42 seconds behind Katie out of the water, with Katie gaining another 7 seconds in T1.  Jaime rode the bike only 31 seconds slower which could not have been easy considering she had just raced Four Corners yesterday.  Jessica went out on the run less than a minute behind the other 2 girls.

Deuces Wild course designer Seton Claggett is sadistic if not innovative.  It is not enough to have a casual run through the woods with a few hills thrown in.  This run has stuff like the Eliminator and the Mini Eliminator (both up and down) as well as a waist deep water crossing.  Will Kelsay kept up his torrid pace on the run and finished with a total time of 1:53:17.  Combined with his Four Corners' result made Will the Double Champion!  Benjamin Dewitt had the fastest run for the amateurs with a 33:48.  Luke Jay was not far behind, running in 34:41.  Luke's total time of 1:55:48 for the Deuces' race gave him the top amateur spot.  Combined with his Four Corners' result Luke placed 2nd in the Double.  Nick Goodman placed 3rd at Deuces which also earned him a 3rd in the Double. 

Katie could not be touched on the run; her time of 37:49 easily earned her the top spot at the finish line with a total time of 2:11:59.  Beth Steen laid down the fastest amateur run of 39:33 but Jaime's run time of 43:08 gave her the Deuces Wild win and also the Double win.  Jessica Noyola finished in 2:21:24 for 2nd place and Janice Brod took 3rd.  Ashlee Angel finished up the run in 46:23 for a total time of 2:30:54 which put her solidly into 2nd place for the Double.  3rd place in the Double went to Shelby Katz from Boulder.  Congratulations to all the hardy souls who even attempted this feat but especially to Will and Jaime who crushed it.

If you don't think this is the ultimate "fun" race, just ask Travis McMaster.  He came into T2 off the bike and donned a full blown Pooh bear outfit complete with hood.  As he mounted his Pooh bear attack on the run he was shouting "Pooh is coming to get you!" I cannot imagine the sinking feeling his competitors got as the bear blew by.  The water crossing almost sank poor Pooh as the fuzzy outfit retained water like a hippo.  Travis aka Pooh still managed a run time in the 95 degree heat just 10 minutes behind the leaders.  As you might imagine, the post race party here is over the top.  The tasty feast was prepared by Fiesta Mexicana and it was delicious.  Deuces Wild is working hard to decrease our footprint at these events and all the plates, napkins and silverware were composted by a local company.  There were also recycle containers everywhere for cans and plastic bottles.  Green is good!

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