Miller, Donley Win XTERRA Hammerman

The 10th annual XTERRA Hammerman was contested on Saturday, July 17th, under gorgeous blue skies…  good thing it wasn't set for Sunday, as it has been pouring ran all day!
 
Almost all the key players from 2009 toed the start line for this round, and the racing was even faster, and closer, than last year's awesome battles!
 
On the men's side, the young guns are coming into their own with 18 year old Adam Miller taking the win.  Miller was closely followed by last year's champ, 21 year old Will Ross, and Hammerman stalwart, Jason Lamoreaux.  After a strong swim, Miller was stalled by a cow and calf moose and was caught by chasers Ross and team racer Jamey Stull (see photo of another set of moose that delayed some runners!  Photo credit to race volunteer Erin Shaw).  After a short delay and some tense moments of shouting, retreating and finally moving on, they were back to chasing after swim leader and triathlon newcomer, David Valdes (who ended with a strong 4th place!).  After turning in the day's fastest bike split, Ross left T-2 with just a 49 second lead on Miller, with the next two men all within 3 minutes of Ross's speedy T-2 departure!  Miller then turned in the day's 3rd best run to overtake a fading Ross and bring home his first Hammerman win.
 
While the men's race was close, top 3 within 3 minutes, the women's race was even closer!  The battle between 2009's top three women played out all over again, with slightly different, and faster results…  these three ladies are flying!  2009 champ, Shannon Donley, came into this year's race riding an amazing 4 year winning streak and gunning for 5 straight!  An amazing triathlete, she has typically accomplished this on a borrowed mt. bike and shoes…  flashing a friend's sweet pink ride and another friend's shoes, this year was no different…  Except that her normal winning margins of more than 4 minutes was not to be!  After posting the fastest swim split of the day for the ladies, she was never really alone, as chasers Amber Stull and Danelle Winn were posting equal and faster bike splits on the challenging course.  After leaving T-2, the top 3 ladies were all separated by less than 2:15!  While both Donley and Stull were running quickly, it was Winn who turned in the fastest bike and run splits on the day to move into second place and challenge for the win.  Donley held on to claim her 5th straight Hammerman Hammer, but by the narrowest of margins… only 16 seconds separated her from a hard charging Winn… with only an additional 1:05 back to Stull!
 
A great day for sure, with a great big thanks to everyone that came out to play, help and support!

© 2013 TEAM Unlimited LLC