Jablonski, Oppenheimer win XTERRA Portland

By Kristin Francis

The second-annual 2010 XTERRA Portland on Saturday, August 14th offered up some seriously "hot" racing action. XTERRA competitors from the Pacific North West and from as far as Arkansas, New York, and Australia came out to tackle the 1,000m swim, 25km mountain bike, and 7km trail run at Hagg Lake in Scoggins Valley Park about 25 miles SW of Portland, OR. While many of the XTERRA competitors were up for the challenge of the race course, many struggled with the near-100 degree temperatures.

Jason Jablonski, 37, of Wenatchee, WA brought on the heat in the men's field and took home the win in a time of 2:02:32. Jablonski crushed the 25km mountain bike (1:10:26) and 7km trail run (0:34:22) with the fastest times. This is Jablonski's fourth XTERRA win of the 2010 season, and he has a commanding lead on the 35-39 NW Men's XTERRA point standings. David Cloninger, 41, from Bend, OR, finished in second with a time of 2:07:54. Cloninger is leading the NW Men's 40-44 XTERRA points race with his solid finishes.

The heat proved to be a major hurdle in the XTERRA Portland's women's race. Leading the race with the women's fastest bike split of 1:26:04, Heather Lien of Sandpoint, ID looked as if she had her second XTERRA win of 2010 locked up. With about ¼ mile from the finish, Lien succumbed to the heat and was unable to finish. Close behind was Karen Oppenheimer, 42, of Bend, OR, who laid down the fastest women's run (0:42:21) to finish first in 2:38:20.

Scoggins Valley Park is well known in the NW for it's amazing trails that surround beautiful Hagg Lake. The XTERRA Portland mountain bike and trail run courses take full advantage of these trails that offer a bit of everything. Both offer a mix of open terrain and heavy NW forest. The 25km bike course has rolling single and double track with a few short sections on pavement. It's a relatively flat, fast course with some short steep climbs. With several rooty, rocky, and tight turn sections, it's moderately technical. Strong mountain bikers will fly on this course, but novice mountain bikers will also enjoy it. The run course, which also is near the lake, is two 3.5km (roughly) laps on similar terrain.

In spite of the unusual heat, competitors had an awesome time at this year's XTERRA Portland. The amazing venue and course, excellent race organization and course marking, chip timing, solid volunteers, and great prizes all make XTERRA Portland one of the best races of the XTERRA America Tour Series. XTERRA Portland is definitely one to add to your race schedule for 2011.

© 2013 TEAM Unlimited LLC