XTERRA Trail Run Nationals: Charting a New Course

The 2011 XTERRA Trail Run National Championship has a new home state, a new course and a bunch of new runners.

The XTERRA Nationals will be staged in Utah for the first time in the event's history, and it has the Beehive State buzzing with anticipation.

The event is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 25, at Snowbasin Resort near Ogden, Utah. Close to 400 runners from across the country are expected to participate.

Adding to the anticipation, a brand new trail has been cleared for the 21-kilometer championship course at Snowbasin Resort, so even most the local runners will be venturing into unfamiliar territory. Of particular interest, the course will feature more than 2,200 feet of total climbing, and will take runners to a peak height of approximately 7,300 feet at "Sardine Peak."

Taha Mahmood, an elite runner from Salt Lake City, Utah, said of the thin air: "If runners are coming from lower elevation they will feel the altitude for sure, but if they are in shape, they will be just fine."

As Alabama elite runner Brandon Mader put it: "I've spent my entire life below 1,000 feet (of elevation) so there is really nothing I could do to prepare at this point.  I really anticipate this being an enormous advantage to the Utah and Colorado competitors.  Instead, I have focused on hill work to prepare for the course itself.  Outside of that I would have to rely on my natural aerobic capacity to make up the difference."

The runner to beat, however, will come from Oregon. Max King from Bend, Ore., is the three-time defending champion of the XTERRA Trail Run National Championship. However, all three of those previous wins came in his hometown of Bend.

But King has proved to be a king of trail running around the world. He is also the three-time defending champion of the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship, which is held in Hawaii each year. He has already claimed another world title in 2011, having won the World Mountain Running Championship at Albania on Sept. 11.

Other contenders include: Oregon's Mario Mendoza, who placed third at last year's XTERRA Nationals; Michael Madison, the fastest runner in the XTERRA Texas Series in 2011; JJ Timphony, who scored several impressive victories in the XTERRA SoCal Series in 2011.

The XTERRA Trail Run National Championship will be held one day after the XTERRA USA Championship off-road triathlon, so some of the elite triathletes could enter the trail run as well, including Josiah Middaugh of Colorado.

In the women's division, a new champion will emerge. Oregon's Lauren Fleshman won the women's title in 2009 and 2010, but she will not make the trip to Utah. In her absence, the field appears wide open.

Morgan Arritola and Liz Stephen were teammates on the United State cross country ski team that participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics, but both are considered elite trail runners during the non-winter months.

Rachel Cieslewicz of Salt Lake City is one of the home-state favorites, and she is one of the few runners with actual knowledge of the course. Other contenders include Liza Hash of Florida, Evelyn Dong of Utah, and Jenny Tobin from Idaho.

Lesley Paterson, who is considered the fastest female trail runner on the XTERRA triathlon circuit, has expressed interest in entering the XTERRA Trail Run Nationals, although her main focus is on the XTERRA USA Championship triathlon on Saturday. If she is able to compete in the trail run the following day, she will be one of the top contenders.

In addition to the overall national champions, age-group national champions will also be crowned. Returning age-group champions from last year include Mario Mendoza (men 20-24), Max King (men 30-34), Don Hildebrand (men 75-79), and Jessie Stratton (women 65-69).

High point shot -- Photo courtesy Rachel Cieslewicz

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