Reiter Turns First XTERRA Trail Run Into a Win

Chuck Reiter finally got a chance to run in an XTERRA Trail Run, and now he regrets not trying it earlier.

Reiter won the XTERRA Crystal Cove Trail Run on Sunday, December 11, topping a capacity field of close to 500 runners at Laguna Beach, California.

Reiter, 29, said he had been planning to enter an XTERRA Trail Run for several years, but this was his first actual entry.

"I've known about XTERRA for a while, and it's always been on my list," he said. "But there was always something else that came up. My friend reminded me about this race and so I finally signed up. It was great - wish I would have done it years ago."

Reiter completed the 15-kilometer long course in 1 hour, 8 minutes, 13 seconds. He took the lead early in the race and then held on at the end for the victory.

"I'm shocked, to tell you the truth," he said. "This is my first win in any kind of race, and for it to happen in my first XTERRA race … like I said, I'm shocked."

Matthew Dixon was a close second with a time of 1:08:19 - six seconds behind Reiter. Paul Fraire was third in 1:08:58.

"There's a big hill at about mile 3, and I charged up that hill and saw that no one was with me after that," Reiter said. "It was so hard to run in front because I had no idea where the other guys were. I thought I had a pretty good lead, but then I saw (Dixon) right behind me at the finish and was glad I was able to hold on."

Linda Vigil placed 18th overall and was the first female with a time of 1:14:40. Marta Mulhall was second in 1:15:31, and Nicole Giove was third in 1:17:17.

For complete results CLICK HERE. To view more photos from the race, please visit www.Supersportsphoto.com.

The Crystal Cove Trail Run was the third of seven races on the 2011-12 schedule for the XTERRA SoCal Trail Run Series. The next race in the series will be the XTERRA Boney Mountain Trail Run at Newbury Park, California, on Jan. 5.

Points are tallied throughout the 2011-12 season, and the top runners in each age group at the end of the season will earn free entries to the 2012 XTERRA Trail Run National Championship in September.

To register for a race in the XTERRA SoCal Trail Run Series, or to learn more about it, please visit www.trailrace.com.

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