Nevada Passage Wide Open Opens Registration
THIS WEEK: The Nevada Passage Wide Open opens registration, Zorrel T-Shirts back on the backs of XTERRA racers, Mike Vine speaks up at Big Blue, Richmond trail workers recognized, and results from last weekend.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
April 30 - Big Blue Off-Road Triathlon (Castaic, CA)
April 30 - XTERRA Hartwood Scramble Trail Run (Pittsburgh, PA)
May 06 - Gator Terra Off-Road Triathlon (Ruston, LA)
May 13 - XTERRA Southeastway Scramble (Indianapolis, IN)
May 13 - XTERRA Malibu Creek Trail Challenge Scramble (Los Angeles, CA)
May 20 - Odyssey Off-Road Triathlon (Waynesboro, VA)
May 20 - XTERRA Vail Lake Scramble (Temecula, CA)
May 21 - Nissan Xterra West Championship (Temecula, CA)
May 21 - Patanella's King of the Hill Off-Road Triathlon (Lebanon, NJ)
May 21 - The Dirty Triathlon (Canyon Lakes, TX)
May 27 - XTERRA Little Cottonwood Creek Scramble (Salt Lake City, UT)
May 27 - XTERRA France Championship (St. Raphael, France)
THE WIDE OPEN: Last year the inaugural Nevada Passage made-for-TV adventure competition took 10 coed teams - comprised primarily of regular XTERRA athletes - on a six-day, six-stage 1,000-mile journey across the Silver State.
It made for great TV. As proof, the hour-long show won two Telly awards for production excellence - one in the sports TV/Cable category and another in the Travel and Tourism category.
It also wet the appetite of adventurers across the nation. To quench that thirst, organizers expanded the format this year to include a two-day "Wide Open" event that anybody can come and do.
This May 6-7 in Winnemucca, one-and-all are invited to experience Nevada's great outdoors by mountain biking on the Bloody Shins Trail, kayaking on the Humboldt River, do some no-trails running up Winnemucca Mountain, and ATV sand drag racing at Winnemucca's Regional Raceway.
The competitions will include multiple divisions to appeal to all age groups and experience levels. The top three finishers in each event division will win awards and a special trophy will be awarded to the fastest finisher of the three human-powered events.
The biggest event might be the party on Saturday night.
Individuals can register and find out more about the "Wide Open" online at www.nevadapassage.com or by calling 877-751-8880. Winnemucca is in the north central region of Nevada off Interstate 80 (check out the Winnemucca Convention and Visitors Authority online at www.winnemucca.nv.us).
The Nevada Passage Wide Open will be directly followed by the second annual made-for-television competition, The Nevada Passage, which again will bring 20 hand-selected athletes to Nevada for a six-day adventure. It will air in syndication from August 2006 to February 2007.
ZORREL IS BACK: For the second straight year TEAM Unlimited has reached an agreement with Zorrel to be its official t-shirt supplier for the Nissan Xterra USA Championship Series, the Nissan Xterra World Championship, and the Nevada Passage adventure competition.
"Zorrel's Dry-Tech technology will assure that every athlete, volunteer, and staff member at an XTERRA Championship event in the U.S. this year will experience the feeling and fit of the ultimate performance tee," said TEAM Unlimited President Janet Clark. "Zorrel shirts keep athletes exceptionally dry, which is a must for the demanding racing and work environment we expose them to."
Zorrel's revolutionary t-shirt combines great looks and comfort of lustrous combed cotton with unparalleled moisture wicking technology. This shirt is at home in the humid forest trails of Richmond, Virginia, the brisk air of the Sierra Nevada range in Nevada, and everywhere else XTERRA travels. That's why they call it: Performance Wear for Anywhere.
Learn more about ZORREL at www.zorrel.com.
VINE GOES BIG BLUE: XTERRA Pro Mike Vine is giving out some free advice this Saturday night at 6pm on the eve of the Big Blue Off-Road Triathlon in Castaic, CA. No better man for the job as Vine won the race last year, which kick-started a stellar season. His 2005 resume includes a championship victory in Keystone, a second-place finish in the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series, a third place at the USA Championship and a fourth at the XTERRA World Championship. Vine will talk race strategies, training, goal setting, and field questions from the crowd.
The Big Blue will be the sixth race of the Nissan Xterra USA Championship Series season. The venue is situated in the Santa Clarita Valley in L.A. County. Castaic Lake covers thousands of acres where adventurers can hike, run, trek, bike and paddle. Lush and green in the spring, sporting a beautiful bounty of wildflowers, adventuring through this Southern California playground will be a treat for competitors and the perfect prelude to the upcoming Nissan Xterra West Championship.
The GTG: The Great Trailworker Giveaway! For the past few years' volunteers have been working weekend-after-weekend on the trails in the James River Park trails system. These are the trails XTERRA uses for the mountain bike portion of the Nissan Xterra East Championship and the reason why the "urban adventure" has escalated into one of the most popular race sites in the world.
To help recognize the efforts of these volunteers XTERRA has joined forces with Contes Bikes and Fitness to give away a mountain bike to a registered trail worker who has given at least eight hours of service to the trails system construction and maintenance over the last two years - including work done on the Northtrail, Northbank Park, Forest Hill Park, and Buttemilk (proper and Heights).
The bike giveaway will occur at the awards ceremony at the Nissan Xterra East Championship on June 18 on Brown's Island. At the same time XTERRA will be giving away 20, $25 gift cards for XTERRA Gear to registered trail workers.
The CONTES store is at 8818 West Broad Street in Richmond. For more info on the trails work visit the Richmond Area Chapter of the Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts website here.
LATEST RESULTS
Arizona's Xtreme Desert Triathlon (4/23 - Mesa, AZ)
Men's Race (Hometown, Age Group, Time)
Jason Jablonski (Wenatchee, WA, 30-34, 1:54:55)
Brian Grasky (Tucson, AZ, 30-34, 1:57:49)
Michael Melley (Chandler, AZ, 30-34, 2:00:03)
Women's Race
Lara Usinowicz (Evergreen, CO, 35-39, 2:19:02)
Jackie Burt (Gunnison, CO, 35-39, 2:20:58)
Janice Fliegler (Carson City, NV, 35-39, 2:21:13)
Note: Long-time XTERRA Pro Jimmy Archer won the overall in 1:52:02, leading a large pack of pros that included Ryan Ignatz (2nd, 1:54:37) Jared Berg (4th, 1:55:21), Brian Smith (5th, 1:57:11), Will Kelsay (8th, 2:00:11) and Tyler Johnson (16th, 2:06:10). The men's age group winner Jason Jablonski is not an unknown…he won the amateur XTERRA World Title last October in Maui.
XTERRA Otter Creek Scramble 10k (4/23 - Louisville, KY)
Men's Race (Hometown, Age Group, Time)
Brandon Jessop (Cincinnati, 27, 43:09)
Scott Lajoie (Louisville, 35, 47:44)
Charles Mercer (Louisville, 36, 53:03)
Women's Race
Beth Sommers (Louisville, 31, 54:29)
Jennifer Zehnder (Louisville, 36, 1:01:06)
Kelly Obrien (Cincinnati, 26, 1:01:32)
