Press and Media Center

The XTERRA Nation Gathers in Nevada

The XTERRA USA Championship off-road triathlon on Sunday (Oct. 5) graces the north shore of Lake Tahoe at Incline Village, Nevada for the eighth straight year.  This year’s title race, the final stop on the XTERRA America Tour, is the culmination of 58 qualifying events in 32 states.  The concept of the Series, dreamt up by race director “Kahuna Dave” Nicholas and initiated in 2001, was to provide amateur athletes with a bona-fide championship to compete for.  First qualify by finishing as one of the top points scorers in the region, then race against the top performers from every other region in the country.  The idea worked.  As proof, more than 300 XTERRA racers from 43 of the 50 states across the nation and from every walk of life have qualified and traveled to Nevada in search of the national championship.  From 15-year-old high school students to a tough-as-nails 72-year-old, you’ll find architects, teachers, doctors, lawyers, pilots, engineers, cake makers, and massage therapists from every corner of the U.S.  It’s a diverse group that shares at least one thing in common - that inner calling to LIVE MORE.  Here’s just a sampling of Sunday’s field …

Katherine Pollard – a 15-year-old HS student in California (youngest female)
Matus Kriska – a 15-year-old HS student from North Carolina (youngest male)
Lorraine Bourget – a 22-year-old landscaper from Idaho
Matt Kahle – a 24-year-old nurse from Missouri
Thomas Ayd – a 25-year-old real estate developer from Maryland

Megan Fisher – a 25-year-old from Montana is a challenged athlete (leg impairment) and became the first solo female challenged athlete to compete in XTERRA at the Wild Horse Creek points series race in July.  Other physically challenged athletes racing on Sunday include Mike Hicks (leg impairment) a 57-year-old from Arizona, David Kyle (Les Autres) a 36-year-old from Alabama, and Craig Vogtsberger (visual impairment) a 33-year-old from Michigan.

Gregory Abrahamson – a 27-year-old financial analyst from Colorado
Rhet Stinson – a 28-year-old electrical engineer from Arizona
Birk Larsen – a 28-year-old architect from Utah
John Armstrong – a 29-year-old firefighter from Texas
Brandyn Roark Gray – a 29-year-old mental health counselor from New Mexico
Mary Fordham – a 32-year-old special education teacher from Washington
Dameon Rinehold – a 33-year-old machinest from Indiana

Ryan Sutter – a 34-year-old former “Bachelor” reality TV star from Colorado

David Lawson – a 35-year-old attorney from Oklahoma
Bence Roemer – a 36-year-old physical therapist from Kentucky
Cari Sponaugle – a 37-year-old cake designer from Washington
Julie Burroughs – a 38-year-old principal at Lakeside Primary in Arkansas

Susan Williams – a 39-year-old from Virginia won the bronze at the 2004 Olympic triathlon event in Athens.  This will be just her second XTERRA race.

Dean Hewson – a 39-year-old technical writer from Illinois
Jim Kaplan – a 39-year-old developer from right here in Incline Village, Nevada
Todd Borke – a 39-year-old pilot from Alaska
Rickey Tolliver – a 40-year-old epidemiologist from Colorado

Dr. John Curtin - a 41-year-old chiropractor from Missouri swam, biked, and ran his way into the Guinness Book of World Records by completing 101 triathlons in 100 days.  He started his marathon of triathlons to raise awareness for Missouri Kids First, an advocacy group which helps families who are traumatized by abuse and violence, and on September 7th, 2008, Dr. Curtin completed his 101st triathlon in 100 days, setting the world record for the most consecutive triathlons in a year.

Ellen Wallace – a 41-year-old scientist from California
Michele Williams – a 42-year-old archivist from Michigan

Jon Schafer – a 43-year-old rancher from Pennsylvania (did 10 XTERRA races on the XTERRA America Tour, the most of anyone)

Peter Hanson – a 43-year-old physician from Minnesota
Scott Jindra – a 44-year-old chef from Illinois
Desiree Margagliano – a 45-year-old dental hygienist from Oklahoma
Ken Robins – a 46-year-old builder from New York
Duane Leach – a 47-year-old accountant from Tennessee
Scott Ewing – a 51-year-old chiropractor from Florida
Rob McCoy – a 51-year-old pathologist from West Virginia
Mike Gerace – a 52-year-old engineer from Connecticut
Ken Frankenberry – a 52-year-old restaurant owner from Ohio
Audie Smith – a 55-year-old anesthesiologist from Tennessee
Kathy Frank – a 60-year-old nurse from Oregon (oldest female)

Errol Lassiter – a 72-year-old retiree from Georgia (oldest male)

THE PROFESSIONALS IN TAHOE

Olympians, Mountain Bike Champions, Road Tri Standouts, Adventure Racers, and XTERRA Specialists converge to form one of the strongest professional fields ever assembled for Sunday's USA Championship race.  Here's a look at the start list by country/alphabetical:

MEN

USA - Jimmy Archer, Matthrew Balzer, Ryan DeCook, Craig Evans, Scott Gall, Damian Gonzalez, Ryan Ignatz, Will Kelsay, Josiah Middaugh, Branden Rakita, Brian Smith, Jeff Smith, Jim Vance, Cody Waite, Seth Wealing
AUSTRALIA - Chris Legh, Andrew Noble
CANADA - Mike Champigny, Mike Vine
COSTA RICA - Rom Akerson
SOUTH AFRICA - Conrad Stoltz (pictured), Dan Hugo
UNITED KINGDOM - Sam Gardner, Jim McConnell

WOMEN

USA - Erin Ford, Linda Gallo, Emma Garrard, Lisa Isom, Kristy Lanier, Amber Monforte, Sara Tarkington, Jenny Tobin, Shonny Vanlandingham, Susan Williams
AUSTRIA - Carina Wasle
CANADA - Christine Jeffrey, Danelle Kabush, Melanie McQuaid (pictured)
GERMANY - Marion Summerer
MEXICO - Fabiola Corona
NEW ZEALAND - Jenny Smith
SCOTLAND (UK) - Lesley Paterson
SWITZERLAND - Renata Bucher

J-DAWG AUCTION UPDATE

The most exciting update is that Jamie Whitmore will be in Tahoe with her extended XTERRA family and will help Conrad Stoltz, Melanie McQuaid, and Josiah Middaugh teach the “Art of XTERRA” clinic at the Village Green next to the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe at 4pm on Friday, Oct. 3.

The silent auction to be held on Friday, October 3 from 1pm-6pm and Saturday, October 4 from 9am-1pm at the Village Green next to the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe has garnered some high quality items.

Gatorade has donated a signed Eli Manning (Super Bowl MVP) New York Giants football jersey, Specialized gave a brand new Stumpjumper FSR Comp with a retail value of $2,400 and others have pitched in with brand new running shoes, bike shoes, bike pedals, bike tires, technical apparel, watches, sunglasses, hotel stays, coaching lessons, photographs, artwork, purses, heart rate monitors, and more.

XTERRA will also have a special limited edition “J-Dawg Crew” tee shirt for sale, and 100% of all the proceeds from the auction and shirt sales will go directly to Jamie Whitmore.  Items that are not sold at the auction will be available at theprocloset.com and shirts can be purchased at www.xterragear.com.

To see the latest information and pictures about the auction visit www.supportjamiewhitmore.org.

To learn more about Jamie and her condition visit www.jamiewhitmore.com.

SHOW ME THE MONEY

$110,000 will be awarded at the XTERRA USA Championship, $70k to the top performers in the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series, and $40k for the race alone.

Here’s how it breaks down for the Series: 1st - $14,000, 2nd - $7,000, 3rd - $4,500, 4th - $3,000, 5th - $2,000, 6th - $1,200, 7th - $900, 8th - $700, 9th - $500, 10th - $450, men only 11th - $400, 12th - $350, 13th - $300, 14th - $250, 15th - $200.
Here’s the race breakdown: 1st - $5,000, 2nd - $4,000, 3rd - $3,000, 4th - $2,400, 5th - $1,800, 6th - $1,400, 7th - $1,000, 8th - $700, men only 9th - $500, 10th - $400, 11th - $300, 12th - $200.

XTERRA.tv

More than 20 TEAM TV cameramen will be onsite in Tahoe this Sunday to capture all the action of the USA Championship race for a nationally syndicated one-hour sports special that will be broadcast around the nation to two million viewers.  You can see last year's show right now at www.XTERRA.TV.