Press and Media Center

XTERRA Utah, USA Championship Sept. 26

Since March, thousands of amateur athletes have taken part in the XTERRA America Tour and through the trials of these 60 off-road triathlon races, spanning 32 states from coast-to-coast, a determined few qualified to race for the ultimate prize.  On Saturday, September 26 courageous souls from nearly every State in the Union will lay it all on the line for the prestigious XTERRA National Championship crown.

The race, now in its ninth year, is taking place in Utah for the first time and will be filmed and edited into a one-hour TV special that will be seen by millions of viewers across the country via national syndication.

While amateurs race for glory and qualifying spots into the XTERRA World Championship, pros race for their share of $80,000 in prize money and to determine just who is the fastest XTERRA athlete in all the land.

The USA Championship is for pros and invited amateurs only, however, locals and others who have not qualified can still race. The open competition is dubbed "XTERRA Utah" and combines a 750-meter swim, 19-kilometer mountain bike, and 5km trail run. It's on the same day, just 20 minutes after the USA Champ race starts.  XTERRA also offers the grueling XTERRA Wheeler Canyon half-marathon (same route as bikers take) on that morning.

Not just for racers, the XTERRA Sports festival also features the made-for-fun XTERRA K9 Challenge owner-and-dog races, the Paul Mitchell Hair Cut-a-thon for charity, free kids races, pro clinics, an expo, and two big parties in downtown Ogden that’ll have highlight videos, great food, live music, and good vibes.  It’s all part of Ogden’s Mountain 2 Metro games which are running simultaneously with a host of activities and events for the whole family.