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An Epic Weekend in Ruston

The XTERRA Rustman Epic launches a brand new genre for XTERRA at Lincoln Parish Park in Ruston Louisiana on May 1.  “The Rustman” will consist of a 1-mile swim, 35-mile mountain bike and 10.5-mile trail run.  Keep in mind that championship XTERRA races typically feature a 0.9-mile swim, 20-mile bike and 6.2-mile run, so these are unprecedented distances for off-road triathlon.  As such, the race will offer up championship points (100 point Scale) to amateur racers.  The winning time is expected to be around 4 hour and 30 minutes.

The Epic will have a field limit for 2010 of 150 individuals and 25 teams.  Registration is open now at dltmultisport.com.

On May 2, the following day, DLT events is putting on the long-standing XTERRA Gator Terra off-road tri that features an 800-yard swim, 10-mile bike, and 3.4-mile run.  The Gator Terra will offer (75 point Scale) XPS series points. Hardcore racers that do both races will be eligible for the prestigious Rustman award.  See details here.

“This is a project that has been in the works for the past several years, and finally all the right pieces have been drawn together,” said Fred Phillips of DLT Events.

It’s well documented that the first-ever XTERRA was the 1996 World Champs in Maui, but that race wasn’t actually called XTERRA, it was “AquaTerra”.  So, the first true “XTERRA” branded event in history happened not on the shores of Maui, but on the banks of a small lake in Louisiana.  On June 1, 1997 in Ruston, the XTERRA Gator Terra (aka XTERRA Louisiana) truly became the first-ever XTERRA.  Read the whole story.