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Leitch, Boonstra Racing XTERRA Japan

Four hours away from the bustling urban sprawl of Tokyo and its 35 million residents sits the Kanko So Resort – a traditional Japanese inn remotely situated in the protected natural preserve of Nikko National Forest 4,000 feet above sea level.

On Saturday in this amazing place affectionately referred to as “Samurai Country,” several hundred athletes will take on one of XTERRA's most difficult courses during the sixth running of the XTERRA Japan Championship at Oku-Nikko Marunuma in the Gunma prefecture.

Among them is 2010 British Cross Triathlon Champion and endurance mountain biker turned pro XTERRA racer Ian Leitch and South Africa's Lieuwe Boonstra.  Those two rank 10th and 12th, respectively, in the XTERRA European Tour standings.

Leitch (pictured) had a breakout race at XTERRA Czech earlier this month where he posted the fastest bike split, the second best run split, and held off a hard charging Nico Lebrun to finish third.  With a result like that Leitch will be one to watch, and he will also race at XTERRA Switzerland, the USA and World Championship events.