The Course
Maui's XTERRA course is a classic point-to-point race covering 27-miles of unyielding terrain. Conditions change radically from year-to-year, diminishing the advantage to repeat competitors and perpetuating the course's stature as the most intimidating in the series.
Participants are not permitted to pre-ride the course so for newcomers, it's read and react. The bike course is full of rockstrewn paths, gnarly golf ball sized gravel, short steep and long go-forever climbs, hard packed lava and deep, dusty silt. There's more than 2,500 total feet of climbing and one can never predict how hot it might be on race day. The reputation is brutal and very well deserved. Hawaii's natural obstacles are unlike anywhere else on earth and out on the run more than a dozen different surfaces and Maui's most stunning oceanfront scenery awaits competitors.
*NO SPECTATOR ACCESS ON BIKE COURSE
SPECTATORS GUIDE
The Maui Prince Hotel is the place to be! The swim starts at Maluaka Beach fronting the Prince and there are plenty of great vantage points to watch the mass start. Pros are easy to spot with their identifying swim caps - men in blue and women in pink and a short beach sprint mid-race between two 750-meter laps gives spectators a chance to pick out their friends and family from the field. As the race progresses you'll get live race reports, watch the action unfold on a big screen TV, shop at XTERRA Gear, eat at the food booths, drink in the Pacifico beer garden and enjoy a front row seat to one of the greatest spectacles in all of sport. The spontaneous, ecstatic and sometimes tear-jerking displays of emotion at the finish line.