Cathleen and Robert Bartholomew both take home titles

The inaugural XTERRA Atlantic Trail Run Series was an instant success in 2013, drawing more than 1,000 runners from 15 different states to its four races.

Among those runners were Cathleen and Robert Bartholomew, a happily-married couple from Aberdeen, Maryland. Robert did all four races in the series, and Cathleen did three. By the end of the season, they both earned enough points to win their respective age divisions for the season.

Robert is the men's 45-49 division winner; Cathleen is the women's 55-59 division winner.

"We like the idea of a series of races, and once we did the first race in the series and saw how well organized it was, we decided to try to do the entire series," Robert said.

The XTERRA Atlantic Trail Run Series featured two races in the state of Maryland, and two in the state of Delaware. The Bartholomews made drives of anywhere from 50 minutes to 90 minutes to get to the various races.

"We have done trail races before; we like them because the trail running community is very friendly," Cathleen said. "There seems to be a camaraderie that doesn't exist with road racing."

Cathleen started running 30 years ago, while Robert started running 20 years ago. Fittingly, they met at a race and have been married for 18 years. Now, they can call themselves XTERRA Atlantic Series Champions.

Also among the list of Atlantic Series Champions for 2013 are Jackie Palmer of Newark, Delaware, and Don Morrison from West Brandywine, Pennsylvania. They were the high scorers among all runners for the season - Palmer scored 300 points in the women's 25-29 division, and Morrison also scored 300 in the men's 60-64 division.

Every age-group champ from the Atlantic Series received a free invitation to compete at the XTERRA Trail Run National Championship at Snowbasin Resort near Ogden, Utah, on September 22.

The XTERRA Atlantic Trail Run Series was created in 2013 with the assistance of Adventure Geek Productions. Atlantic was one of 16 regions that are hosting an XTERRA Trail Run Series in 2013. The others are Alabama, Arizona, Southern California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Pocono, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Virginia and Utah.

To learn more about the series, please visit www.adventuregeekproductions.com orwww.xterratrailrun.com.

Here is the complete list of 2013 XTERRA Atlantic Trail Run Series champions: