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Sam Osborne from Rotorua, New Zealand and Suzie Snyder from Reno, Nevada won the 14th annual XTERRA Oak Mountain off-road triathlon elite titles at Oak Mountain State Park in Shelby County, Alabama on Saturday, May 18, 2019 with winning times of 2:28:21 and 2:50:47, respectively.
Sam Osborne from Rotorua, New Zealand and Suzie Snyder from Reno, Nevada won the 14th annual XTERRA Oak Mountain off-road triathlon elite titles at Oak Mountain State Park in Shelby County, Alabama on Saturday, May 18, 2019 with winning times of 2:28:21 and 2:50:47, respectively.
It’s the 10th XTERRA World Tour win for Osborne, third of the season for Osborne, and second in as many weeks. Last Saturday he won the XTERRA Brazil Championship in Ilhabela, and last month he was victorious at his hometown race at XTERRA New Zealand. For Snyder, the reigning XTERRA U.S. women’s elite champion, it’s her third win in four years at Oak Mountain.
The event, which was the fourth stop on the XTERRA Pan American Tour and the first major in the U.S. this season, combined a one-mile swim in Double Oak Lake with a 21-mile mountain bike and six-mile trail run. Race conditions were just about perfect for the 8am start. The water temperature was 76-degrees, the air-temp was 76-degrees, and the trails were in great shape.
In the men’s elite race Ian King led Osborne by a second after the first 750-meter lap of the swim, but Osborne got to the front by the end of it and never trailed thereafter.
Osborne posted the fastest swim of the day in 20:15, had second-best bike and second-best run to finish a little more than two-minutes ahead of 2015 XTERRA World Champion Josiah Middaugh.
“We got out pretty quick on the swim, and in an ideal world I would have had more of a gap coming out of the water because with guys like Josiah sitting behind you, you don’t want to hang around,” said Osborne. “So, I went as hard as I could on the bike, and it was made even harder because I think I had a bit of a reaction to the anti-fog I put in my goggles because I was suffering from clouded vision most of the bike. As a result, I was taking some real dodgy lines and hit some rocks. I was hoping I wouldn’t blow a tire out, but I managed to ride well enough and I think I heard something like ‘two minutes’ heading into T2 and I was confident I could hang on to that on the run.”
Middaugh, who had won three straight and five of the last six races at Oak Mountain, turned in the fastest bike (1:30:59, one-minute better than Osborne) and quickest run (35:44, 21-seconds faster than Osborne) but it wasn’t enough to overcome the three-minute, 30-second deficit he had after the swim.
“I didn’t know where I was out of the water, but I knew it was bad, so I just tried to work hard on the bike, but I was all by myself the entire time. I felt good out there, had no problems, and I rode strong,” said Middaugh, a Sunnto Multisport Team rider. “Ultimately it was a good race, a good placing to get some points and get in the mix for the Series chase, and something to work on. I’m coming off winter, he’s coming off summer, so I’m in a good spot.”
Last year’s XTERRA Pan Am Tour Champ Kieran McPherson, also from New Zealand, finished third followed by Americans Elliott Bach and Brian Smith.
“I worked real hard early on the bike to catch Branden, who is a great climber, and worked with him to get up that climb. Then he got a flat right after blood rock and I moved into second and found my rhythm. I was doing good until I had a big crash and took a nap,” laughed McPherson. “I got into T2 in second and went into survival mode.”
Middaugh caught McPherson early in the run, but the Kiwi was able to hold off the rest of the field to finish in third.
Rakita’s flat at the 12-mile mark was unfortunate as he was riding strong in second place behind Osborne at the time. He probably lost three or four minutes, the difference between fourth and sixth.
The surprise of the day came from first-time XTERRA racer Elliot Bach, who is a road triathlete by trade, and finished 10th at the Gulf Coast 70.3 last weekend.
“That was hard, I think that’s probably harder than 70.3. And I love it,” said Bach. “I was following Josiah into Blood Rock and I thought, I’m just going to follow his line and if I come out, I come out, and I did. The goal was to stay upright, and the podium was a bonus. That was probably the most fun I ever had racing. I’ll be doing another one for sure. You’re in the woods, it’s beautiful, I was having a blast.”
Brian Smith, who was third at this race last year, had another great day to finish fifth this time around.
At the awards ceremony, Osborne invited the entire field to come ride with him (slowly) at Oak Mountain on Sunday, just so he could enjoy the trails and the XTERRA community for one more day.
“The course is incredible,” he said. “We always rave about Rotorua and how it’s the best race on the circuit, but Oak Mountain gives it a hell of a run. It’s such a physical course as well. To try to ride that stuff well and fast you have to be on it all the time. My back was killing me at the end of the bike, and I think that shows how much you have to pick the bike up and move it around to ride the course well.”
Elite Men's Results
| Pl | Name, NAT | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Sam Osborne, NZL | 2:28:21 | 100 |
| 2 | Josiah Middaugh, USA | 2:30:28 | 90 |
| 3 | Kieran McPherson, NZL | 2:32:13 | 82 |
| 4 | Elliot Bach, USA | 2:34:46 | 75 |
| 5 | Brian Smith, USA | 2:37:21 | 69 |
| 6 | Branden Rakita, USA | 2:38:02 | 63 |
| 7 | Evan Pardi, USA | 2:38:13 | 58 |
| 8 | Walter Schafer, USA | 2:38:48 | 53 |
| 9 | Ryan Ignatz, USA | 2:42:28 | 49 |
| 10 | Will Kelsay, USA | 2:44:12 | 45 |
| 11 | Zach Winter, USA | 2:56:57 | 41 |
In the women’s elite race Jessie Koltz and Amanda Felder were first out of the water, followed by Samantha Kingsford about 20-seconds back, then Brittany Oliver, Suzie Snyder, and Lesley Paterson about one-minute behind.
From there Snyder, who posted the fastest bike split (a 1:43:48, which was more than five-minutes better than Kingsford and Paterson) started picking off every rider in front of her until she passed Kingsford to take the lead towards the top of the climb, and it was all downhill from there.
“After I passed Samantha I knew I was in front, so I was just trying to stay smooth,” said Snyder. “And I was trying to push it to stay in front of them going into Blood Rock. I didn’t want to have anyone around me because I wanted a clear shot at it. I was pretty nervous because until two days ago because I had never ridden it clean, after all these years. I knew I could, if I didn’t freak out, but this is the first race I’d ever ridden Blood Rock clean.”
When Snyder rode past the media gathered just below the intimidating Blood Rock section, she let out a roaring “woohooo,” and went on to have a brilliant first big race of the year.
“I was having fun today because I was feeling it. These are my trails!”
Kingsford, who won last week at XTERRA Brazil, was riding strong and got to the bike-to-transition in second place, about three minutes behind Snyder.
“Oh, that was hard,” said Kingsford. “I felt pretty good halfway through the bike and then I just hit a brick wall. Then when I came into the first lap of the run I felt pretty good, but by the second lap, I hit that brick wall again. Lesley is just an animal on the run, and Suzie is clearly very strong on the bike.”
Paterson, the reigning XTERRA World Champion, had the best run of the day, 41:02, to catch and pass Kingsford half-way through the second lap and move into second place. It was a gutty run for Paterson, who hasn’t been feeling the best of late.
“Our thing is 100% in effort and attitude. You never give up. It doesn’t matter where you’re at or how you’re feeling. In every step, in every second, just focus on that effort. So, to have some fight at the end was really important for me.”
Kingsford held on for third with Americans Julie Baker in fourth and Maia Ignatz in fifth. For Ignatz, just getting through the race, let alone landing on the podium, was a huge accomplishment. In July of 2017, she suffered a tibial plateau impaction fracture at XTERRA Victoria and a full thickness tear of her medial meniscus.
“I’m a little emotional, I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to run again, so to be out here and do this. I’m extremely happy,” said Ignatz. “I haven’t raced in almost two years. I was only able to start running consistently the past three months. I had surgery a few years ago to repair my meniscus and it took forever to recover. I feel amazing now, but I tweaked my knee just a while ago, so I was nervous about today.”
Elite Women's Results
| Pl | Name, NAT | Time | Pts |
| 1 | Suzie Snyder, USA | 2:50:47 | 100 |
| 2 | Lesley Paterson, USA | 2:55:38 | 90 |
| 3 | Samantha Kingsford, NZL | 2:57:01 | 82 |
| 4 | Julie Baker, USA | 3:01:53 | 75 |
| 5 | Maia Ignatz, USA | 3:04:01 | 69 |
| 6 | Amanda Felder, USA | 3:04:43 | 63 |
| 7 | Jessie Koltz, USA | 3:06:32 | 58 |
| 8 | Tess Amer, USA | 3:08:36 | 53 |
| 9 | Deanna McCurdy, USA | 3:09:09 | 49 |
| 10 | Kelli Montgomery, USA | 3:19:29 | 45 |
| 11 | Allison Arensman, USA | 3:31:54 | 41 |
| 12 | Brittany Oliver, USA | 3:36:31 | 37 |
McPherson, Mira lead XTERRA Pan Am Tour Elite Standings
Kieran McPherson from New Zealand and Laura Mira from Brazil sit atop the Pan Am Tour elite standings after four of 10 events. With the win Osborne moves into third, just behind Felipe Moletta of Brazil. In the women’s Tour standings Kingsford jumped into the second spot with 182 points, just 21 points behind Mira.
Pan Am Elite Standings
After 4, as of 5.18.19
ELITE MEN
| PL | NAME, NAT | TOT | AR | CH | BR | OM |
| 1 | Kieran McPherson, NZL | 216 | 67 | 67 | x | 82 |
| 2 | Felipe Moletta, BRA | 212 | 61 | 61 | 90 | x |
| 3 | Sam Osborne, NZL | 200 | x | x | 100 | 100 |
| 4 | Alejandro Bulacio, ARG | 156 | 51 | 47 | 58 | x |
| 5 | Rafael Juriti, BRA | 153 | 39 | 51 | 63 | x |
| 6 | Rom Akerson, CRC | 150 | 75 | 75 | x | x |
| 7 | Alex Roberts, NZL | 99 | 56 | 43 | x | x |
| 8 | Will Ross, USA | 99 | 43 | 56 | x | x |
| 9 | Josiah Middaugh, USA | 90 | x | x | x | 90 |
| 10 | Alex Rhodes, GBR | 85 | 36 | x | 49 | x |
| 11 | Sebastian Neef, GER | 82 | x | x | 82 | x |
| 12 | Diogo Malagon, BRA | 75 | x | x | 75 | x |
| 13 | Elliot Bach, USA | 75 | x | x | x | 75 |
| 14 | Marcus Fernandez, BRA | 69 | x | x | 69 | x |
| 15 | Brian Smith, USA | 69 | x | x | x | 69 |
| 16 | Branden Rakita, USA | 63 | x | x | x | 63 |
| 17 | Evan Pardi, USA | 58 | x | x | x | 58 |
| 18 | Hugo Barbosa, BRA | 53 | x | x | 53 | x |
| 19 | Walter Schafer, USA | 53 | x | x | x | 53 |
| 20 | Ryan Ignatz, USA | 49 | x | x | x | 49 |
| 21 | Lucas Mendez, ARG | 47 | 47 | x | x | x |
| 22 | Raul Furtado, BRA | 45 | x | x | 45 | x |
| 23 | Will Kelsay, USA | 45 | x | x | x | 45 |
| 24 | Edivando Cruz, BRA | 41 | x | x | 41 | x |
| 25 | Zach Winter, USA | 41 | x | x | x | 41 |
| 26 | Ronaldo Ferreira, BRA | 37 | x | x | 37 | x |
ELITE WOMEN
| PL | NAME, NAT | TOT | AR | CH | BR | OM |
| 1 | Laura Mira, BRA | 203 | 67 | 61 | 75 | x |
| 2 | Samantha Kingsford, NZL | 182 | x | x | 100 | 82 |
| 3 | Valentina Carvallo, CHI | 165 | x | 75 | 90 | x |
| 4 | Suzie Snyder, USA | 100 | x | x | x | 100 |
| 5 | Lesley Paterson, USA | 90 | x | x | x | 90 |
| 6 | Sabrina Gobbo, BRA | 82 | x | x | 82 | x |
| 7 | Erika Simon, ARG | 75 | 75 | x | x | x |
| 8 | Julie Baker, USA | 75 | x | x | x | 75 |
| 9 | Mirian Gomes, BRA | 69 | x | x | 69 | x |
| 10 | Maia Ignatz, USA | 69 | x | x | x | 69 |
| 11 | Johandri Leicester, RSA | 67 | x | 67 | x | x |
| 12 | Amanda Felder, USA | 63 | x | x | x | 63 |
| 13 | Jessie Koltz, USA | 58 | x | x | x | 58 |
| 14 | Javiera Gainza, CHI | 56 | x | 56 | x | x |
| 15 | Tess Amer, USA | 53 | x | x | x | 53 |
| 16 | Deanna McCurdy, USA | 49 | x | x | x | 49 |
| 17 | Kelli Montgomery, USA | 45 | x | x | x | 45 |
| 18 | Allison Arensman, USA | 41 | x | x | x | 41 |
| 19 | Brittany Oliver, USA | 37 | x | x | x | 37 |
Next up: XTERRA Victoria (British Columbia, Canada), July 7
Door, Cameron win XTERRA Oak Mountain Amateur Titles
Nearly 400 off-road triathletes representing five countries and 38 states took part in today’s off-road triathlons. Michael Door from Avon, Colorado and Emily Cameron (pictured) of Athens, Georgia captured the XTERRA Oak Mountain amateur titles, and 50 other amateurs earned their spot on the start line of the 2019 XTERRA World Championship race to be held October 27 in Kapalua, Maui by virtue of their performances today.
We’ll have a full recap on the age group races in the coming days.
Tomorrow, Sunday, May 19, 2019, XTERRA will host 5K, 10K, and 21K trail runs at Oak Mountain State Park, which are open to everyone. Sign-up on-site from 6:30am-7:30am. Races start at 8am.
Photo Gallery / Full Results / XTERRA Pan Am Tour Info
All-time XTERRA Oak Mountain Elite Champions
Year – Men’s Winner/Women’s Winner
2006 – Brent McMahan/Melanie McQuaid
2007 – Conrad Stoltz/Jamie Whitmore
2008 – Conrad Stoltz/Shonny Vanlandingham
2009 – Conrad Stoltz/Melanie McQuaid
2010 – Conrad Stoltz/Shonny Vanlandingham
2011 – Conrad Stoltz/Melanie McQuaid
2012 – Conrad Stoltz/Lesley Paterson
2013 – Josiah Middaugh/Lesley Paterson
2014 – Josiah Middaugh/Flora Duffy
2015 – Braden Currie/Lesley Paterson
2016 – Josiah Middaugh/Suzie Snyder
2017 – Josiah Middaugh/Suzie Snyder
2018 – Josiah Middaugh/Lesley Paterson
2019 – Sam Osborne/Suzie Snyder
Special Thanks
Oak Mountain State Park is home to some of the best trails on earth. Credit goes to the Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers, aka BUMP, the local trails advocacy group, who have spent more than 100,000 hours on the design and construction of new trails over the past 20+ years and to this day are hard at work to build, preserve, maintain, and ride the sweet single track in the park. The XTERRA Tribe was happy to present BUMPs President, Mike Wilson, with a check for $2,000 at today’s awards ceremony. Thanks also to our presenting sponsor Paul Mitchell, who in in partnership with Reforest'Action, has made a commitment to plant 750,000 trees by the end of 2019. And to our sponsors from Shelby County, Suunto, Gatorade Endurance, the local crew from Oak Mountain State Park, and all the fabulous volunteers for their generous support and hard work.
