Nearly 400 runners from 45 countries took part in the first-ever XTERRA VR Trail Runs over the weekend, and a lot of familiar names emerged at the top of the leaderboard.
XTERRA elite Fabiola Corona from Mexico clocked an impressive 20:20 to win the women’s 5K race, with Tim Spradlin from Georgia taking the overall for the men’s race in 18:32.
Jake McIlvaine, father to three of the most active XTERRA Kids on the planet and husband to Trail Run Series guru Emily McIlvaine, won the men’s 10K race in 40:10 only to be outdone by Miria Klier from Brazil who went 39-minutes flat to take the overall title.
In the 21K race the magnificent Christina Herbst from Austria, best known for her many jubilant celebrations at XTERRA World Championship finish lines through the years, went 1:56:31 to top the women’s rankings while Mauro Alberto del Luca from Argentina clocked a 1:28:50 to capture the men’s chase.
Finally, in the inaugural 5x5K relay team competition, The Rapid Haggis from Great Britain teamed-up to post an impressive 1:55:16. The spirit award, however, goes to XTERRA emcee Tommy Morwood’s co-workers in Australia.
“We got three teams of five from my work entered in the 5x5K relay and most of them hadn’t run more than a kilometer at one time in their entire lives, so it was a great challenge and everyone really enjoyed it,” said Morwood. “It was cool to watch them support each other and get out and get active. My team ended up dead last, but we did it!”
Up Next: XTERRA VR3 – the XTERRA Olympic Canyon Duathlon “Rush for Gold!”, Sept. 24-28