2011 XTERRA USA Champs
Written by: Timothy Carlson
Added: Sun Sep 25 2011
Last Modified: Mon Sep 26 2011
If you wanted a clue what kind of a sensation Lance Armstrong would bring to Kona, his return to triathlon at the XTERRA USA Championships in Ogden, Utah after two decades of world-shaking cycling feats might give you some idea. When all the tumult and shouting were over, long-time XTERRA veteran champions Melanie McQuaid and Nico LeBrun prevailed. But the 40-year-old Armstrong combined a 4th-best swim, 4th best bike and a gutsy, not-his-best 23rd-best run to take 5th place just 1:55 behind 4-time XTERRA World Champion Conrad Stoltz.
To a man and woman, XTERRA stars were happy with the thousands who came to cheer Lance, wave his placards, get his autographs, and simply witness the remarkable strength and focus and quiet but palpable macho presence of the Texan who invaded and conquered cycling’s supreme gem an unmatched seven straight times. After they saw Armstrong, most of the XTERRA pros thought they would be impressed with the world of off road triathlon – and they were not wrong.
For most of the new fans who ventured away from the start and finish to watch the XTERRA athletes charge through the woods, the idea that rocky road triathlon was simply slower than the pavement variety was exploded as the ridiculous canard it is. Speed, as any astronaut can tell you, is relative. Spacemen may be traveling at 17,000 miles per hour floating peacefully in orbit. Standing in the woods as XTERRA racers blast precisely past an inch or two from immovable wood and sharp-edged, nasty rocks is an exquisitely adrenalized experience that defines speed.
While it is a life challenge to finish an Ironman, the guts and strength it takes to follow a swim with a 2,500-foot-plus climb from 4,900 feet to the finish is of a parallel order of magnitude. This to watch one armed Willie Stewart and cancer survivor Jamie Whitmore (in her return to competition after a vicious 2008 cancer that took away basically half her leg musculature) is a thrill not only based on endurance but also on crazy taqlernt and bravery.
Wrapping all the amazement is XTERRA’s warm and enthusiastic organizing family that makes their races one of the planet’s nicest experiences.
All photographs © Timothy Carlson
To a man and woman, XTERRA stars were happy with the thousands who came to cheer Lance, wave his placards, get his autographs, and simply witness the remarkable strength and focus and quiet but palpable macho presence of the Texan who invaded and conquered cycling’s supreme gem an unmatched seven straight times. After they saw Armstrong, most of the XTERRA pros thought they would be impressed with the world of off road triathlon – and they were not wrong.
For most of the new fans who ventured away from the start and finish to watch the XTERRA athletes charge through the woods, the idea that rocky road triathlon was simply slower than the pavement variety was exploded as the ridiculous canard it is. Speed, as any astronaut can tell you, is relative. Spacemen may be traveling at 17,000 miles per hour floating peacefully in orbit. Standing in the woods as XTERRA racers blast precisely past an inch or two from immovable wood and sharp-edged, nasty rocks is an exquisitely adrenalized experience that defines speed.
While it is a life challenge to finish an Ironman, the guts and strength it takes to follow a swim with a 2,500-foot-plus climb from 4,900 feet to the finish is of a parallel order of magnitude. This to watch one armed Willie Stewart and cancer survivor Jamie Whitmore (in her return to competition after a vicious 2008 cancer that took away basically half her leg musculature) is a thrill not only based on endurance but also on crazy taqlernt and bravery.
Wrapping all the amazement is XTERRA’s warm and enthusiastic organizing family that makes their races one of the planet’s nicest experiences.
All photographs © Timothy Carlson
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