Leonardo Chacon of Costa Rica used his ITU-honed swim and run to outduel the cream of XTERRA veterans and two-time XTERRA World Champion Lesley Paterson of Great Britain fought off a bad cold and a determined push by ITU star Barbara Riveros-Diaz to win her second straight XTERRA USA Championship.
Men
Chacon, in only his third XTERRA race, came out of the swim in a tie for the lead, fell 45 seconds behind 4-time XTERRA World champ Conrad Stoltz and 1 second behind Ruben Ruzafa and defending champion Josiah Middaugh on the rugged, high altitude bike leg.
On the 6.3-mile trail run, Chacon first disposed of Ruzafa, took out Stoltz in the first mile and made a pass on Middaugh on a steep downhill one mile from the finish to seal the victory.
Chacon closed out the win with a race-fastest 39:57 run and finished in 2:32:31 with a 55 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Middaugh and 1:24 over 3rd-place finisher Ruben Ruzafa of Spain. Stoltz, who led after the bike, faded to 4th with a 43:57 run that left him 3:14 back of Chacon and 1:50 behind Ruzafa.
Chacon was ecstatic after proving that his 4th place at XTERRA Worlds in Maui last year was no fluke. “I knew I had to swim very, very fast,” said the 29-year-old ITU veteran, who was as good as his word after posting a 27:30 split equal to Ben Allen, 2:04 better than Stoltz, 3:01 better than Middaugh and 3:26 better than Ruzafa. “But I knew they would all be coming up and trying to attack.”
Chacon tried hard to stay cool on the 30 kilometer bike leg full of steep hills at altitude that could lead him to blow up if he went all out. “Conrad was 30 seconds ahead at T1 and I took the transition with Ruben and Josiah,” he said. “I knew I could run faster than them, so I tried hard to control myself through the bike.” Chacon’s careful 1:25:04 split gave away 3:27 to Ruzafa’s 1:21:37, 3:02 to Middaugh and 2:50 to Stoltz but left him ready to unleash his fierce run.
“On the first hard uphill out of transition, I had to show Conrad that I want to win the race and I could do it,” said Chacon. “Sometimes racing is mental and psychology is the most important factor. Sometimes if you want to show you came to win, you have to take a chance so I passed him.” Chacon said he was apprehensive about challenging the XTERRA multiple champion, but the daring move was worth it. “This is the 3rd XTERRA in my life,” said Chacon. “I respect the big names but I am not afraid of them. I came to this race thinking I must fight to the end.”
While he disposed of Stoltz early on the run, Chacon kept running with Middaugh for 5 miles. “I was running shoulder to shoulder with Josiah when I saw the marker for the last mile,” said Chacon. “I was a little bit scared because I am rookie in this type of races. I know Josiah knows how to run the trails but I had to do something to win the race. So I took a chance to pass him on this final downhill – and it worked.”
Women
Defending XTERRA USA Champion Lesley Paterson came to Ogden coughing and wheezing – not the best shape to attack a top field at 7,000 feet of altitude.
She came out of the swim in 6th place. While her 32:42 split was 4:06 behind Christine Jeffrey of Canada and 2:26 behind talented ITU star Barbara Riveros-Diaz of Chile, that put the Scotswoman right in the thick of a pack that included Chantell Widney (32:29), Emma Garrard (32:37), Suzie Snyder (32:46) and multiple XTERRA major champion Melanie McQuaid (32:53).
“That was a pretty solid swim at altitude and just where I needed to be,” said Paterson. “But I knew it would be a tough day ahead for me.”
Working on adrenaline, Paterson crashed right out of transition but got right back on and went to work. “A tough thing about XTERRA is that quite often you get dizzy at altitude, which makes it worse when you first get on the bike,” said Paterson. Charging toward the front, Paterson passed most of her rivals before shortness of breath got the better of her about 40 minutes into the bike leg and the field started to re-pass her. “I’ve been down with a cold all week,” said Paterson. “My lungs were full of green gook and my legs felt heavy. But it is really important to fight all the way. No way was I going to give up when people are coming past me on the bike. I was thinking, ‘Holy crap, this is a nightmare! Let's come back.’ – and my body responded.”
Approaching T2 Paterson came back hard, re-passing McQuaid and Riveros-Diaz to take the lead at the bottom of a sharp downhill. “I was really rolling at that point, but Barbara is a tough cookie and hung on so I was only ahead by 1 minute at T2.”
Paterson’s strong bike finish gave her a 1:36:38 split, which was 3:44 better than Riveros-Diaz, 2:41 better than Widney, and 2:45 better than McQuaid.
Paterson remained in charge on the run as her 2nd-fastest 44:01 split surrendered 35 seconds to the fleet footed Riveros-Diaz, but no matter as Paterson’s 2:53:21 finish gave her a 43 seconds margin of victory over the Chilean. Chantell Widney of Canada closed strong with a 3rd-best 44:53 run that brought her home 3rd in 2:56:41. McQuaid, wiped out by her all-or-nothing aggressive bike split, faded to 8th with a 50:32 run. “Went down swingin’,” McQuaid wrote on Twitter. “Rode with the front ‘til l I blew at 7000+ feet and legs never came back for run.”
Paterson summed up her day thusly: “It was really great to respond to the pressure against such a strong field.”
XTERRA USA Championship
Ogden, Utah
September 21, 2013
S 1.5k / B 30k / R 10.1 k
Results
Pro Men
1. Leonardo Chacon (CRC) 2:32:31
2. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:33:26
3. Ruben Ruzafa (ESP) 2:33:55
4. Conrad Stoltz (RSA) 2:35:45
5. Dan Hugo (RSA) 2:37:17
6. Ben Allen (AUS) 2:39:53
7. Bradley Weiss (RSA) 2:42:13
8. Nicolas Lebrun (FRA) 2:44:30
9. Branden Rakita (USA) 2:44:38
10. Ryan Ignatz (USA) 2:44:41
Pro Women
1. Lesley Paterson (GBR) 2:53:21
2. Barbara Riveros-Diaz (CHL) 2:54:04
3. Chantell Widney (CAN) 2:56:41
4. Emma Garrard (USA) 2:59:07
5. Danelle Kabush (CAN) 3:00:29
6. Carina Wasle (AUT) 3:01:44
7. Suzie Snyder (USA) 3:01:59
8. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 3:02:48
9. Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) 3:04:43
10. Christine Jeffrey (CAN) 3:05:38
