XTERRA Trail Run National Championships Moves to Utah in September

XTERRA is moving their 21km trail run national championship to Utah, and shifting from August to late September to coincide with the XTERRA off-road triathlon championships. Sounds like great weekend of fun in the dirt!

I know some of you were saying the course in Bend, OR, wasn't mountain enough for a national championship - you will certainly get your fill here! Plus you can probably count on a lot of the Bend locals to stay put for the Flagline 50k (Max King?). XTERRA says they part with Bend, OR, on good terms.

BTW, how awesome is the guy in their promo picture? BGID...Beards Getting It Done.

SD

[press release]


Ogden / Snowbasin to Host 2011 XTERRA Trail Run Nationals

The 2011 XTERRA Trail Run National Championship half-marathon is moving to Snowbasin Resort near Ogden, Utah, on Sept. 25.

Located just 35 miles north of Salt Lake City, and just up the road from the adventure capitol of Ogden, Snowbasin is easy get to and an increasingly popular adventure travel destination. It also has an incredible collection of trails, which are nothing short of spectacular in late September as the fall colors start bursting in an array of red, pink, orange, green and yellow.

The race will be held one day after the XTERRA USA Championship of off-road triathlon, creating the ultimate XTERRA racing weekend.

The championship race is again a half-marathon, and will start and finish at Snowbasin Resort - a world-class ski resort that hosted the downhill and super G races for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and most recently served as the final stop of the Winter Dew Tour.

All 2010-2011 XTERRA Trail Run Series regional champions, like the recently crowned Arizona Trail Run Series Champs, earn a comp entry into Nationals and runners from the 12 respective regions in the U.S. Series can now focus on Snowbasin in Sept. as one of their goals.

The championship race is open to the public and no qualification is necessary, so one and all can challenge the best-of-the-best trail runners and race for a national championship.

As the final event of the 70-race XTERRA U.S. Trail Run Series, the race will be filmed for a nationally syndicated XTERRA Adventures TV show.

The half-marathon championship race will be accompanied by 5km and 10km trail runs along the same run courses that the XTERRA Utah short and long course triathletes ran the day before. In addition to the races, XTERRA will host an expo in downtown Ogden with free kids races, vendor booths, a Paul Mitchell hair cut-a-thon for charity, and evening dinner parties.

"We are terribly excited to bring our entire XTERRA Tribe together in Utah this September, the energy level is going to be off-the-charts," said Janet Clark, president of TEAM Unlimited/XTERRA. "Ogden and Snowbasin are proven winners - between the facilities at Snowbasin, the great restaurants and atmosphere along Historic 25th Street in Ogden, and the unbelievably supportive community - we couldn't have asked for a better situation."

For more information visit www.xterraplanet.com or www.xterratrailrun.com, or call toll-free to 877-XTERRA-1 (877-983-7721).

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2011 marks the fifth year XTERRA has hosted a trail running national championship race.  In the inaugural season of 2007 nationals was a 10km race at Incline Village, NV.  In 2008 XTERRA switched the championship distance to the 21km half-marathon, and moved to Bend, Oregon, who played host to the past three trail run national championship races from 2008-2010.

The XTERRA USA Championship weekend is sponsored by the Utah Sports Commission, Paul Mitchell, and XTERRAVitality.com. Sponsors include GU, Gatorade, Zorrel, Snowbasin Resort, GOAL Foundation, MediaOne of Utah, U.S. Forest Service, ENVE Composites, KSL TV, and the XTERRA Alliance - Wetsuits, Gear, Cycling, Fitness, Flex, and Footwear.