XTR Nationals PG 2010:XTERRA USA PRESS GUIDE.qxd.qxd

XTERRA TRAIL RUN NATIONALS RACE PREVIEWFitting for a place with hundreds of running trails, hundredsof running tales can be found in Bend, Oregon, on Sept. 18.The XTERRA Trail Run National Championship returns toBend for the third consecutive year, and runners fromacross America – and beyond – will gather in CentralOregon for the XTERRA experience.This year’s field features more than 500 runnersrepresenting 23 states. Some are teachers, some arestudents; some are laborers, some are retired; some areexperts, some are beginners. All are trail runners.And although it is considered a national championshipevent, it has some international flavor as well, with runnersfrom Canada, France, Japan and New Zealandparticipating.Every runner seemingly has a tale to tell, ranging from elitecontenders looking to dethrone defending champion MaxKing, to everyday runners looking to experience Bend’spristine trails for the first time.In 2010, 10 different regions across the nation hosted anXTERRA Trail Run Series: Alabama, Northern California,Southern California, Georgia, Long Island, North Carolina,Ohio, Philadelphia, South Carolina and Texas. All 10regions will be represented at Bend, including more than 25age-group regional champions aiming to become nationalchampions in 2010.Oregon does not host an XTERRA Trail Run Series, but theBeaver State certainly has its share of runners participatingin the XTERRA Nationals.It all starts with the 30-year-old Max King, who is the twotimedefending national and world champion of XTERRATrail Running. He works as a bio-chemical engineer right inBend, so the trails of Central Oregon serve as his trainingbase. Coincidence or not, King also happens to be one ofthe fastest trail runners in the world. He won last year’sXTERRA Nationals at Bend with a time of 1 hour, 6 minutes,46 seconds, on the 21-kilometer course. He finished morethan six minutes ahead of his closest competition – anastonishing margin when considering the depth of the field.King is again the overwhelming favorite, but there are manyother contenders. An intriguing entry is Fujio Miyachi fromJapan. He placed fifth at the XTERRA Trail Run WorldChampionship race in Hawaii last year, and this will be hisfirst try at Bend.Greg Mitchell from nearby McMinnville, Justin Thomas fromNevada, California runners Sean Kievning and ScottDunlap, and Pennsylvania runners Derek Schultz and BrentWright are all fast. How fast they are against the pace ofKing on Sept. 18 remains to be seen.The women’s field appears to be far less predictable.Defending champion Lauren Fleshman of Eugene, Oregon,is questionable to enter the XTERRA Nationals this yeardue to a scheduling conflict. Also, Susannah Beck of Mainewill not enter the 2010 race. Beck won the women’snational title in 2008, and placed second to Fleshman lastyear.With that said, a new women’s champion could emerge in2010. Leading the way is another elite runner from Bend –Kami Semick. She placed second in the women’s field atthe 2008 XTERRA Nationals, and third last year. If she is tobreak through this year, she will have to be faster thanseveral other top female contenders from Bend, includingKatie Caba, Stephanie Howe and Pam Bradbury. RachelCieslewicz of Utah and Claudia Spooner of Texas are alsoconsidered contenders.In addition to the overall elite champs, the XTERRA TrailRun National Championship will crown age-group nationalchamps. The gamut of contenders ranges from 16-year-oldTexas high school student Dylan Johnson to 85-year-oldJohn Keston, who transformed from a singer/actor to runnerextraordinaire in his senior years.7Max King