Pop quiz: What do you get when you cross seasoned race directors, Rocky Mountain singletrack and a secluded picture-perfect lagoon just outside of Ft Collins? Answer: Another kick-ass Colorado XTERRA! Lance and Tony Panigutti brought their expertise at road tris (welcome to the dark side guys!) and found some really sweet singletrack at Lory State Park just above Horsetooth reservoir. They also brought with them close to 200 road triathletes willing to take it to the dirt. This event caps at 340 and filled up several weeks prior to race day. If you waited too long you missed out on the last chance to earn points for Nationals in the mountain region. You also missed out on some very cool Colorado singletrack. There was SO much singletrack, they had to add a dirt road section to sort things out and get some passing done.
We could not have asked for a nicer day with mid 80's, a light cloud cover and a water temp in the lagoon around 74 degrees. There was no need for a spare pair of shoes as the Paniguttis' rolled out 200 feet of carpet from the lake all the way up and into transition What are you guys trying to do spoil us? 20 year old Tyler Volz from Colorado Springs and Eric Snowberg from Golden shared the fastest swim with a 10:26 but because of the wave start Tyler hit the magic carpet first with Branden Rakita right behind. Branden doesn't spend a lot of time hanging around in transitions and 31 seconds later he hit the sweet stuff complete with an aero helmet and a speedo - what a bonus for the female spectators. Cody Waite and his titanium 29'er was busy reeling in Joe McDaniel and Patrick Valentine when he spotted Branden at the top of the climb. Branden pulled over with a flat to let him by. Halfway down the descent Cody had some bad luck of his own and the loud crack he and Patrick heard was Cody's carbon seatpost snapping off. His quads must have been screaming on the last half of the bike. There were no more major hills and Cody was able to hold his position by turning in the fastest bike at 45:15. Branden got his tire back on and thinking his troubles were over, tossed his spare tube to a first timer with a flat of his own and no tube. Of course, a few moments later Branden flatted again. Joe still had some legs for the run and was not giving up without a fight. His time of 32:07 was the fastest of the day but not quite enough to catch Cody who finished in 1:32:24. Joe just plain ran out of real estate and finished 43 seconds back in 1:33:07. Patrick Valentine took the top amateur spot, finishing less than another minute back in 1:33:58.
The highlight of this race has to be the double chute slip and slide that ends up in a pool of refreshing water. Racers cross the finish line at full speed and dive onto the 50' long chute. A good dive means a smooth exit into the pool. The slide was utilized again at the awards ceremony where we had a double elimination contest for the XTERRA wetsuit. Contestants ran from the stage (2 at a time) up around the Degree banners, down through the finish line and into the slide. First one to the pool moves to the next round. Another over the top cool feature were the custom XTERRA belt buckles given out as awards.
After the race competitors re-fueled with Noodles pasta and Gatorade while some were getting massages, others checked out the mini expo. Dawes Wilson commented that "while there were a few backups on the bike it was the most polite he has ever seen people passing." Tracy Thelen summed it up well when she said "The atmosphere of the race was classic Xterra - everyone is welcome, no matter what the skill set. I think that's what made the race so much fun - just getting to enjoy other racers telling stories about the event. Lance and the rest of the Without Limits crew really did a good job making sure that even the first time triathletes had a fun race."
Thanks to Without Limits, all the sponsors and the volunteers who made this event a huge success. We hope all the newcomers had fun but most of all we hope you enjoyed the dirt!
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