OGDEN/SNOWBASIN, UT – A pair of Victoria, B.C. bred pros – Mike Vine and Melanie McQuaid – won their respect divisions at the aptly named Nissan Xterra Mountain Championship at Snowbasin today.

Amazingly perfect weather – clear blue skies and temps in the mid-80’s – greeted 600 competitors representing 30 states and six countries as they took on a 1-mile swim in Pineview Resevoir, a 17-mile mountain bike that climbed 3,000 feet up to Snowbasin, and finished with a 6-mile mountain run.

It was an uphill battle for the entire field today and nobody handled it better than Vine, who picked up his first win in what to this point has been an injury-and-mechanicals plagued season. His last victory was a year ago at the Mountain Champs in Keystone.

“Was there any doubt?!” Vine jokingly exclaimed to a big crowd at the incredibly beautiful Snowbasin Ski Resort in Northern Utah as he received his $2,500 first place check and trophy.

There was actually quite a bit of doubt through midway on the bike because Conrad “the Caveman” Stoltz was powering up the long gradual climb like no one else. More than halfway through the bike leg Stoltz had probably two minutes on the next closest rider – Michael Simpson – and more time than that on the chase pack that included Seth Wealing, Vine, and Andrew Noble.

As his luck would have it, Stoltz was chugging along “uphill 5mph” when something punctured his tire. It was one of the rare flats on the day and it cost him three or four minutes…and his mojo.

“Ahh, Stoltz,” the two-time XTERRA World Champ was overheard saying quietly to himself in his uniquely South African accent. “Stoltz. Stoltz. Stoltz.”

A few minutes after it happened Simpson went by (but not before dropping off a can of air so Conrad could get going again … for which Stoltz kindly gave him a push to get his momentum back). Simpson jumped into first for a while before Wealing and Vine reeled him in.

At about the 25k point just before the bike course hit its summit – in yet another example of camaraderie and sportsmanship – Wealing gave way to Vine anticipating that he’d be bombing the downhill more fiercely.

“Still a little shaky on the downhill,” said Wealing, who missed seven days of training in the past couple of weeks before getting a bunch of stitches removed from his thigh (a consequence of a sharp tree branch).

When Vine hit the downhill section of the bike there was no stopping him, or catching him, as he out split everybody in the race on the run.

“I was running scared on the bike and the run,” said Vine, who had the best bike (1:28:08) and run (30:12) splits.

“This course suits me really well with the climbing and altitude, and I felt great on the run.”

Wealing wheeled out onto the rocky uphill trail run in second about a minute back and stayed in stride for second, which boosted him from No. 5 to No. 2 in the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series standings heading into the finale in Nevada.

Stoltz and Simpson headed out on the run together and stayed tight through about the first 3k until Stoltz took a spill and Simpson took advantage.

“I think he was quite hurt but he said he was O.K.,” said Simpson (Note: Stoltz was running on a heavily swollen ankle from when he turned it before the race in Milwaukee).

Reminiscent of his gutsy performance just a couple of weeks ago at the Midwest Championship Stoltz persevered and held off a hard-charging Andrew Noble for 4th place.

Noble, who turned 41 today, was only one-second behind Stoltz and picked up his fifth straight top 5 – the only men’s pro to do that this year. He dropped one-spot from 2nd to 3rd in the Series.

The one constant in everyone’s story today were the adjectives, “Beautiful, Amazing, Gorgeous, Fun, Tough”.

Simpson said “I love this area, it’s gorgeous. I was blown away, this is as pretty a racecourse as I’ve done. I was really happy to do it and definitely coming back last year.”

Vine backed him but using his own words “This place rules! It’s Fully Worthy!”

In his first XTERRA this season (after becoming a new Dad) Greg Krause had a great race and finished 6th.

WOMEN’S RACE

With her back against the wall in a must-win situation two-time XTERRA World Champion Melanie McQuaid nailed it. She led from near wire-to-wire as she overtook swim leader Janae Pritchett early in the bike, built a big lead and ultimately finished more than four minutes in front of rival Jamie Whitmore.

What that means is now when the two meet in Nevada on October 1 it will be a true head-to-head battle for the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series title. If McQuaid wins in Tahoe she’s the champ, and likewise for Whitmore.

“I wanted to prove I could win at altitude heading into Tahoe and I did that,” said an exuberant McQuaid. “Jamie is fast and Janae and Danelle are fast so you have to be on your game to win and today I was.”

Indeed. She came out of the water about a minute-forty ahead of Whitmore, put another three minutes on her during the bike, and ran at the same pace.

“In order for her to be a contender in Tahoe she had to win this race so I knew it was all or nothing for her and she brought it today,” said Whitmore. “Usually I don’t lose that much time on the swim to her, and on the bike I can usually recover but my legs just didn’t want to turn over.”

Melissa Thomas, at home in the mountains and on long power climbs, put up her best performance of the season to take home 3rd place and move her up three spots from 9th to 6th in the Series. Danelle Kabush was steady all day and finished 4th and Janae Pritchett was close behind in 5th.

The accolades for the course and the scenic Ogden Valley with its vast expanses and majestic mountains rang loud from the women’s field as well.

“With the altitude here and how friendly the people are and the great facilities that exist here this would be an incredible place for triathletes to train so I can see as people become more aware of how great Utah is this could become the next Mecca for endurance sports…it’s gorgeous,” said McQuaid.

“Win or lose this is a great place and I had a blast enjoying all the people and the parties,” said Whitmore.

“I saw a Moose pre-riding earlier this week and today I heard stuff moving around in the bushes but I’m not sure what it was. There’s all kinds of wildlife here,” smiled Thomas.

The XTERRA community has clearly embraced the new home of the Mountain Championship and chants of “can’t wait till next year” filled the post-race festivities in downtown Ogden (which included Taste of Historic 25th Street food booths, a highlight video from the race, and the music of Mat Kearney).

From: XTerra Planet

Contact: Trey Garman 808-216-8606