Thanks to all of you who left comments or messages (I love hearing from you!) and who helped tag some of the pics I posted on Facebook. That was certainly an encouragement for me to hunker down and get the video edited! This will be my first video produced on my brand spanking new Mac, so I am definitely learning as I go. It has been laborious, but I think you'll like the end result. If you don't, you can still appreciate the effort I put into it! :p
Just some thoughts about the Xterra Appalachia. Looking at the results, about 17% of the 65 racers who toed the start line, did not finish the race. This DNF rate is higher than some of the Ironman races I've followed. The Xterra Appalachia covers somewhere between a Sprint (short) and Olympic (long) distance course, with its 800 m swim, 13 mile mountain bike, and 4 mile trail run. The distances are 'sprint', but the exertion level feels 'olympic' - thanks to the mountain bike portion. Adding rain as a factor, ramped up the difficulty level for mountain bike course to 9.5 out of 10 for non-mountainbikers. Fellow-non-mountain-biker, Briana Dawson found the mountain-biking 'super-challenging'. Briana is a runner who regularly runs 5 and 10 K distances and has completed a few half marathons, but she had 'no idea it would be so intense/extreme!' She and her friend Jaci, who signed up for the race as a fun way to celebrate their birthdays, successfully finished the swim and bike course after three gruelling hours, and will be back to tame the run course next time. Hats off to these indomitable girls!
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| Hats off, and Happy Birthday girls! |
And also, a shout out to the Fans and Supporters of the Xterra Appalachia 2012 racers:
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| The entire family turned out to cheer on #53 Jesse Matheson |
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| This multiple Hawaii Ironman returns after a 4 year hiatus, to attempt this Xterra |
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| Loyal fans give encouragement to racers Briana and Jaci in the swim-bike transition |
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| Lara Cilo (and Rich Riley, not pictured) kept runners hydrated |
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| And the award for most hardcore fans of the Xterra 2012 goes to: Katie and Julianne! |
I really think more people should sign up for this top-notch event. For starters, this is the only off-road triathlon this side of PA. Yellow Creek State Park is only 1.5 hours from Pittsburgh where 1000 triathletes recently competed in the Pittsburgh Triathlon 2012. The organization and execution of the event (by Doug Crytzer and team at American Adventure Sports) is, as always, stellar. The course is gorgeous. The difficulty, although high, is manageable for most anyone with a decent level of fitness. You don't need to be superman to complete the course. You do however, need to be able to maintain a moderate level of physical exertion for up to 4 or 5 hours. If you have completed an olympic distance triathlon before, you are definitely in good shape to finish the Xterra Appalachia.
Check out the Xterra Appalachia 2012 Video HERE!
How did the Xterra go for you? Would love to hear your experience!
xo Gracie
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