Have raced this race two years now. Great menue, now a much bigger race.
BIG RACE FOR XTERRA TRIBE IN THE HEARTLAND
XTERRA MIDWEST CUP - MAY 17, 2009
Aloha Athletes,
The XTERRA America Tour is back and bigger than ever with 60 off-road triathlons, including six in the Midwest region and ONE that’s going big-time!
New for ’09 is the “Cup Series” where each of XTERRA’s eight regions across the U.S. will host a championship distance race (1-mile swim, 20-mile mountain bike, 6-mile trail run) with pro prize money, bigger points, and qualifying slots into the XTERRA World Championship in Maui.
Your regional championship is the XTERRA Midwest Cup at Fort Custer State Park just outside the “Cereal City” of Battle Creek, Michigan on May 17.
For the last three years local organizers Jim and Joyce Donaldson of Elite Endeavors have hosted the XTERRA Last Stand point series race there, and thanks to their efforts and the Battle Creek Convention and Visitors Bureau, it has been turned into a major championship event. All the big names in XTERRA like Conrad Stoltz, Melanie McQuaid, Josiah Middaugh and Shonny Vanlandingham will be there battling for their share of the money and fame up for grabs in central Michigan’s great outdoors.
The course itself is killer as the bike trails at Fort Custer are “well-known, well-cared-for and well-loved by mountain bikers throughout the region,” according to long-time Michigan-based XTERRA stud Todd Scott. The place was formerly owned by the U.S. Army and used for combat training and the trail makes use of those remnants by dropping into and riding the walls of the dugout trenches.
While most of the trail is open and flowing singletrack, it’s interspersed with challenging twisty and technical rocks & roots sections like “Granny’s Garden” and the “Amusement Park”, and there’s even a section called “Demons Drop”. Just to make sure you know you’re at an XTERRA there’s a water crossing or two, steep climbs, big drops, and big logs (trees, ya know, to navigate around). The run is all about XTERRA too, heading straight from transition to the sandy beach along the lakeshore then in to some hilly dirt paths that’ll make your calves cry.
Last year in mid-May it was 75-degrees and sunny on race day, but still a wetsuit race as the swim in beautiful Lake Eagle will have water temps in the mid-to-upper 60s. They’re also offering up a half-distance off-road tri, a duathlon, and relay team options, and the local bike shop “Team Active Cycling and Fitness” can take care of all your needs.
Easy to get to and “about an hour from anywhere” this course, this community, and this race will not disappoint and now more than ever our local race directors – especially good ones like we have in XTERRA – need your support. So, get out and go off – live a healthy, active, outdoors lifestyle the XTERRA way.
Learn more at the Midwest Cup website | Register Today!
XTERRA America Tour HQ: www.xterraplanet.com