After winning another half-marathon event the previous weekend, Rousset proved he is king of the trails by conquering the XTERRA men’s 15km title with a time of 1:04:37. His top performance was enough to cross the finish line two minutes faster than runner up Jon Clark of Coto De Casa, CA. Flather’s time of 1:14:37 put her on top of the podium for the 15km event while Connie Augustine of Laguna Niguel took second three minutes later.
The 5-kilometer race featured a gnarly, 800-foot climb up the Poles trail to the spectacular ocean views of the Newport Coast. It was Daniel Barriga of Garden Grove, CA who took first place for the men’s race with his time of 24:52 while Myra Bregman of Dana Point won for the women just 3 seconds later. Chris Touhey of Corona Del Mar and Ginny Riddick of Atlanta, GA came in second in their divisions with times of 25:31 and 29:52 respectively.
The sold-out field of 350 athletes ranged in age from 12-76. The sunny, 60-degree day created an ideal setting. “We really lucked out with the weather” said race director Brennan Lindner. “Everyone had a great time, and you just can’t beat the views of Newport Coast.”
This was the third race in the 2008-09 XTERRA SoCal Trail Run Series giving runners three more chances to earn points toward their series total for their chance to earn free entry into the 2009 XTERRA Trail Running National Championship in Bend, Oregon coming up in September.
Complete race results are attached and more information can be found online at www.xterratrailrun.com.