Max King, Lauren Fleshman win XTERRA Trail Champs, release, note by Larry Eder

Oregon runners rely on strong finishes to hold
off competition

BEND, Ore. (Sept. 18, 2010) –
Light rain and
heavy competition were not enough to stop the reign of Max King at the
2010
XTERRA Trail Run National Championship on Saturday, Sept. 18.

King
(pictured) won the XTERRA National Championship race for the third
consecutive year,
completing the 13.9-mile course in 1 hour, 15 minutes, 57 seconds.
King, who
resides in Bend, used his knowledge of the course to break away from
the field
late in the race.

“When
you have good competition and you pull out a win like that, it always
feels
good, mentally and physically,” said King, 30. “I tried to be relaxed
in the
first half of the race and see if I could open it up in the second half
to get
the win, and that’s what I did. It wasn’t easy. This was a very
difficult win
for me.”

Lauren
Fleshman, who is from Eugene, Ore., also relied on a late surge to win
the
women’s national championship for the second consecutive year.
Fleshman, 29,
finished 10th overall with a time of 1:24:24.

King’s
third consecutive XTERRA National Championship victory was his closest.
Fellow
Oregonian Greg Mitchell and California’s Mario Mendoza pushed King the
entire
route.

Mitchell,
who is from McMinnville, finished second with a time of 1:16:52. The
55-second
margin was the closest any runner has come to King at the XTERRA
National
Championship race in the past three years. Mitchell had the lead for
the first
half of the race, but King passed him during a flat section along the
Deschutes
River with around three miles to go.

“The
first half of the race I felt pretty strong so I pushed it,” said
Mitchell, 37.
“Then somewhere along the river, Max just came on by like it was
nobody’s
business.”

Mitchell
(pictured in blue/yellow) is an experienced distance runner, but was
making his first appearance at the
XTERRA Nationals.

“You
kind of figure that Max is on a different level, but you never know,”
Mitchell
said. “It was fun to be right there with him most of the way in a race
like
this.”

Mendoza,
who is from Cambria, Calif., also held the lead for a brief stretch
before settling
for third place in 1:17:16.

“I
tried to stay with Max at the end there and kind of overextended
myself,” said
Mendoza, 24. “I would have liked second, but (Mitchell) he passed me.”

Mendoza
was also racing for the first time in Bend, but it won’t be his last.
He plans
to move there next month to train on the numerous running trails. He
said he
will even seek the advice of King.

“Now
I’m convinced that moving to Bend is the best decision as far as my
running is
concerned,” Mendoza said. “This was a great race, great course, and a
chance to
train with Max … that just adds to it.”

Kalpanatit
Broderick of Bend was fourth in 1:18:58, and Tyler Davis of Talent,
Ore., was
fifth in 1:19:50. In a true sprint to the finish, Derick Williamson of
Texas
was sixth (1:20:05), John Ngigi of Oregon was seventh (1:20:06) and Tim
Van
Orden of Vermont was eighth (1:20:08).

The
women’s race was also supposed to be close, but Fleshman (pictured)
turned it into a
runaway by running away down the stretch. For most of the race before
that,
Fleshman and Michele Suszek of Colorado stayed near each other.

“I
just tried to keep pace,” Fleshman said. “Then probably with around 5
(kilometers) left , I really picked up the pace to make it
uncomfortable for
the other girls in the race. My specialty is 5k, so once I knew there
was 5k
left, I felt comfortable picking it up.”

Suszek,
who was racing in Bend for the first time, finished in second with a
time of
1:26:40.

“She
was right behind me, then she got ahead at the 10-mile mark,” Suszek
said of
Fleshman. “Then we hit the flat stuff and she was gone. I tried, but
she’s
really fast.”

Suszek,
28, was also fast as she finished more than two minutes ahead of
third-place
Mary Colburn (1:29:18) of Culver City, Calif.

Oregon
runners Sopagna Eap (1:30:41) and Kami Semick (1:32:07) placed fourth
and
fifth, respectively.

More
than 400 runners from around the world participated in the race. The
runners
were greeted in Bend by light rain and temperatures in the 50s.

“The
rain helped, actually,” Fleshman said. “It kept the dust down. And
running when
it’s cool is always better than running when it’s hot.”

King
and Fleshman each received $1,000 and roundtrip airfares to Hawaii
courtesy of
Hawaiian Airlines. They can use the airfares to compete at the XTERRA
Trail Run
World Championship at Kualoa Ranch, Oahu, Hawaii, on Dec. 5.

In
addition to the overall titles, 24 age-group national champions were
crowned.
Zoe Allen (pictured), who is 7 and the youngest runner to ever compete
in the XTERRA
Nationals, finished in 3:03:37 to win the female 9-younger division.
Zoe, who
is from Hillsboro, Ore., ran the course with her mother, Tara.

Runners
(besides King) to win age-group titles for the third consecutive year
were Don
Hildebrand (men 75-79), Katie Caba (women 35-39) and Jessie Stratton
(women
65-69).

Complete
results

Photo
Gallery on Facebook

THE CHAMPIONS

The XTERRA Trail
Run National Championship was the last race
in a 60-stop U.S. Tour that hosts races in 15 states ranging from 5km
to 42km.  Here’s a look at
the 2010 XTERRA
Trail Running National Champs:

BENDITES RUN
WILD IN 5K/10K RACES:  In addition to the
21-kilometer championship course,
there were also separate 10-kilometer and 5-kilometer races.
Fourteen-year-old
Piper McDonald won the XTERRA Bend 5k for the second year in a row, and
this
time she took the overall victory as well. The future running star from
Bend
turned in an 18:52, which was 45 seconds ahead of runner-up and men’s
winner
Danny Harris, also of Bend. In the 10k another Bendite, Zach Rowland,
20, won
the men’s race in 37:05, while 23-year-old Adrienne Nova of Kirkland,
Wash.,
won the women’s race in 40:18.

XTERRA
Bend 5km Results
XTERRA
Bend 10km Results

NOTES: Today’s trail races were a
benefit for the Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation, a non-profit
whose
guiding philosophy is to encourage academic achievement and promote the
positive values of competitive Alpine, Cross Country Skiing,
Snowboarding, and
Cycling. Many of the young adults the foundation services showed up in
costumes
and made for a great atmosphere at the aid stations.

 In addition to the main event, 5km and 10km trail runs, nearly 100
kids enjoyed the XTERRA Kids Zone obstacle courses, running races and
agility
drills, the Paul Mitchell Cut-a-thon was six stylists deep creating
cool
hairdos as a benefit for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, and an
enormous crowd of spectators, friends, and family enjoyed an
adrenaline-filled
day in Bend.

The XTERRA Trail Running National Championship is presented by Paul
Mitchell
and Degree Men Adventure. National sponsors include GU Energy Gel,
Gatorade,
Zorrel, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, Hawaiian Airlines, XTERRA.TV,
Trail
Runner Magazine and the XTERRA Alliance – Wetsuits, Gear, Cycling,
Fitness, and
Footwear. The destination sponsor is Visit Bend, and local sponsors
include the
Old Mill District, Oregon Sports Authority, Fleet Feet Bend, Earth2o
Water,
Strictly Organic Coffee, U.S. Forest Service, Mount Bachelor Village
Resort,
and the Phoenix Inn Suites.

A special thanks to Visit Bend, Bend Parks
and Rec, Deschutes National Forest, the great volunteers from the
MBSEF, and the entire Bend community for embracing the event
and making it a world-class atmosphere for athletes from around the
country.

UP NEXT: The XTERRA
Trail Run
World Championship is December 5 at Kualoa Ranch on the Hawaiian
Island of Oahu, and many of
today’s runners have already signed-up to take on the world. Read more
at
xterratrailrun.com.

TEAM
Unlimited, a Hawaii-based television
events and marketing company, owns and produces XTERRA. In 2010 there
are more
than 150 XTERRA off-road triathlon and trail running events held in 15
countries. There are 30,000+ competitors, ages 13-71, from all 50
states and
more than 40 countries competing in XTERRA events. TEAM TV also
produces more
than a dozen adventure TV shows each year, and the film crew was in
Bend
filming all the action for a nationally syndicated XTERRA Adventures TV
show.

Contact: Dayton Morinaga
Phone:
808-754-2567
E-mail: Dayton@xterraplanet.com