This past weekend the XTERRA Trail Running World Championship was held at Kualoa Ranch in Ka’a’awa, Oahu-Hawaii. The Trail Running World Championship was a culmination of the XTERRA Trail Run Series which had over 50 races ranging in distances ranging from 5K to 42K in both International and National locations over this past year. XTERRA Trail Running races were held in Brazil, New Zealand, Italy, France, Austria, Japan, and 15 US States to truly earn the moniker “World Championship.”
The XTERRA Trail Running World Championship contained a 5K, 10K, and 12 mile run for over 1,000 runners. Max King, 29, of Bend, Oregon won the 12 mile run for the men in a time of 1:14:26, 3 minutes ahead of the second place finisher, Gray. King won over Joe Gray who is the reigning USA Track and Field Mountain Runner (there is a difference between mountain running and trail running) of the year. It was the second straight year for King winning the XTERRA Trail Run World Championships. King also won the USA Track and Field National Trail Marathon a month prior. Three men started off the race strong together, but by the halfway point it was only a two man race, then a one man race for the last couple of miles.
Fiona Docherty, 34, of New Zealand, who lives in Boulder, Colorado, won the women’s race with a finish of 1:30:05, 2 minutes ahead of last year’s winner, Cindy Anderson. This was Cindy’s first XTERRA Trail Run race but she has always loved Trail Running. What a great performance right out of the gate! The two winners won a $2,000 airfare from Hawaiian airlines among other prizes.
The race route had 3,000 feet of elevation gain. The weather was great Hawaiian weather with a soft morning breeze coming off of the ocean. The trail was a mix of both single and double track. Check out a video of the race and the course. This year run your local XTERRA Trail Run Races and qualify for next year’s XTERRA Trail Running World Championships!