Rapid Ascent

3 weeks ago

“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡”

That 👆was the catch cry today amongst triathletes – AND – trail runners as they crossed the finish line to glory…

And as a bunch of Viccos we almost have to agree (reluctantly 😂).

This place certainly is something special…

And today it played host to even MORE spicy racing in Day 2 of XTERRA Dunsborough. Not in one race, not in two but in THREE separate off-road spectacles.

𝟐𝟏𝐊𝐌 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐑𝐔𝐍

The first to start was the 21km Trail Run – a new addition for this year’s XTERRA Dunsborough – and the “new kid on the block” for the Global XTERRA Trail Running Series.

With plenty of talent in the field, the pace was on from the gun. So much so that after just 01:32:20 of racing, North Face athlete Dave Byrne stormed home in a dominant win.

Not long after, in the females, Arian Huston took out the title in a furious sprint finish with Claire O’Brien-Smith, who came home in 2nd.

𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐈

The next race to unleash on Geographe Bay was the XTERRA Long Course event – arguably the flagship of the XTERRA disciplines.

In the women’s, you could almost throw a blanket over the top 5 all day. But, in the end, Lizzie Orchard stretched her early lead to take a convincing win, followed by Hannah Lee-Young and then Jacqui Allen.

“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑜 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑋𝑇𝐸𝑅𝑅𝐴 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑠; 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦.... 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒!”

– Lizzie Orchard, overall female winner, Long Course Tri

In the men’s, Ben Forbes came out of the swim with some catching up to do. But, as he unleashed his explosive, one-two punch of MTB-and-run, he quickly showed the entire field a very clean set of heels to come home over 16 minutes ahead of second!

“𝑈𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝐼 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑚, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 – 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑙… 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑠 (𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜) 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑢𝑛 – 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑋𝑇𝐸𝑅𝑅𝐴 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 – 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙!”

– Ben Forbes, overall male winner, Long Course Tri

𝟏𝟎𝐊𝐌 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐑𝐔𝐍

Finally, in the 10km Trail Run, it was no surprise who took the overall wins – TWO more North Face representatives – Blake Hose in the men’s and Alex West in the women’s.

A huge THANK YOU to ALL racers in ALL disciplines and ALL age groups across the weekend. Each and every one of you had your own battles (against man and/or nature) and displayed a mind-boggling level of athleticism.

Whether you were at the pointy end of your age group fighting it out for a state title, cruising along in the middle and soaking up the scenery, or chipping away at the back – you can all look back very proudly on a weekend well spent!

Below are a few snaps from the one and only Alan Ure from Photos4sale. There are plenty more to come (to your inbox) in the coming days.

FOR FULL RESULTS, GO HERE:
👉 bluechipresults.com.au/results.aspx?CId=11&RId=1721

Thanks again all you awesome participants – we love the PEOPLE this event attracts even more than the stunning venue where it takes place.

Can’t wait to do it all again next year!

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