2012 Xterra World Trail Running Championship



Honolulu, Hawaii

The Xterra World Trail Running Championships have come to a close and an exciting one at that. I will set the record straight that the race ended in a tie as the race directors announced 30 minutes after reviewing footage at the finish line as Ben B. and I came blistering down the last 100 meters. With that said, there were some issues earlier in the race that would have probably resulted in a totally different scenario at the finish chute. Heading down from the first major climb of the race I had a nice lead and I look up ahead and notice the officials just about 200 meters or so in front as I bolted down a technical descent in their direction. As I got to them they said I went the wrong way. HUH? I thought to myself why are you so far off the trail if you are supposed to be directing traffic the right way??

Anyway, I had no time to complain and I had to rush back as I saw my lead now turn into a deficit and I was running with 3rd place. I flustered a bit and managed to catch back up to Ben and regain my lead. Around 12k I felt pretty tired from the surge and found myself in a little trouble as I noticed Ben was starting to gain on me.

Nonetheless I found another gear and managed to get a good lead by the peak. I got to another section where there was nobody and another wrong turn occurred and now heading into the final miles of the race I had a guy with great track credentials (speed) on my shoulders. 600 to go....I weeved through traffic and luckily was able to get a safe distance away, but the biggest issue of the day happens with around 100 meters to go the course bottle necked and I found myself stuck behind to runners in a totally different race with a guy steam rolling behind me. Left me with no time to think so I just zoomed around them and whack a race official jumps right into my path and I bump them and lost all momentum (the video fails to show this incident). At this point that safe lead was now a few tenths of a second and we hit the line together. Not how I intended the race to go but that's life. I have linked the video of the finish below in case you want to have a look for yourself:


In the end I go home the Xterra World Trail Running Champ and share the title with a great competitor. I was able to try out the new SCOTT Kinabalu and I must say this shoe is gonna turn heads with its unique look, but also once a runner puts them on, they will fall in love. They really stuck to the trail like glue and provided perfect cushioning for the technical bits. I was also impressed with the light weight of the shoe as most trail shoes can be clunky, but the Kinabalu has definitely changed the game! Well done to my sponsor SCOTT Sports on this one...

You know I couldn't end without talking about some cuisine in Hawaii. I tried out a Jamaican restaurant that has gotten some buzz and a friend of mine recommended it so of course I had to try it out and see if their jerk chicken was legit or not. Sure enough, it was above and beyond any other jerk chicken I've had in the past. The picture to your right was a mistake waiting to happen. That there is a ghost pepper sliced and diced into a sauce that leads to disaster. If you have never heard of a ghost pepper that may be a good thing. I would advise you stay away from it unless you are used to extremely fire-like foods. It is the hottest pepper known to man and on the Scoville Scale this pepper sits just below pepper spray! My friend suffered the most with stomach issues for nearly 24 hours. I got away lucky this time, but I think I've had my fix.