Ussher Heads Strong Field at Paymark XTERRA Rotorua Festival

6 April 2011, 11:58AM
Femme

2009 XTERRA Rotorua Champion and four-time Coast to Coast Champion, Richard Ussher leads a strong men’s field at this year’s Paymark XTERRA Rotorua Festival on Saturday 9th April.

The Paymark XTERRA Rotorua Festival is the biggest event of its nature in the world. The XTERRA Global Tour holds championship events in Spain, New Zealand, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Italy, Austria, Brazil, Japan, Spain, Germany. Top-ranking athletes from these national championships are invited to compete at the XTERRA World Championship each October in Makena, Maui with athletes who qualified in the U.S. series. The Paymark XTERRA Rotorua Festival in New Zealand is considered the world's largest single day XTERRA off-road triathlon festival.

It is not only the qualification for the World XTERRA Championships that keeps Ussher coming back but also the event itself, as he explains.

“The whole event just has a great feeling about it, great course, great people involved and its very laid back. Plus some good racing, it always seems to be close at the front which is great for racers and spectators alike.”

And this year won’t be any different when it comes to close, fast racing.

Hoping to upset this powerhouse of Multisport racing will be defending champion Scott Thorne as well as multiple podium place getter, Mark Leishman and Australian triathlete, Ben Allen.

Thorne comes to the race with a full complement of medals and will be looking for nothing less than another gold to add to that collection.
Leishman and Thorne will start with the most experience over the course having been racing on this course since 2005. In contrast Ben Allen (Australia) will be on the start line with no course experience but with international XTERRA. Allen placed 5th at XTERRA Switzerland in 2010 and this year wants to qualify for the World XTERRA Championships.

The women’s field will also have an Australian influence with Melissa Vandewater comes to the race in great form and in five year history of impressive results in the sport of triathlon including a 2011 win at the prestigious Gatorade Triathlon Series in Melbourne.

She will be taking on the Kiwi girls, who between just two of them have 9 XTERRA Rotorua podium medals between them.

Sonia Foote is XTERRA Rotorua’s most frequent visitor to the dais, having won six medals over the events nine year history. While Susan Wood willing be aiming for her illusive gold medal to add to her 2 silver and 1 bronze medal already won.
Wood will be keeping an eye behind her with NZ Mountain Bike Champion, Anika Smail, also on the start line again, in 2009 Smail finished in third place, just 20seconds behind Wood.

XTERRA is about everyone living a little more, so that means getting out there and giving it a go, event options include an 11km or 21km walk, a 29km mountain bike as well as a team or individual triathlon.

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