XTERRA Festival Lures Big Crowds And Big Names to Rotorua

It will be a case of World Champion Triathlete vs World Champion Adventure Racer at the seventh annual XTERRA Festival in Rotorua this Saturday.

One of triathlon's rising stars Terenzo Bozzone and the reigning Ironman 70.3 world champion, will return to defend his title. The 29-year-old recently finished second in his first-ever full-distance Ironman in Taupo.

Bozzone's main competition should come from multisport and adventure racer legend Richard Ussher (Nelson) who is a 3-time Coast-to-Coast Champion, 1998 Winter Olympian (moguls), and 5th place finisher at Ironman NZ. Also in the mix is last year's runner-up Mark “Cabin” Leishman from Wanganui.

The past 5 years have seen the women’s race dominated by two athletes; Sonia Foote and Gina Ferguson. With neither of them back in 2009, it will be last years 3rd place getter, Nicola Leary who will be likely to lead the field.

A pair of Olympic gold medalists in Sarah Ulmer and Hamish Carter (who won this race from 2004-2006) will also take part in the festivities. Ulmer will be doing the 11km trail run with some friends, while Carter will be taking part in the mountain bike race as part of a team.

XTERRA New Zealand annually hosts more than 2,000 athletes in what is considered the world's largest single day XTERRA off-road triathlon festival with competitors choosing from walking, running, mountain biking as well as the individual and team XTERRA events.