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XTERRA racers knock out off-road triathlon

UFC fighter Nate Diaz raises two fists as he nears the end of last weekend’s XTERRA Lake Tahoe off-road triathlon. Diaz finished in 80th place with a time of 4:45:05.For more race action visit LefrakPhotography.com
Courtesy of Harry Lefrak / Lefrak Photography.

This year’s off-road triathlon season concluded last weekend with the annual XTERRA Lake Tahoe Triathlon, bringing in top athletes from across the region and from a variety of disciplines across the sports world.

The annual race, organized by Big Blue Adventure, brought more than 150 competitors to Incline Village for a 1,500 meter swim in Tahoe, a 22-mile mountain bike ride along the Flume Trail and Tahoe Rim Trail, followed by 10 kilometers of trail running.

This year’s race was won by top XTERRA athlete Mike Sooder, of Carson City, who finished the race more than five minutes faster than the next competitor with a time of 3 hours, 4 minutes, 59 seconds. Sooder, 45, also won the area’s other XTERRA off-road triathlon this year, taking first place on the Tahoe City course. Incline Village’s Ross McMahan was the fastest racer in the Truckee-Tahoe area, finishing the course with a time of 3:22:17.



On the women’s side, Truckee’s Sian Crespo finished in second place with a time of 3:44:37. Jennifer Todd, of Carson City, took the women’s title with a time of 3:21:46.

Notably, UFC fighter Nathan Diaz competed in this year’s race, finishing with a time of 4:45:05 for 80th overall. Diaz most famously took part in two of the UFC’s highest grossing events, fighting twice against former two-time champion Conor McGregor.



In the shorter sprint distance, Tahoe athletes swept the podium. Stefan Laursen, of South Lake Tahoe, took first with a time of 2:33:05, followed by Incline Village runners Tim Racich (3:07:22) and Scott Patrick (3:16:45). South Tahoe’s Meryl Delorey took the win on the women’s side with a time of 3:39:22.

Big Blue Adventure will return to Tahoe City this weekend for two days of triathlons, open water swims and duathlons at Ed Z’berg Sugar Pine Point State Park, beginning on Saturday, Aug. 25. For full results or registration information visit BigBlueAdventure.com.

Justin Scacco is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. Contact him at jscacco@sierrasun.com.


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