Smith and Dussault win XTERRA winter worlds
Brian Smith led from start to finish at the 2009 XTERRA Winter Worlds and repeated his title from 2008. Rebecca Dussault had an almost 15 minute margin to take the women's title.
Challenged by 10km of mountain biking, 5km of snowshoeing, 5km of running, and 8km of ski mountaineering, Brian Smith started his day with a time of 25:04 and the fastest bike split among the men. Josiah Middaugh, an 8-time snowshoe national champion made up 90 seconds on Smith, but was still almost 2:30 behind the leader. Running together with Nicolas Lebrun and Jay Henry, Middaugh made up almost another minute on Smith, but Smith was not going to be denied. He poured it on during the final ski mountaineering section and won by 5 minutes with the fastest ski split of the day. Lebrun ended up as the runner-up and Jay Henry rounded out the podium.
With defending women's champion Sari Anderson out with a cold, all eyes were on Rebecca Dussault. Posting the fastest bike, run and ski splits, Dussault did not disappoint and cruised to an easy victory. She was followed by Lisa Isom and Jenny Tobin.
2009 XTERRA Winter Worlds
Snowbasin, Utah / March 8, 2009
Top 10 men
1. Brian Smith (USA) 2:00:21
2. Nicolas Lebrun (FRA) 2:05:56
3. Jay Henry (USA) 2:06:47
4. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:09:48
5. Eric Sullivan (USA) 2:16:37
6. Travis Scheefer (USA) 2:18:40 *
7. Justin Hurd (USA) 2:24:22
8. Jan Eitel (USA) 2:25:28 **
9. Michael Tobin (USA) 2:27:52
10. Eric Black (USA) 2:38:22 ***
* = AG M20-29
** = AG M30-39
*** = AG M40-49
Top 10 women
1. Rebecca Dussault (USA) 2:26:54
2. Lisa Isom (USA) 2:41:27
3. Jenny Tobin (USA) 2:50:15
4. Myriam Guillot (FRA) 2:55:13
5. Jari Kirkland (USA) 2:58:47
6. Alexandra Borrelly (USA) 3:02:29
7. Caroline Colonna (USA) 3:08:19 ****
8. Brandyn Roark Gray (USA) 3:14:09 *****
9. Coleen Ihnken (USA) 3:39:24 ****
10. Amber Mounday (USA) 3:40:40 ******
**** = AG F40-49
***** = AG F20-29
****** = AG F30-39
