Ussher and Leary take XTERRA NZ
Richard Ussher used his adventure racing fitness to win the 2009 XTERRA New Zealand, and narrowly held off Scott Thorne despite never having done any other XTERRA race before. Mountain biker Nicola Leary captured the women's title.
70.3 World Champion Terenzo Bozzone lead after the 1km swim but was followed closely by Tim Wilding, Scott Thorne and Richard Ussher into transition. The trio caught and passed Bozzone on the bike and arrived in T2 4 minutes ahead of Bozzone.
Thorne and Ussher ran together and dominated the field on the 11k run. On the second lap of the run Ussher pushed hard and got away from Thorne. In the end Ussher won by 20 seconds.
“I got a little break on Scott around the back of the lake – I think it was enough to give me a little lift and maybe Scott a little downer. It was nice to be able to look back and see a bit of a gap for the final couple of kilometers.” Ussher said.
The women's race had been owned the past 5 years by Sonia Foote and Gina Ferguson. But neither of them was at the start in 2009, and thus many eyes were on NZ Marathon MTB Champion, Anika Smail and top NZ Mountain Biker – Nicola Leary.
Leary, who finished 3rd in 2008 crossed the line first this year, more than a minute ahead of second place finisher, Susie Wood. Smail took third after a not so quick swim.
2009 XTERRA New Zealand
Top pro men
1. Richard Ussher (NZL) 2:03:33
2. Scott Thorne (NZL) 2:04:04
3. Mark Leishman (NZL) 2:08:30
4. Tim Wilding (NZL) 2:09:30
5. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 2:09:45
Top pro women
1. Nicola Leary (NZL) 2:26:07
2. Susie Wood (NZL) 2:28:25
3. Anika Smail (NZL) 2:28:49
4. Monique Avery (NZL) 2:30:27
5. Nina Pederson (NZL) 2:33:0
