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Layton man wins 2017 XTERRA Trail Run Nationals at Snowbasin

By Brett Hein, Standard-Examiner Staff - | Sep 19, 2017

Layton resident Brett Hales and Lesley Paterson of San Diego, California, (via Stirling, Scotland), won the 13th annual XTERRA Trail Run National Championship half-marathon at Snowbasin Resort on Sunday, Sept. 17.

Sunday’s trail run half-marathon was Day 2 of the XTERRA event, with the Pan America off-road triathlon taking place Saturday. Paterson won the women’s side of both the trail run event and the triathlon in consecutive days.

The triathlon included a one-mile swim at Pineview Reservoir, an 18-mile mountain bike ride and a 7-mile run on trails around Snowbasin. The trail-run event also took place on trails around Snowbasin.

For Hales, it was his second win on the half-marathon course in as many tries. He won the challenge in 2014. He finished this year’s half-marathon in 1:17:45, which was a sub-six minute pace over the challenging course. He finished a little more than one minute ahead of runner-up Anthony Costales.

“It was fun, it was good to be back,” Hales said in a release from XTERRA. “It’s always fortunate when you can come back and run on these trails because it’s absolutely one of the best courses.”

> Layton man to represent U.S. in World Mountain Running Championships in Italy

The men’s race began with sub-four minute miler Darren Brown of Massachusetts setting a very brisk pace, one he couldn’t sustain (he ultimately finished sixth).

“You try to get a gauge as to whether they are a legitimate contender or not because no one starts out this hard in a trail race,” Hales said, who caught Brown on the first climb. “I was like, ‘I know what going hard is and this is a little insane,’ so I knew he was going to come back.”

After passing Brown, Hales ran behind Costales on the single track and then put in a surge when the trail opened up before the third mile. “The mountain legs took over and went from there,” Hales said in the release.

In July, Hales ran with a team from the United States in the World Mountain Running Championships in Italy.

Ogden’s Addie Stewart posted the top time for women age 40-44 in the half-marathon at 1:49:05.

For the triathlon and the weekend, Paterson was the buzz. A day after winning the women’s division in the off-road triathlon, the Scotland native came back and won the XTERRA Trail Run National Championship.

Her triathlon time was 2:51:13. On the men’s side, Mauricio Mendez of Mexico won the triathlon with a time of 2:22:50.

XTERRA triathletes are professionals and top performers will next compete in the XTERRA World Championship on Oct. 29 in Kapalua on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

The trail run half-marathon was open to professionals and amateurs.

The competition, which began nearly 30 years ago as a one-off triathlon on a remote island, has grown into a popular endurance sport series. It made its debut in Ogden in 2004 in a race founded and directed by now-mayor Mike Caldwell.

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