LLANOS & McQUAID WIN IN MAUI * Each earn $20,000 at the 8th Annual Nissan Xterra World Championship
29.10.2003, 10:58
WAILEA (Maui, Hawai Islands) October 29 (PROTEXT) - EnekoLlanos (26, of Spain) and Melanie McQuaid (30, of Canada) wontheir respective pro divisions at the 8th annual Nissan XterraWorld Championship at the Wailea Marriott Resort in Maui today.
Llanos had the second-fastest swim split (behind amateur JanSibbersen of Germany, who also had the fastest swim in Ironmanlast week) and the second-best bike (behind Steve Larsen) beforeheading out on to the run where he set the course record lastyear.
His winning time of 2:32:56 was more than three-and-a-halfminutes better than Nicolas LeBrun of France.
While both Llanos (who also won the ITU Long Distance WorldChampionship) and LeBrun (who won XTERRA races in Virginia,Germany, and the Czech Republic this year) were among thefavorites.
Despite that he moved from 32nd out of the water to tied forfirst heading out on to the run. He once again had the fastestbike split, more than three-minutes better than Llanos in1:27:47. At the bike-to-run transition Llanos got in-and-outmuch quicker than Larsen and went hard and fast to create a gap.
"I tried to start fast so I could put some time on him so hecouldn't see me.my strategy," said Llanos.
In the women's race McQuaid put the exclamation point on whathas been an impressive few years of racing XTERRA.
"It was a magic day for me," said McQuaid, who set the courserecord in 2:57:08 despite incredibly hot conditions.
Both McQuaid and runner-up Whitmore suffered on the run andneeded medical attention to get re-hydrated. Whitmore had agreat race and a great season, with seven wins in nine races, butthe world title is still the missing link.
Candy Angle, to successfully defend her title, was unable todo so but had a solid day to finish in third.
The Maui course, considered XTERRA's toughest and mostdemanding, consisted of a 1.5-kilometer rough water swim atWailea Beach, a grueling 30-kilometer mountain bike ride up theslopes of Haleakala (the worlds largest dormant Volcano), and an11-kilometer trail run from Makena beach to Wailea.
The race was filmed for 2004 a one-hour feature show will beproduced for European syndication.2003 Nissan Xterra World Championship Race Results
TOP 5 PRO MENPl/ Name/Age/Hometown/Final Time/Purse1/Eneko Llanos/26/Victoria-Gasteiz, Spain/2:32:56/$20,0002/Nicolas LeBrun/30/Villeneuve-Loubet, France/2:36:31/$10,0003/Justin Thomas/28/Fairfax, Virginia/2:37:31/$7,000 4/Jason Chalker/29/Sydney, Australia/2:38:22/$4,0005/Steve Larsen/33/Bend, Oregon/2:38:50/$2,500
TOP 5 PRO WOMENPl/Name/Age/Hometown/Final Time/Purse1/Melanie McQuaid/30/Victoria, Canada/2:57:08/$20,0002/Jamie Whitmore/27/Elk Grove, California/2:59:10/$10,0003/Candy Angle/34/Weymouth, Massachusetts/3:06:09/$7,000 4/Raeleigh Rogers/35/Waramanga, Australia/3:10:43/$4,0005/Jenny Tobin/34/Boise, Idaho/3:11:10/$2,500Contact:Silvie Prochazkovaxterra@xterraeurope.com
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