Pan Am Tour Headed to Alabama

XTERRA is celebrating its 11th year of racing at Oak Mountain State Park in Shelby County, Alabama next weekend.

The May 21 race is the fourth stop on the new XTERRA Pan American Tour, and one of two majors on the America Tour that has amateurs racing to win regional titles in hopes of earning one of the coveted XTERRA World Championship qualifying spots.

The main event combines a one-mile swim in the warm water of Double Oak Lake with a grueling 20-mile mountain bike on the highly acclaimed Oak Mountain trails, and a twisty, turny, 10k off-road run.

“Bama is my favorite race in the U.S. because of the hidden gem that is Oak Mountain State Park,” said XTERRA Pro Suzie Snyder.  “The single track is phenomenal and the conditions are always an unknown which makes the technical aspect of the course so much more of a factor in the outcome of the race.”

Snyder isn’t the only one with high praise for the course at Oak Mountain State Park.  Runner’s World Magazine called the trails one of America’s “Crown Jewels – 25 best trails in the nation,”

Oak Mountain State Park was honored as one of America’s best trail destinations in Runner’s World Magazine, where the twisting, rolling trails made the “Crown Jewels – 25 best trail runs in America” list. BUMP, the local trails advocacy group, has spent more than 100,000 hours in design and construction of new trails over the past 20 years, and the International Mountain Bicycling Association granted them the prestigious EPIC designation – given only to those rare trails “guaranteed to blow your mind.”

In addition to the XTERRA Championship and half-distance XTERRA Sprint race XTERRA will host a beginner and family-friendly “Xticer” race that combines a 200-meter swim with a 10K mountain bike, and 2K trail run. Then on Sunday XTERRA will host a full set of trail runs to include a 5km trail run/walk option and competitive 10km and 20km events.

All races are open to everybody, and registration is open at www.xterrapelham.com.

To complement the races, Oak Mountain offers a wealth of family activities (wildlife center, swimming beach, fishing, horseback riding, golfing, boat rental, etc.) while eating and shopping opportunities abound right outside the park.

Learn more at www.discovershelby.com.

XTERRA PAN AMERICA TOUR SCHEDULE

DATE TOUR EVENT 20-Mar XTERRA Costa Rica 26-Mar XTERRA Argentina 7-May XTERRA Brazil 21-May XTERRA Oak Mountain State Park 25-Jun XTERRA Mine Over Matter 10-Jul XTERRA Victoria 16-Jul XTERRA Beaver Creek 31-Jul XTERRA Dominican Republic 6-Aug XTERRA Mexico 17-Sep XTERRA Pan American Championship

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