WHAT IS IT: The world’s premier off-road triathlon, combining a 1.5-kilometer (1-mile) swim that starts at D.T. Fleming Beach in front of the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua … a 32-kilometer (20-miles) mountain bike that climbs 3,500 feet up and down the lower slopes of the West Maui Mountains, and a 10.5-kilometer (6.5-miles) trail run that traverses forest trails, and beach sand. Top pros finish in roughly two-and-a-half hours.

WHO RACES IN MAUI: A sold-out field of 800 racers including 75 professionals and more than 700 amateurs representing 46 countries, ages 14 (Bowen Satterthwaite) to 79 (Ron Hill). 95% of the field is from out of state. See Competitor Stats below.

WHEN: The XTERRA World Championship starts at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 23. The XTERRA Kapalua Trail Runs are on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 9:00 a.m.

WHERE: At The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua on Maui’s northwest coast.

WHY: The XTERRA World Championship race is the last in a series of more than 100 off-road triathlon races held in 30 countries and 38 U.S. States. The concept is to provide a bona-fide world championship for amateur and elite off-road triathletes. For pros there is $100,000 in prize money at stake.

HOW THEY QUALIFIED: Pros must race an XTERRA World Tour event & amateurs enter through one of four means:
1. Earn a slot by qualifying as one of the top finishers in their age group at an XTERRA Championship race in the Philippines, South Africa, Saipan, Costa Rica, Argentina, Malta, New Zealand, Reunion Island, Australia, Malaysia, Brazil, Greece, Tahiti, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, France, Italy, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Japan, Denmark, and Alabama, Colorado, and Utah in the United States. For those “lucky-you-live-Hawaii-guys” there was a local qualifier, XTERRA Freedom Fest at Kualoa Ranch on Oahu.
2. Won their regional championship during the course of the XTERRA America Tour.
3. Age Group Champions from the previous year were provided a slot to defend their crown.
4. The at large drawing – a limited number of slots were offered on a first-come first-serve basis in December, 2015.

XTERRA BACKGROUND: This is the 21st year for the XTERRA World Championship on Maui, the birthplace of off-road triathlon. The first XTERRA race was held here on November 3, 1996 and was televised on Fox Sports Net. The demand for the sport of XTERRA exploded thereafter and there are now more than 50,000 competitors from all 50 states and more than 50 countries worldwide.

TELEVISION: This will be the 21st straight year a nationally (now internationally) broadcast one-hour show will be produced on the event, which showcases Maui’s natural beauty. The 2016 XTERRA World Championship will be seen by more than six million viewers via national syndication (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX), Fox Sports Network, ESPN International, and European distribution. This year’s show will start its run in national syndication in mid-January 2017. In addition, the award-winning XTERRA Adventures TV series, XTERRA USA and World Championship broadcasts are available as a video subscription for Prime members on Amazon Video. Four seasons (32 shows) of the half-hour episodes of XTERRA Adventures, and the 2012-through-2015 XTERRA USA and World Championship triathlon races are available now and 2016 shows will be added soon.

ECONOMIC IMPACT: Direct visitor expenditures from the 2015 XTERRA World Championship were $6 million. The average length of stay on Maui is 6.8 nights (8.5 nights in Hawaii), the average party size is 2.7, and 56% of the field had a household income of more than $100,000 (expenditure source: DBEDT and post event online survey).

HOW TO WATCH: Log on to www.xterramaui.com for race information and race coverage starting at 9am Hawaii time (12pm PST, 3pm EST, 9pm in Paris, 6am in Sydney, and 4pm in Rio). Also on twitter @xterraoffroad, #xterramaui and on Facebook.

COMPETITOR STATS
Countries Represented: 46
Argentina (21), Australia (25), Austria (5), Belgium (13), Bermuda (1), Brazil (38), Canada (62), Chile (14), China (2), Colombia (5), Costa Rica (13), Czech Republic (9), Denmark (19), Dominican Republic (5), France (66), French Polynesia (11), Germany (15), Hong Kong (2), Italy (18), Japan (22), Luxembourg (2), Malaysia (2), Malta (1), Mexico (20), Morocco (1), Namibia (1), Netherlands (3), New Zealand (36), Nicaragua (2), Peru (1), Philippines (4), Poland (5), Portugal (1), Singapore (5), Slovakia (1), South Africa (9), South Korea (5), Spain (9), Sweden (8), Switzerland (6), Thailand (2), Trinidad and Tobago (1), United Kingdom (10), United States (302)

United States Represented: 38
Breakdown: Alabama 3, Alaska 8, Arizona 8, Arkansas 1, California 60, Colorado 56, Connecticut 1, Florida 3, Georgia 10, Guam 1, Hawaii 37, Idaho 5, Illinois 5, Indiana 1, Kansas 1, Kentucky 2, Maine 1, Maryland 2, Massachusetts 6, Michigan 7, Montana 2, Nevada 5, New Hampshire 1, New Mexico 4, New York 4, North Carolina 6, Ohio 2, Oregon 6, Pennsylvania 7, South Carolina 1, South Dakota 1, Texas 10, Utah 7, Vermont 3, Virginia 9, Washington 12, Wisconsin 1, Wyoming 1

By Age Group
Women 15-19: 5
Women 20-24: 9
Women 25-29: 24
Women 30-34: 21
Women 35-39: 37
Women 40-44: 30
Women 45-49: 28
Women 50-54: 22
Women 55-59: 13
Women 60-64: 3
Women 65-69: 4
Women 70-74: 1
Women 75-79: 0
Physically Challenged Women: 2
Organizer Challenge: 1
Pro Women: 21
Total: 228
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Men 15-19: 20
Men 20-24: 30
Men 25-29: 35
Men 30-34: 58
Men 35-39: 56
Men 40-44: 73
Men 45-49: 93
Men 50-54: 66
Men 55-59: 43
Men 60-64: 25
Men 65-69: 8
Men 70-74: 3
Men 75-79: 4
Physically Challenged Men: 7
Organizer Challenge: 4
Pro Men: 50
Total: 585
Oldest Male: 79, Ronald Hill – Hayden,Idaho
Oldest Woman: 71, Wendy Minor – Kamuela, Hawaii
Youngest Man: 14, Bowen Satterthwaite – Eden, Utah
Youngest Woman: 15, Morgan Fortin – Albuquerque New Mexico

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