Richard Kimani from Kenya and Jennifer McGranahan from Pensacola, Florida captured the XTERRA Oak Mountain half-marathon titles on a cool, clear morning at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, Alabama.

Kimani, who now lives in Birmingham, ran a 1:12:30, more than three minutes faster than runner-up Darren Brown from Weymouth, Massachusetts.

“It was a good race and very hard,” said Kimani.  “The course is nice with all the trees and the sharp corners, and roots and rocks and slopes.”

Kimani now has his sights set on the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship in Hawaii this December.

In the women’s race McGranahan crossed the line in 1:33:41, nearly six-minutes ahead of runner-up Tiffany Dudley from Starkville, Mississippi.

“I ran it last year and got beat pretty good but that experience gave me a sense of the race so I started conservative this time around,” said McGranahan. “Honestly, I didn’t think I was in great shape but somehow I come alive when it comes to trails and adventure.  I don’t really look at it like a race, more of an adventure to just get out there and have fun.”

More than 300 runners from 15 states took part in today’s races, which was the last even of the 2016/2017 XTERRA Alabama Trail Run Series. We’ll have series winners posted soon after all results have been tabulated.  Each series age-group champion will receive a free entry to represent Alabama at the XTERRA Trail Run National Championship in Utah on September 17.

There were also XTERRA Oak Mountain 5k and 10k races today.  Caleb Baity and Brenda Sanchez won the 5k, and Marcus Barton and Jessica Riggs won the 10k.  For Baity and Barton the trail race wins conclude a very successful weekend of racing as both won their age groups at the XTERRA Oak Mountain off-road triathlon yesterday.

Highlight Video / Photos / Complete Results

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SPECIAL THANKS
XTERRA Oak Mountain was presented by Paul Mitchell, and our great sponsors from Shelby County, Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, Muscle Milk, Gatorade Endurance, Suunto, XTERRA Wetsuits, XTERRA Fitness, XTERRA Boards, Blue Cross/Blue Shield Alabama, Oofos, and the Shelby County Reporter. Special thanks to our volunteers, the Pelham Fire Department for taking such good care of our athletes, and all the BUMP members for maintaining the trails we love to race on each May.

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