XTERRA is a very popular professional off-road triathlon. HOWEVER They also hold touring events where they have different host cities hold races meant for general public and pros. Last year I believe Lincoln, NE hosted a race. This year there happens to be one hosted at one of my most favorite mountain bike parks in the midwest, Sugar Bottom in Iowa. It's about 4 hour drive from Omaha, too bad at all. This race is meant for anyone...

Register here http://www.xterrasuga...
After you RSVP Yes for this meetup event you must go to the official race website to register for the event. This posting is simply to get the word out and find like-minded people to share the experience with.

Individual
» $70.00 registration

Individual - Collegiate Division (Must Have Student ID)
» $40.00 registration

Relay Team
» $125.00 registration

Where: XTERRA Sugar Bottom is being hosted at the Sugar Bottom Recreation Area just outside of North Liberty, IA. On August 1, 2010 at 8:30 AM, get ready to go fast and get dirty.

The course is slated to be:
1500m swim - a slightly crooked out and back
22km mountain bike - pure single track goodness on the south half of the trails
10km trail run - equally pure and challenging single track on the north half of the trails

The Sugar Bottom single track will be a tough test for XTERRA newbies and seasoned mountain bikers alike. To navigate the map, take the red line along the fire road and then just follow the colors of the rainbow. The course is 22 km.

The run goes north from transition and hops onto the trails at Old Foundations. From there just follow the orange arrows. You'll be running for 10 km (6 miles).

Outside XTERRA Touring the US there are international touring races and much more professional races. You can find those links within the website above or the one I'm about to give. They will tell you more about XTERRA in general as well. This one however is for the general public. XTERRA is probably one of the most popular off road races around. Here is a link that describes more broadly what XTERRA is http://www.xterraplan...

Getting there as a group: I'm not sure if I can make this one but I would love to see some of our members race in this. Hopefully I'll be able to race but I wanted to get it out there since I just found it and I know there isn't a ton of time to train. We're all out there training already though right? :-)

Good places to train around here that are somewhat comparable to Sugar Bottom are Plate River State Park and on a smaller scale Tranquility Park. Granted there is nowhere to swim there but it's not hard to find a pool or lake. There is also an option for a relay team! So if anyone is interested in putting a team together let me know. This would be my first triathlon ever so part of me wants to do all three legs myself but if people really want to get a team together I think that would be a blast as well.