Athlete Name: Emma Garrard
Athlete Age Group: Professional triathlete
Event Name: XTERRA Northwest Cup
Event Location: Sugarbush, Vermont
Event Distance: 1500m swim, 15k bike, 10k run
Finish Place: Overall: 6th pro
 
Thunderstorms through the night meant the already muddy course from an unusually wet July in Vermont was even muddier and even more unrideable (for me) race day.
 
Pre-riding was difficult enough, now conditions were worse.
 
Coming from Truckee, Calif., where it’s sunny some 350 days a year, riding in mud is something I’m not used to, but I was undoubtedly up for the challenge.
 
After a two-lap, 1500-meter swim in snowmaking pond at the base of Sugarbush we headed straight up a singletrack through the woods.
 
Judging by the ‘rollers’ on the trail, I believe this trail only intended to be a downhill trail, hence the difficulty to ride up it, especially after weeks of downpour.
 
While pre-riding, we came up with the genius idea of doing the race in reverse, starting with the run, then biking downhill and then swim, which would be perfect to wash off the mud.
 
The steep ascent led most racers, including myself, to hike-a-bike for the first 2 miles. It looked like a death march out there. You had to get on and off the bike so much it was quicker to just stay off.
 
At this point I wasn’t super stoked about racing after an hour or so we got to some more rideable terrain – twists and turns through the forest with lots of slippy roots and wet rocks, on top of lots of mud pits to tackle on my Blue Ryno.
 
Although a few wet roots caught me by surprise I was riding well and pulling away from the age group guys I was racing against.
 
The fact that it rained so much the night before actually helped the course in some sections because there was literally a stream running down the trail washing the mud away so you could ride on rocks underneath.
 
I came into transition in fifth place with Danelle Kabush on my heels; we had gone back and forth on the bike. I knew it would be near impossible to stay in front of Danelle on the run as she is the strongest runner in XTERRA, but I did hope I could make up some time on the rest of the women’s field in front of me.
 
About halfway through the first lap of the 10k run Danelle caught me, but I managed to stay behind her on the also hilly and muddy course with lots of uneven footing that lead competitors up and down the ski runs on Sugarbush.

I usually do most of the run by myself, so having Danelle pass me was motivation to go just a bit harder.
 
To my surprise, I was able to pass Danelle as we descended one of the slippery slopes thanks to the traction of my Inov-8 Xtalons.

My counter attack didn’t last long, Danelle stayed ahead of me the second lap and I finished in 6th place.

Nevertheless, I was pleased to finish and now faced and even greater challenge – cleaning off the mud, which made me and my bike unrecognizable.

Other Events of Note this Month
 
Event Name: XTERRA Tahoe City
Event Location: Tahoe City, California
Event Distance: Off-road triathlon 1500m swim 30k mountain bike 10k run
Finish Place: Overall: 1st overall female, 10th overall
 
Event Name: XTERRA Northwest Cup
Event Location: Sugarbush, Vermont
Event Distance: Off-road triathlon 1500m swim, 15k mountain bike 10k run
Finish Place: Overall: 6th pro female
 
Event Name: XTERRA Mountain Cup
Event Location: Beaver Creek, Colorado
Event Distance: 1500m swim, 25k mountain bike, 10k run
Finish Place: Overall: 8th pro female