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XTERRA Saipan Championship 2010

Press Release / 15.03.2010

Saipan’s warm, tropical climate is the lure for all athletes at the ninth annual XTERRA Saipan Championship. The opportunity for early season training leads competitors from all over the XTERRA Planet –Europe, Australia, Japan and the U.S - to Saipan where temperatures in the mid 80’s, cool tropical breeze and the crystal clear Pacific ocean beckon. And, it is key the success of Switzerland’s Renata Bucher and England’s Sam Gardner as the pair defended their XTERRA Saipan Championship titles on a hot and steamy day in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on Saturday.

It’s the sixth straight Saipan victory for Bucher, and her 20th career XTERRA championship since winning her first one here back in 2005. Bucher had the fastest bike and run splits and crossed the line in 2:58:19, nearly nine minutes ahead of runner-up Shonny Vanlandingham.

“For me Saipan is special,” said Bucher. “It means a lot – and it is the only one that I wear #1. I like to come early to pre-ride the course, and get tips from the locals.” She credits the win to her local tipsters, and when asked if she’ll be back to compete for a 7th XTERRA Saipan title, she responded, “as long as they have this race, I’ll be back.”

U.S. mountain bike phenom, Shonny Vanlandingham took second today, an improvement over her inaugural Saipan race in 2009, where she finished third. She was not in top form coming into the event, but credited Bucher with owning the race. “I saw her in the swim – and that was it”, she said. Early morning rain made the course very slippery. “It was hard to run, almost like being in a pin ball machine,” she said. “This is XTERRA’s most technical course – but if anyone is going to do an XTERRA, it should be this one.”

Local pro and reigning XTERRA Japan Champ Mieko Carey finished third, followed by a pair of first-year pros from Great Britain – Emma Smith, the 2008 XTERRA World Champ in the 25-29 division, and Danelle “Daz” Parker, the reigning XTERRA amateur World Champion. Smith quit her job as a lawyer in December to race professionally. Both her and Parker are trained by three-time XTERRA World Champion, Julie Dibens.