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The eyes of Texas are upon XTERRA

Trey Garman / 06.05.2010

Texans have high expectations, it doesn't matter if you're talking about Longhorns Football or off-road triathlon. Come May 23, the XTERRA South Central Championship in Waco is looking to deliver on its promise of being the world's greatest dirty tri, and you can be sure the locals believe it will.

The event will be held in Cameron Park, a marvelous place alongside the Brazos River that just happens to have some of the finest mountain bike trails anywhere in the U.S., much less Texas. The site was proposed to XTERRA by Mike Carter, a longtime XTERRA athlete and organizer of the races in Austin. His opinion was seconded by Kim Jennings, another XTERRA athlete who is a park ranger at Cameron, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

“I’ve ridden the Waco course and it is awesome. I can tell you it’s an incredible bike course and a really nice park and the XTERRA Tribe is going to love it,” said Shonny Vanlandingham, a native Texan shown here on the Waco trails.

What athletes will find is that this part of Texas is not flat. They’ll need to bring their aerobic capacity and throw in a healthy dose of courage because they’ll be faced with steep, short uphills and fast, challenging downhills on just the right mix of singletrack, doubletrack and access roads. Download the press guide for more info.

Here's a look at the pros coming out to race in Waco:

2010 Rank - Name - Age, Hometown
1 - Conrad Stoltz - 36, Stellenbosch, South Africa
2 - Josiah Middaugh - 31, Vail, Colorado
4 - Seth Wealing - 31, Boulder, Colorado
5 - Nicolas Lebrun -36, Digne, France
6 - Cody Waite - 31, Lakewood, Colorado
7 - Craig Evans - 32, Hendersonville, Tennessee
8 - Trevor Glavin - 30, San Diego, California
9 - Ryan DeCook - 29, Rochester, Michigan
10 - Branden Rakita - 29, Manitou Springs, Colorado
17 - Will Kelsay - 28, Boulder, Colorado
NR - Matt Boobar - 37, Stratton Mountain, Vermont
NR - Scott Gall - 35, Cedar Falls, Iowa
NR - Brandon Jessop - 31, Lakewood, Colorado
NR - Grayson Keppler - 22, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

2010 Rank - Name - Age, Hometown
1 - Shonny Vanlandingham - 40, Durango, Colorado
2 - Melanie McQuaid - 36, Victoria, B.C., Canada
3 - Lesley Paterson - 29, Scotland (San Diego, CA)
4 - Christine Jeffrey - 37, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
6 - Renata Bucher - 32, Lucerne, Switzerland
7 - Emma Garrard - 28, Truckee, California
8 - Sara Tarkington - 29, Boulder, Colorado
9 - Tracy Thelen - 30, Colorado Springs, CO
NR - Shae Rainer - 30, Austin, Texas
NR - Brandyn Roark Gray - 30, Aztec, New Mexico
NR - Christie Sym - 26, Sydney, Australia