Aussie, Austrian win in the Amazon

Press Release / 18.06.2011

Ben Allen, 26, from Wollongong, Australia and Carina Wasle, 26, of Kundl, Austria won the XTERRA Brazil Championship in the Amazon jungle Sunday.

It’s the first XTERRA victory for Allen, who placed third at the XTERRA European Tour opener in Italy last month. Allen was first out of the water, had the second-best bike split and the third quickest run for a winning time of 2:27:09, more than two minutes ahead of runner-up Felipe Moletta from Brazil.

“Absolutely over the moon I’m so happy,” said Allen. “It’s such an amazing place. Racing in the middle of the Amazon jungle and swimming in the Amazon River, I never thought I would be able to do that, and everyone in Brazil has been so friendly and helpful.”

XTERRA Philippines and Saipan Champ Sam Gardner had the fastest bike split by two minutes but couldn’t make up the four plus minute deficit coming out of the water.

“This is the race that puts the 'X' into XTERRA!” exclaimed Gardner in his post-race report. “The race was held at a special operations base, only reachable by boat, and deep in the jungle. As the gun went off, it was a total bun fight with people pulling at your legs, trying to swim over you, and the thought of the piranhas and alligators that live in the waters didn't help either! What a race, you can't replicate it anywhere.” Check out the crazy swim start in this video.