Day, Marks win XTERRA Lory

Day, Marks win XTERRA Lory Pamela-Xterra Sun, 06/17/2018 - 21:20

Robbie Day and Katarina Marks, both from Colorado, won XTERRA Lory on Saturday, June 17, at Lory State Park near Bellvue, Colorado.

Fifteen-year-old Day finished the course in 1:42:25 followed by Benny Smith in 1:44:41. Craig Depperschmidt was third in 1:44:50.  This is Day’s second overall and age group win of the season. He also won the amateur title at XTERRA Costa Rica on March 25.

If two overall wins weren’t enough, Day has the added accomplishment of beating Benny Smith, which is no small feat. Last year, Smith won the 15-19 age group at both XTERRA Beaver Creek and XTERRA Lory.

When asked how the race was, Day replied, "Cold! The water was about 60 degrees and I didn't wear a wetsuit."

Day was surprised that he wasn't first out of the water, which is the norm for this club swimmer, but he was equally surprised that he won.

"Benny was ahead of me on the bike and was at least a minute up on me coming out of T2," said Day, who caught Smith at the top of the climb.

Smith admitted he had a bit of a tough race at XTERRA Lory this year and was leading until the top of the climb on the run, when he cramped up and lost about four to five minutes getting his legs back. Still, he had nothing but praise for Day, whom he will see again at the XTERRA Pan Am Championship.

“That dude had a solid race,” said Smith about Day. “Kudos to Robbie. I look forward to racing him more in the future! He’s also getting coached by Middaugh Coaching so I knew he was gonna be strong.”

Other notable XTERRA athletes in the race were five-time XTERRA Regional Champ Eric Snowberg (45-49) and 2017 XTERRA Mountain Regional Champ Michael Kloosterman (30-34), who finished fourth and seventh overall, respectively.

In the women’s race, Kiki Silver was out of the water first, but Marks passed her on the bike and led the rest of the race, finishing in 1:54:07.  Silver was second in 1:56:58, and Sharon McDowell-Larse was third in 2:04:23.

Marks overcame a difficult early season to win at XTERRA Lory. She began her season at XTERRA Oak Mountain with a third-place finish behind Amanda Beyer and Heather Wilson. While these are two talented athletes, Marks has been struggling with iron deficiency and was disappointed in her race and training in May. Over the past several weeks, she has honed in on her nutrition and feels back to normal. She's going into the rest of her season with her usual exuberance.

“I’m super stoked about the win and I’m definitely going in the right direction for XTERRA Beaver Creek."

Next up for the XTERRA Mountain Series is XTERRA Beaver Creek on July 21st.

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