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Photo courtesy of Discover Shelby.
A mountain biker competes in the XTERRA race at Oak Mountain State Park.
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Photos courtesy of Discover Shelby.
Particpants pose onstage for a group photo after the 2023 race. Above: There is also a free kids bike race for ages 8 and younger.
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Photos courtesy of Discover Shelby.
There is also a free kids bike race for ages 8 and younger.
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Photos courtesy of Discover Shelby.
A partcipant of the 2023 event runs along the course of the XTERRA race at Oak Mountain State Park.
Oak Mountain will be the site of the inaugural XTERRA North American Championship, which will be the third event on the 2024 XTERRA World Cup calendar, following races in Taiwan and Greece. The triathlon at Oak Mountain on May 18 and 19 will crown the top off-road triathletes in North America.
Emily McIlvaine, XTERRA America’s event coordinator, said the decision to place the first XTERRA North American Championship at OMSP was an easy one based on the park’s popularity throughout the off-road triathlon community and what she described as a world-class atmosphere at the event.
“We have hosted a triathlon at Oak Mountain for many years, but the debut of the North American Championship being in Pelham, Alabama, shows how special this venue is to us,” McIlvaine said.
“The No. 1 thing we have in Shelby County is community support. This is a fantastic community that wants XTERRA to be there and is very helpful,” she added. “We have a whole organization committee that helps us out, and we have a lot of enthusiasm in Alabama and Shelby County, and so that makes it an easy decision.”
Kendall Williams, the Shelby County manager for tourism and events, said the XTERRA triathlon is a signature event not only for Oak Mountain State Park, but for the entire region as hundreds of athletes, their families and fans spend time and money in the area.
“It’s obviously a very unique opportunity for us,” Williams said. “Being able to showcase not just the park but the city of Pelham, our great restaurants and other activities to do while they’re in town is just a real special opportunity to reach a great number of people for a very fun weekend.”
Additionally, Williams said the county is thrilled to host XTERRA’s first North America Championship. She said that the goal for the county is to promote Oak Mountain as one of the premiere biking and hiking destinations across the globe.
“These athletes travel all over the world competing in multiple countries, but year after year they talk about Oak Mountain and our trails and how they are the best in the world,” she said. “What we are trying to do is make it so Oak Mountain is not a hidden gem anymore, but make more people know about the world class trails at Oak Mountain State Park.”
While Oak Mountain may still be a “hidden gem” to the regular public, the word has been out for many years among some of the world’s elite off-road triathletes. Many of the athletes who will be in action this May have raced on trails all over North America, Asia and Europe, and they say that Oak Mountain is among the best.
“The trails here at Oak Mountain are world-class,” said Suzie Snyder, a Boulder, Colorado, resident and fifth-place women’s finisher in the 2023 XTERRA Triathlon. “They’re so well-built and maintained, and it’s my favorite.”
The North American Championship weekend will feature four events spread over two days. The signature event is the full-distance triathlon, in which around 50 of the world’s top athletes will compete in a 1.5-mile swim, a 33-kilometer mountain bike and, lastly, a 10-kilometer trail run throughout Oak Mountain State Park.
The event is also a qualifier for the Xterra World Championship, to be held in Trentino, Italy, in September, with 58 slots on the line, as well as $25,000 in total prize money. The triathlon is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 18.
Photos courtesy of Discover Shelby.
Particpants pose onstage for a group photo after the 2023 race. Above: There is also a free kids bike race for ages 8 and younger.
Also this year, XTERRA is launching a youth tour for athletes ages 15-19. McIlvaine said that athletes are able to compete with adults at a younger age in the United States as compared to the rest of the world, so the youth tour is an attempt to organize younger triathletes into their own competition.
“We have athletes all over the world racing at a young age and wanted to make it a uniform program,” McIlvaine said. “This is my 16th year with XTERRA, and it’s been really fun to see some of those up-and-coming athletes get to their full potential. So, it’ll be really exciting to see what happens.”
The weekend also features the sprint triathlon, a shorter race for newcomers or athletes looking for a less-demanding triathlon. Athletes will compete in a 750-meter swim, a 16-kilometer bike and a 4.5-kilometer run. The sprint triathlon is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Also on the schedule is an invitation-only short-track triathlon on Sunday, May 19. Launched in 2023, the short-track event features elite athletes competing in a condensed triathlon — a 400-meter swim, a 7.5-kilometer bike and a 3-kilometer run — designed with spectators in mind.
“This is where a lot of the real action is going to take place. Spectators can stand in one spot, and they’re going to see a lot of action because it’s a lot of loops,” McIlvaine said. “It’s a more exciting, fast-paced race, done in 30 minutes, roughly, and it’s just a really high-intensity, fun thing to watch. You get to see all the pros just out there putting it all on the line.”
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Photos courtesy of Discover Shelby.
There is also a free kids bike race for ages 8 and younger.
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Photos courtesy of Discover Shelby.
A partcipant of the 2023 event runs along the course of the XTERRA race at Oak Mountain State Park.
Following the short-track invitational race, spectators and athletes will be able to enjoy food trucks, free concerts and a “battle of the bands” competition, McIlvaine said.
“The addition of a battle of the bands competition and pre- and post-race social gatherings will offer opportunities to engage the community,” she said, “and show out-of-town athletes just how much Southern hospitality Pelham and Shelby County can offer.”
Learn more or register for an event at xterraplanet.com/event/xterra-oak-mountain.
