XTERRA England doubles up as XTERRA European Championship

The final stop on the 2015 XTERRA European Tour will also be its most celebrated as XTERRA England – to be staged on 30 August 2015 at Vachery Estate in Cranleigh, Surrey – has been designated the one-day XTERRA European Championship race.

The title means more prize money for pros – with a US$25,000 elite purse – and an opportunity for amateur competitors to stake claim at being the best in Europe on top of being the best in the UK.

It’s also the last chance in Europe for amateurs to secure one of the 50 remaining qualifying spots into the 20th edition of the XTERRA World Championship in Maui, and for elites it’s the culminating event in the 12-stop European Tour that dishes out an additional US$20,000 to the top performers in the series.

“We’re thrilled to be able to host a race of this magnitude on the storied grounds of Vachery Estate,” said XTERRA World Tour Managing Director Dave Nicholas. “Our experience last year was superb, from the course itself to the spectating. We felt like we established something special and are excited to share that with the worldwide endurance sports community.”

On offer is the rare chance to ‘swim, ride, run, race, eat, sleep, and dance in the serene and seductive ancient wooded countryside of Surrey.’ The action all takes place on a private estate, where huge open fields of grass welcome hundreds of campers, bands, caterers, and racers.

The championship distance combines a 1.5K swim / 30K bike / 11K trail run on Sunday 30 August. There is also a half-distance sprint race option and athletes can join together to tackle either triathlon as part of a relay team. New next year, XTERRA will also host 5K and 15K trail runs on Saturday and rumours abound about a bonfire and movie night.

“It’s awesome, I loved it,” exclaimed four-time XTERRA World Champion Conrad Stoltz after last year’s race.

XTERRA England starts with a swim in the private, spring fed Vachery Pond. A special ramp has been built just for the event to allow access for swimmers, officials and water safety. The bike course – thanks to great efforts led by Surrey-bred XTERRA pro Sam Gardner (the first Brit to win a major XTERRA) – has riders twisting in-and-out and up-and-down the dense tree-lined forests.

The run is just as fun, crossing over creeks, hopping over logs. There is certainly a primal feeling for those being chased, as well as those being chased down by others through the dark, cool forest.

Spectators are in for quite a treat as well as both the bike and run courses filter through the ‘arena’ several times making it quite easy to track the action.

The event was dubbed the ‘Woodstock of XTERRA’ in large part to the massive amount of camping available in the wide-open fields, and one can expect that atmosphere to get even better next time around. To make things even sweeter, the 2015 race weekend falls on England’s summer bank holiday (with the following Monday a day off) and the annual Wings & Wheels celebration nearby treats the XTERRA crowd to aerial displays from the Red Arrows and others.

Registration is open now with early bird and loyalty discounts in effect through 31 December 2014.

www.xterraengland.com