XTERRA Lory Recap

Another XTERRA Lory in the books!
2016 RESULTS

Be sure to check out Facebook photos below, and this story by 303 contributor Jimmy Archer, of DirtTri Magazine:
XTERRA Lory is the largest XTERRA points race in the United States, as well as being of the nation’s oldest off-road triathlons having been hosted at Lory State Park as a triathlon since 2004 and as a two day stage race off-road multisport event in 2003.
The current event organizer, Without Limits Productions, is obviously doing something right as the race sold out for the fifth year in a row.
The event is billed as “the perfect kick off to the season for the seasoned off-road triathlete, or a great opportunity for the road triathlete wanting to try out a mountain bike triathlon for the first time.”
This was indeed the case as an impromptu poll at the starting lined proved that close to half the competitors were first time off-road triathletes.
XTERRA Lory consists of a straight forward half mile swim in Horsetooth Reservoir, at two loop 12.2 mile bike on smooth, flowy, and fast singletrack, and an 8k trail run featuring a 1 ½ mile climb offering stunning views of Horsetooth Reservoir and Fort Collins.
Things got under way at 7:50 AM under clear skies and rapidly rising temperatures. The race had a small scare (which most athletes were completely unaware of) over night when a small fire caused by lighting ignited within the park boundaries. However, the fire was quickly extinguished allowing the race to go off without a hitch.
At the sharp end of the race the early waves were seeded by estimated bike time in order to limit the need for passing on the mostly singletrack bike. XTERRA regulars Eric Snowberg and Brad Zoller lead out of the water with Zoller taking the lead on the bike and then extending that lead on the run by over three minutes to win over all with a time of 1:38.15 over Neson Hegg (1:40.17) and Garren Watkins (1:41.09.)
For the women Megan Riepma put up a smoking swim leading out of the water by 2 minutes and then only sacrificing one minute to chasers, Elizabeth Gruber and Jennifer Razee on the bike. However, the run would decide the day as Riepma sacrificed three minutes to Gruber and two minutes to Razee with Riepma narrowly hanging on for second by just 20 seconds.