Xterra World Championships

RUNNERS OF ALL AGES READY FOR KUALOA RANCH

Runners ranging in age from 12 to 75 will be competing for world titles at the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship on Sunday, Dec. 5, at Kualoa Ranch.

While the elite runners such as Oregon’s Max King – the two-time defending overall champion of the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship – get most of the publicity, most of the field will be competing for amateur age-group titles.

The youngest division is 10 to 14, and 12-year-old Michael Lazich will be the youngest runner in the championship field. He is in the seventh grade at Aliamanu Middle School in Honolulu, and is racing in an XTERRA Trail Run for the first time.

“He runs cross country for his school, but he always wants to do longer races, so he did a (road) half-marathon in August,” said his mother, Liz. “After he did that, I felt better because at least I knew he could handle the longer races.”

The oldest runner in the field is George Taylor of Canada, and he is already a two-time world champion. He won the men’s 70-74 age division in both 2008 and 2009.

Interestingly enough, Taylor discovered the 2008 XTERRA Trail Run World Championship by chance while he was on vacation in Hawaii.

“I was walking along the street there in Waikiki and saw all these people signing up for XTERRA,” he explained. “I stopped to find out what it was all about and when they told me it was a run on the other side of the island and how beautiful it was going to be, I signed up. And then I was hooked. I’ve been back every year since and hope to keep coming every year.”

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The XTERRA Trail Run World Championship

The XTERRA Trail Run World Championship is just 16 days away, which means there are still 15 days to register for the rare opportunity to run the picturesque trails at Kualoa Ranch.

More than 900 runners from around the world have already entered the event, scheduled for Dec. 5 at Kualoa Ranch.

The trails at Kualoa Ranch are normally closed to the public, so even the home-state Hawaii runners are giving thanks at this time of year for the chance to experience the unique course.

“If you live in Hawaii or outside Hawaii, I think it’s one of those things you just have to do if you get the chance,” said Christian Friis, one of Hawaii’s top trail runners. “The opportunity to see that whole area of the island is awesome. If you think about it, that’s the real Hawaii.”

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