Smith family continues Xterra charge

Jenny and Brian climbing overall ranks

After six Xterra off-road triathlon races both Jenny and Brian Smith have moved up through the overall points standings, with Jenny taking over third place among the pro women and Brian in eighth place among pro men. Rebecca Dussault is in the mix as well, sitting in eighth place overall.
Jenny and Brian each had strong outings at the Atlantic Cup in Richmond, Virginia, June 14 with Jenny taking fourth place and Brian in sixth. Dussault also pushed into the top 10 in Richmond with a sixth place finish.
“Richmond was a great race,” says Brian. “I finished in sixth but was only two and a half minutes off the winner.”
One week later the trio headed to the Xterra South Central Cup in Arkansas looking to continue their rise through the pro ranks.
About the only thing standing in their way was the heat.
“It was so hot,” says Jenny. “The water was 90 degrees.”
“I’ve been in some heat before,” adds Brian, “but never heat and humidity. I wasn’t quite ready to be hot in the water.”
In fact, the intensity of the late-morning sun turned the race into a struggle to finish.
“It was so hot that it was more about getting yourself to the finish line,” says Jenny.
After the one-mile opening swim through the Arkansas bath water Jenny fired through 50-ounces of drinking water in her water bottle in the first 45 minutes of the 17-mile bike ride.
Racers were then treated to a 6.3-mile run that opened with three miles of scorching pavement before heading up into the trees.
“The run was definitely survival,” says Jenny. “Anyone that wasn’t falling to pieces was doing really well.”
Jenny finished in third place with Dussault coming across eight minutes behind her in fourth.
Brian’s troubles started almost immediately as he emerged from the water drained and couldn’t snap out of his funk on the bike portion.
“I was stuck in second gear,” says Brian. “I basically gave up. I just wanted to finish.”
Brian managed to rally on the final run portion though, posting the fastest split of the day and working his way into a fifth-place finish in the final half-mile.
“I had a pretty darn good run,” says Brian.
Brian redeemed himself on the bike the next day, jumping into an Arkansas Mountain Bike Championship series race at the last minute and winning.
“I knew I had a lot more to give on the bike,” says Brian.
Both Jenny and Brian will now take the next two weekends off from the Xterra circuit before returning to action at the Xterra Mountain Cup in Beaver Creek on July 18.