[sixcol_five_last]
By Cameron O’Neal

Cameron O’Neal, Ben Dillon and Charlie Epperson have made their XTerra Guam reunion two years in a row now. (courtesy photo)
Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, Alabama was the site for the Xterra Southeast Regional Championship held on May 18th. With a beautiful lake and miles of pristine, well maintained single track mountain bike trails it is the perfect venue to host an Xterra. The event consisted of a 1.5 km lake swim, 30 km mountain bike and finished with a 10km trail run. Two of Guam’s triathletes – Charlie Epperson and myself – and former member of the Guam Triathlon Federation, Ben Dillon, had the opportunity to compete in the event. This is the second year the three of us have committed to a race and had a Guam reunion. Last year, we competed in the Xterra USA National Championship in Ogden, Utah.
The morning started with low clouds and bouts of heavy rain that only served to dampen the trails and add to the anxiousness of the 170 athletes gathered to race. At 8:30 a.m., the cannon fired starting the Championship race and the Guam reunion battle had begun!
I exited the lake first in 23:04 with Charlie about 40 seconds behind. Although Ben was third out of the water, he made up ground quickly on the twisty, technical and now very wet trails of the mountain bike leg, posting the fastest bike split of us three in 1:33:16.
Charlie also had a great bike leg and entered the second transition ready to run. I, however, had trouble on a couple of the very slick wooden bridges and was caught up in two pile up crashes with other riders that slowed me a bit. Charlie blasted out onto the run course in search of Ben and had the fastest run of the three in 39:32.
In the end though, Ben had enough time to hold off Charlie and I to win his second straight Guam reunion race in 2:42:13 finishing 28th overall and 3rd in his division. Charlie was second (2:47:03 for 39th overall/6th age group)and they both earned a drink to be paid for by me (2:56:38 for 59th overall/ 10th age group) on their standing bet for the “slowest run split buys” deal. I jokingly wanted to change the bet to be based on swim splits, but that is a future discussion. This time, I gladly paid the tab and enjoyed the chance to catch up with great friends for a little off road competition.
For anyone interested in this type of exciting and fun off road racing, we have our very own Xterra race on Guam held every March. Please visit www.xterraguam.com for more info or www.xterraplanet.com for a complete listing of the worldwide races.
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GPS Sports Calendar
February 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for January
1st
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
2nd
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
3rd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
4th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Events for February
6th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
7th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
8th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
9th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
10th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL FINALS
Events for February
12th
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 2
Events for February
13th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
14th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
15th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
16th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
17th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
18th
BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2K/5K
World Athletics Cross Country Championships
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
Events for February
20th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
21st
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
22nd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
23rd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
24th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
Events for February
24th
Events for February
25th
Events for February
27th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER SEMIFINALS
Events for February
28th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL FINALS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS

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