Weiss Crowned XTERRA World Champion at Kapalua

By Wendy Osher

Michi Weiss. Photo courtesy XTERRA.

Michael “Michi” Weiss of Vienna, Austria took the title in Sunday’s XTERRA World Championship in Kapalua on Maui.  (Click HERE for video of winning moment; and HERE for a pre-race interview with Weiss). The 30-year-old finished in 2 hours 27 minutes–33 seconds ahead of South Africa’s Dan Hugo, who finished second; and 1 minute, 26 seconds ahead of Spain’s Eneko Llanos, who finished third.

Weiss placed third in 2009 and 2010, and second in 2008 on Maui, when the race was held in Makena.

The course had some surprise elements as defending champion, Conrad Stoltz of South Africa dropped out at mile two of the run, citing asthma.  Prior to that, he was among the top three out of transition from the swim to the bike portion of the race.

The Kapalua Trail Runs took place a day before the XTERRA World Championship race at Kapalua on Maui. Maui's Paul Hopwood of Makawao finished 2nd in the 10K with a time of 43:33; and Lahaina's Joe Morgan finished 1st in the Hula Grill XTERRA 5K Trail Run, with a time of 21:04. The trail runs came in advance of today's XTERRA World Championships featuring Lance Armstrong, Conrad Stoltz, and other world class athletes. XTERRA Photo.

Meantime, world renown cyclist, Lance Armstrong came in with a strong performance on bike as expected, taking the lead at mile 6 of the bike course.  The run caught up with him though, placing him 10 minutes behind the leader at the finish.  Armstrong finished in 2 hours, 36 minutes, and 59 seconds–21st in the pro division, and 23rd overall.

Alexander Haas of Germany took the 2011 Men’s Amateur Champion title with a time of 2:33:37.

In the women’s division, Lesley Paterson of San Diego, CA, took the title with a time of 2 hours, 45 minutes and 59 seconds.  The others in the top five included 2nd place finisher, Marion Lorblanchet of France (2:48:08); 3rd place Helena Erbenova of the Czech Republic (2:51:51); 4th place  Renata Bucher of Switzerland (2:52:02); and 5th place Danelle Kabush of Alberta, Canada (2:54:35).

*** Supporting information courtesy XTERRA.  For full results click HERE.  Results of the Kapalua Trail Runs are available in a previous MauiNow.com post at the following LINK.