Ruzafa and Duffy Win $20,000 Each in Maui’s XTERRA World Championship

Courtesy XTERRA / Jesse Peters

By Wendy Osher

More than 800 endurance athletes from around the world participated in the off-road XTERRA World Championship triathlon held in Kapalua on Maui over the weekend.

The course featured a 1 mile swim, a 20 mile mountain bike ride, and a 6.2 mile trail run on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014.

Ruben Ruzafa, 30, of Malaga, Spain took the men’s title after completing the course in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 56 seconds. The win marks his third for the XTERRA World Championship and his ninth consecutive win this season, according to event organizers.

Ruzafa, who defended his title from last year called the 2014 race, “really special.”

“I’ve been racing the whole season and I prepared the entire season for this. I knew that we were working in a good direction,” he said in an event press release.

Ruben Ruzafa of Spain took the men’s title after completing the course in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 56 seconds. XTERRA photo courtesy Jesse Peters.

In the women’s race, 27-year-old Flora Duffy of Devonshire, Bermuda took the women’s title after a third place finish last year.  She was the first woman to cross the finish line this time around in 2:47:59.

Duffy won despite a fall and mechanical problems in the bike section of the race.  “I was really shaken (after the crash). This was the first time I had crashed that hard on the race and for it to happen in the world champs that messes with your head,” said Duffy in an event press release.

“You really just have to take a deep breath and calm down, realize these things happen in mountain biking on a super gnarly descent, and just get back on your bike. I think of it in the perspective that the girls behind you are having their own issues. No one is having a perfect race out there because it’s so brutal, just stay calm and keep pedaling,” she said.

Ruzafa and Duffy each received $20,000 for their respective victories at the 19th annual event.

XTERRA World Championship Men’s Results: 

1. Ruben Ruzafa, 30, of Malaga, Spain, 2:29:56, $20,000
2. Josiah Middaugh, 36, of Vial, Colorado, 2:31:11, $12,000
3. Ben Allen, 29, of North Wollongong, Australia, 2:34:50, $7,000
4. Dan Hugo, 29, of Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2:36:28, $4,000
5. Mauricio Mendez, 19, of Mexico City, Mexico, 2:38:55, $2,500
6. Bart Aernouts, 30, of Merksem, Belgium, 2:38:56, $1,500
7. Conrad Stoltz, 41, of Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2:38:57, $1,000
8. Michael Weiss, 33, of Gumpoldskirchen, Austria, 2:39:06, $800
9. Rom Akerson, 30, of Paquera, Costa Rica, 2:39:40, $600
10. Bradley Weiss, 25, of Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2:40:09 $500

XTERRA World Championship Women’s Results: 

1. Flora Duffy, 27, of Devonshire, Bermuda, 2:47:59, $20,000
2. Barbara Riveros, 27, of Wollongong, Chile, 2:50:04, $12,000
3. Nicky Samuels, 31, of Wanaka, New Zealand, 2:56:31, $7,000
4. Emma Garrad, 33, of Park City, Utah, 2:56:54, $4,000
5. Helena Erbenova, 35, of Jablonec Nad Nisou, Czech Republic, 2:57:56, $2,500
6. Suzie Snyder, 32, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, 2:59:53, $1,500
7. Charlotte McShane, 34, of Mount Taylor, Australia, 3:02:59, $1,000
8. Melanie McQuaid, 41, of Victoria, Canada, 3:03:17, $800
9. Jacqui Slack, 31, of Stoke On Trent, Great Britain, 3:03:45, $600
10. Carina Wasle, 30, of Kundl, Austria, 3:04:54, $500