Spider Jenn Ennis Wins 2011 Xterra Fugitive Trail Adventure Race



Recent Spider graduate Jenn Ennis (UR '11) shown winning
the 2011 Xterra Fugitive Trail 10K Adventure Race (44:09) 
on June 11 at Brown's Island in Richmond. 
(Richmond Sports Backers photo) 

Jenn Ennis concluded a successful spring track season competing in the 3,000M Steeplechase at the NCAA Championships (East Region).  In the steeple she ran 10:30.27 in the 3,000m steeplechase to qualify by winning the UNC Invitational in the middle of May.

On June 11, after the spring track season Ennis concluded the year with a win at the 2011 Xterra Fugitive Trail 10K on Brown's Island in Richmond.  In the Xterra Fugitive 10K Adventure Race she ran 44:09 to win the over-all title and easily outdistance 2nd place.  The Xterra Adventure Series is not your ordinary set of races either...Their courses require you to hop across rocks, soar across streams, jump logs and zig-zag your way along single-track trails. The race is not certified and therefore is classified as ~roughly~ 10K in distance.

"The toughest part of the race was the 'Mayan ruins' which were these steps that were basically at a 90 degree angle that you had to use your hands to climb up" said Ennis. "They had a few surprise climbs like that throughout the race. Being  a steepler definitely helped in that race. At one point you had to jump over rocks across the James River equaling about 15 steeplechase water barriers in a row. It helped having run the trail systems so many times though college so i knew a majority of the trails pretty well... It was a really tough course but I'll probably do more adventure races in the future!! They are a lot of fun!"

Official race sponsor

“We can’t thank Mayor Jones, Councilman Conner, the local community and sponsor Luck Stone enough,” said Dave Nicholas, the managing director of XTERRA. “Over the last 13 years thousands of athletes have experienced Richmond in a very unique way and walked away with great stories to tell about their adventures. With Luck Stone’s support we can provide that opportunity to thousands more in the coming years and continue to perpetuate Richmond’s reputation as being a remarkable city with top notch trails."

This was the 13th year for XTERRA in Richmond...The River City is widely regarded as the sport’s finest urban adventure. Events include the XTERRA Fugitive 10K trail run, the XTERRA Richmond half-marathon trail run, free kids races, free clinics taught by pro athletes, the Paul Mitchell Cut-a-thon to raise money for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, and two off-road triathlons – a half-distance XTERRA Sport race and the XTERRA East Championship.

Link to Running Times article HERE