By Roxane Kippen, Team OAM NOW Tri-athlete
Off-road triathlon is the perfect racing scene for a mountain biker who wants to give the three-discipline sport of triathlon a try and also provides a new challenge for an existing triathlete who wants to mix things up by trading a time trial bike and pavement for knobby tires and wooded single track trails. OAM NOW triathlete, Roxane Kippen, specializes in this style of racing, and has started the 2014 XTERRA Triathlon race series by finishing in the 3rd overall female spot at two recent Midwest races.
Off-road triathlon (XTERRA) races include a smaller field of athletes than many road triathlons, but its top racers are fast and skilled. 
The swim portion of an XTERRA is much the same as a road tri, but the bike and run legs require some technical ability, and often times courage, to maneuver single track trails with rocky climbs, root-covered down hills, tight turns, log piles, and off camber “goat paths”. Each course is different and distances range from ½ mile to 1 mile swim, 10 mile to 30 mile mountain bike, and 3 mile to 10 mile trail run.
XTERRA DINO Logansport was held on June 14 at France Park in Logansport, IN. The ½ mile swim was in a rock quarry with a backdrop of a high rising cliff that would actually serve as part of the 2 loop, 10 mile mountain bike course. The 2 loop, 4 mile trail run included a rocky hillside climb which required good balance and precise foot placement. An excellent video of last year’s race with the awesome coverage of the course can be found here. Roxane finished 3rd overall female with a time of 1 hour 50 minutes (a 6 minute improvement to her time a year ago) behind a woman who has been on the age group podium at the XTERRA World Championships multiple years and another woman who has been the XTERRA regional age group champion at a number of regional championship races.
XTERRA East Fork was held on June 21 at East Fork State Park in Bethel, OH. The 1000 meter swim was up and down the long pebble beach of a lake in the state park. 
The 2 loop, 12 mile mountain bike was one of the most technical bike courses of any in the region. With rain in the days leading up to the race, the trail was left slightly wet and very slippery on the rock and root sections, resulting in some crashing and bruising for many of the competitors. The 6.5 mile trail run was challenging jaunt through the park’s backpacking trail with several bridge crossings over rocky ravines and a few brutally muddy sections. Roxane again finished 3rd overall female with a time of 2 hours 58 minutes. This was a new course for her and she hopes to come back and improve her time and position next year.
The OAM NOW triathlon team has selected XTERRA Ionia as a team event and plans to have a good showing of team members willing to get a little dirty in their tri kit. Check out this local off-road triathlon event and come out and cheer them on July 27 at Ionia State Recreation Area.
