Weiss, Slater win XTERRA Asia-Pacific Champs; Jacqui Allen second in Taiwan

(All images below © XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship)

The fantastic 2019 season of South Africa’s Bradley Weiss continued on Saturday, with victory at the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship at Kenting National Park, Taiwan.

Winner at IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa in January and a recent winner at IRONMAN 70.3 Taiwan too, the 2017 XTERRA World Champion adds another off-road victory to XTERRA South Africa in February. Great Britain’s 2017 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship Silver medallist, Jacqui Allen, took second in Taiwan – though will have finished with a smile, given that she was beaten by an athlete that she coaches, Penny Slater (AUS). That’s a good day all round, reflected in the header image.

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Xterra Asia pacific Champion ! Speechless. What a day, what a race and what an amazing location, thank you @xterratawain 🤗 thanks so much to @jacqui220tri who pushed me every step of the way and has taught me everything I know. Now time to soak it all up😊 📸 @carelduplessis @xterraoffroad @xterra_taiwan @triaustralia

A post shared by Penny Slater (@pen_slater) on Mar 29, 2019 at 10:17pm PDT

The day didn’t go quite as well for the British athlete who followed Jacqui as the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship Silver medallist, Nicole Walters, who lead out of the water but then faded to eighth – but given what she had been suffering from as explained in her Instagram post below, simply making it through the race might well be regarded as success. We’ll be seeing a lot more from her later in the season, illness free.

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Xterra Taiwan. This is such an incredible race and I was so grateful for the opportunity to come to this amazing part of the world again. The bike and run courses really were amazing, the organisation was fantastic and the support we receive is unmatched at any other event! . Unfortunately it's safe to say my race did not go as I hoped. Why is it that I feel so much pressure to put on a brave face before a race? Hiding behind a smile, telling everyone how great your training has been at the press conference, and how you are super excited to race when in reality it feels like everything is falling apart. . Now I wasn't expecting much from the race, infact 2 weeks ago I nearly cancelled my flights. I hadn't ran for 2 months, but managing a 60min run the day before travelling gave me a little glimmer of hope that I might be able to wing it. That was until I got ill the next day. You'll brush it off, it's just a sniffle, it'll be gone and I'll be fine on race day… This very much wasn't the case, add jetlag to the party and I really did feel like shit. There would be no winging it this time. Especially not in a championship race against so many strong girls! . Still, I gave it my best and got round in one piece. Maybe I can redeem myself at xterra Cyprus this weekend but for now it is time to see if I can get healthy whilst doing the most travel I have ever done in 48 hours… 🇹🇼➡️🇨🇳➡️🇬🇧➡️🇨🇾 . #xterrataiwan #xterracyprus #raceoffroad #crosstriathlon #swimbikerun #traintravelrace 📷@carelduplessis

A post shared by Nicole Walters (@coleywalters89) on Apr 1, 2019 at 1:30am PDT

The weekend went much better for Nicole’s husband, ‘Little’ Doug Hall. He was very happy with his seventh place in a quality men’s race. “Happy with my race today, 7th place in the strongest field the Asia-Pacific champs has ever seen. I still feel there is more to come, fitness was good but I was lacking that top end speed that comes with a couple of races under the belt.”

If approaching three hours of racing on Saturday wasn’t enough, Doug had also signed up for the 26km XTERRA Kenting Trail Run on Sunday as well, where he finished second overall (FULL RESULTS). “The course rates as one of the best I’ve ever run, so tough but so scenic.”

XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship, Taiwan – Saturday 30th March 2019
1.5km / 26km / 10km – FULL RESULTS

PRO MEN

1st – Bradley Weiss (RSA) – 2:29:06
2nd – Sam Osborne (NZL) – 2:30:56
3rd – Brice Daubord (FRA) – 2:33:44
4th – Ben Allen (AUS) – 2:38:17
5th – Maxim Chane (FRA) – 2:44:15
6th – Lewis Ryan (NZL) – 2:44:20
7th – Doug Hall (GBR) – 2:45:35