Shoulder fracture or not, Lesley Paterson is a force to be reckoned with. She posted the fastest bike split of the day by more than two minutes and the fastest run by a minute to win the West title in 2:24:23, three minutes ahead of runner-up Emma Garrard.
“Just so exciting to be back racing after sitting out most of last year, I was in full depression mode,” said Paterson. “Then when I crashed before Costa Rica I cried for two nights straight, but what can you do. You pick yourself up, get your Braveheart on, and think what you can do rather than what you can’t.”
It’s Paterson’s second win of the season after running down Garrard at XTERRA Costa Rica last month with a fractured shoulder. She didn’t even know if she’d get cleared to race until this week, and the extremely good news is that she says her shoulder feels okay.
“I’ve been doing every therapy I could think of for it, and I really couldn’t believe it this morning when I started two-arm swimming and it didn’t feel that bad at all. As a result, I didn’t come that far down out of the water and I felt good on the bike. On the first steep climb I passed Sara McLarty (who swam almost three minutes faster than the rest of the women) and I had already passed Suzie Snyder, Emma, and Melanie McQuaid. Emma came back at me after a couple miles and then I just went for it.”
Paterson pulled away then looked like the two-time World Champ we all remember on the run, literally flying down hills with a seemingly effortless stride.
“Ya know what’s crazy is I didn’t run for like six months over the winter to give my body some healing time, and amazingly I haven’t lost that much on my run because I was biking so much,” said Paterson, who’s next goal is to make her Olympic mountain biking team.
“I want to do the mountain bike stuff across the summer, some World Cups and the British Championship on the Olympic course and see how I stack up against some of the girls. I think I’ve got the potential, and it would be awesome to try and go for the Olympics. It may be a real long shot but why not.”
For the Paterson the XTERRA Tribe has come to love, nothing really seems like a long shot.
“For right now, it’s just great to be around these girls again,” said Paterson. “I’ve got a huge smile on my face to be around Emma and Suzie and Mel and everybody. We’re giving each other “whowahs” and cheering each other on. That’s what this sport is all about, that’s why I love it.”
Garrard posted the second-best bike and run splits to Paterson, was once again the top American female, and strode across the finish line with her son Torin who no longer needs to be carried.
“I had a pretty good race Lesley was just going really fast out there. It was nice to be able to stay up with her in stretches and see her in front for a while,” said Garrard.
Suzie Snyder, who won XTERRA New Zealand 14 days ago and was fourth at the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Champs seven days ago, is just happy to have survived the day and happy with her third-place finish.
“I’m so tired,” she smiled. “I had a descent swim and a fair bike, but then on the run my legs were cramping so bad. I’m so excited to just chill out and stay in one place for more than a day.”
Snyder is just now making the move from Virginia to Reno, Nevada, and will have a great group of XTERRA people to have fun with near her new digs.
Three-time XTERRA World Champion Melanie McQuaid was solid all around to finish fourth, and last year’s amateur XTERRA World Champ Brittany Webster – a Winter Olympian from Canada – placed fifth in her pro debut.
1 Lesley Paterson 2:24:23
2 Emma Garrard 2:27:26
3 Suzie Snyder 2:31:33
4 Melanie McQuaid 2:35:20
5 Brittany Webster 2:38:53
6 Kara LaPoint 2:40:07
7 Sara Schuler 2:40:49
8 Katie Button 2:40:58
9 Maia Ignatz 2:40:58
10 Debby Sullivan 2:45:12