Maui, Hawaii | Sunday, November 01, 2015 | $105,000 Purse
The XTERRA 2015 World Championship
, is almost 6 months out! If you haven’t already started some serious conditioning for this crown jewel event, now is the time! Since 2008 the island of Maui has been the host site for this prestigious event. Twenty-Fifteen marks the 20th year athletes and crew from around the globe gather to compete for The Big Show.
On Sunday, November 01, 2015, eight hundred competitors from 28 countries and 42 U.S States, ranging from professional to amateur, will gather in sunny Kapalua to test their limits. The XTERRA 2015 World Championship, is the last in a series of nearly 100 off-road triathlon races and is widely considered the world’s most intense off-road triathlon. The battle field includes a 1.5-kilometer (1-mile) Hawaiian water swim, a 30.4-kilometer (18.89-miles) mountain bike, and a 9.5-kilometer (5.9 miles) trail run through Maui’s pineapple fields and forestry.
The championship will start with the 1.5-Kilometer ocean swim (possible high surf advisory so you better be practicing) from Fleming’s Beach Park near the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua.
Krank Cycles Maui recommends getting acquainted with the local surf break shortly before the race begins. In our past years of XTERRA World Championship experience, we have seen many people wasting energy and struggling in this area (feel free to reach out to us and ask for tips since we shred the shore break regularly).
Our personal favorite section of this quest is of course, you guessed it. The mountain bike ride. A giant loop, just about 20 miles in size that takes some serious skill to conquer. Views up toward the West Maui Mountain’s are more then enough inspiration to push on for the beginning pavement section. However, a few years ago some additions have been made to the mountain bike trail. As you enter the downhill mountain bike section, you can expect some hair pin corners, on dirt roads, with sketchy, narrow tree lines.
Krank Cycles Maui has been a proud supporter of the XTERRA World Championship race over the years, which is why we hand pick mountain bikes, and cross-country bikes specifically for this section of the event. If your looking to fly over to Maui and not deal with hassle of dismantling your mountain bike, have no fear. Give us a call, or stop by our shop in Makawao, and we will set you up with a mountain bike rental, and tailor it to your request. For those of you who do plan on sending your mountain bike over to Maui, be on the look out as the date approaches for our XTERRA 2015 World Championship package deals. Our package will include, mountain bike rental, mountain bike delivery, set up, and pickup. We will be on the lookout for the best shipping prices, and make sure your mountain bike is in sound working condition with the best tires possible to help earn you that world championship title.
Ah yes, you didn’t think we forgot about the run did you? This 10k mission following the best mountain bike trail of your life is intense! You will be climbing trails through forests, transverse down steep hills, hurdle over debris, tip toe through a creek. Around the mid section of the run you will encounter a cold mountain lake (the thought to cool off here might occur). On your descent towards the ocean there will be a rope climb that might require what you think is possibly your last burst of energy. Hopefully, it is not because when you finally do hit the beach, your in for a treat. For this last stretch of the race, you will run over 250-meters of sand. Now, for those of you who have not sprinted for 250-meters in sand before, let me be the first to tell you. By the time you cross that finish line, your legs probably won’t be happy with you for the next week or so.
The feeling of accomplishment is what most will try for here. For other competitors of the XTERRA 2015 World Championship it will be the taste of victory. At any rate this off-road 
triathlon is not called a championship for nothing. To complete this test you are in the top 90% of triathletes in the world. Many try, few actually conquer. Whatever the outcome might be, there is something very important to remember. Participating on Maui in a top level, swim, mountain bike, and run event like this is extraordinary. Pushing yourself beyond all senses through your greatest physical and mental limits is truly a memory that you are sure to keep forever.