Xterra World Championship success for Goodman brothers

Finlay and Oliver Goodman from Bodiam both recently competed at the Xterra World Championships in Molveno, Italy where there was a first ever Youth and Junior Championships being held the same weekend as the elite and age group races. Set in the scenic town of Molveno with the Dolomites as the backdrop to the event, they both got given wildcard entries based on their running, mountain bike and triathlon results this year. Oliver was in the 14-15 age category having only just turned 14 a couple of weeks before. He had a 400m swim in a chilly Lake Molveno, followed by a 2 lap mtb course of 8km and then a final 2.5km trail run. He came out the swim in 35th after getting pushed over at the start as people jostled for swim position before working his way through the field on the bike to the top 20 at the start of the run. He then managed to get to 15th overall at the finish line, only 40 seconds off a top 10 finish.

Finlay was in the 16-17 category as a younger competitor. He had a 750m swim, a brutal 16km MTB course with 600m of elevation with 18% gradients, that also included descending through the town of Molveno, followed by a technical 5km xc run. He had a good swim coming out the water in 4th place. A couple of riders pulled away on the climb on the bike before it spread out even more on the descent. Finlay came out onto the run in 5th position, just over 2 minutes down on the leader. He started working his way through the field having spent a lot of time looking at the run route two days before, using his trail running skills on technical downhill sections. He appeared on the lake shore final 1km run in section in the lead and held on to it to cross the finish line 24 seconds ahead of 2nd place and become Xterra World Champion in the Youth category, also beating the older Juniors who were in the same race. They had plenty of support back home as the race was being live streamed on Youtube. They will definitely be looking to compete in more Xterra events next year, with the World Champs once again being held in Molveno before heading to Asia the following year.

It's been a successful few months for them both. Finlay won the Southern XC mtb series in his category with Oliver 3rd in his category. Finlay also won the British Triathlon Champs at Mallory Park in his age category and came 2nd overall in the national Super Series. Oliver was selected for the South East triathlon team for the younger age categories at the champs. He had a rare mishap in his heat, misplacing where his bike was in transition, meaning that he missed out on qualifying for the A-final. He turned things around in the B final though by coming 2nd.

They now turn their attention to the xc running season with hopefully a trip to the schools fell running champs in Yorkshire and then the various Sussex XC League races where they compete for Brighton & Hove AC, along with one or two local races for their 2nd claim club Hastings Runners. They will also fit in a few cyclocross races when they can.

Finlay is very grateful to all who helped him with his GoFundme page he set up to help him get to the Xterra Champs, in a sport where there is limited funding or sponsorship available. He is particular grateful to the funding that Home and Castle Estate Agents from Polegate contributed as well to help him get to Molveno and for Race Offroad with their assitance at the championships.