Santa Barbara’s Dani Moreno defended her title and finished ninth overall at the 11th annual XTERRA Trail Run World Championship at Kualoa Ranch in Oahu, Hawaii on Sunday.
Moreno, a former UCSB track and cross country standout, ran the 21k race on a muddy course in 1 hour, 41 minutes, 09 seconds. She held off two-time women’s champion Polina Carlson of Hawaii, who finished in 1:42.49. Taylor Ward of Utah was third in 1:44.03.
Joe Gray of Colorado Springs was the overall champion for the third straight year and fourth time overall in 1:23.08. Brett Hales of Montana (1:25.22), the 2018 national champion, was second and Andy Wacker of Colorado (1:27.54) took third.
“I’m stoked I got to defend my championship,” Moreno told XTERRA. “It was definitely the hardest race I’ve run this year with a truly great field of women. I was excited to race with them because they all bring something different to the table.”
Moreno is sponsored by the Santa Barbara running apparel company, rabbit.
One of Moreno’s strengths is her technical ability on the trails, and her strategy was to be patient until she hit the more gnarly sections of the course.
“A lot of people say they run scared,” said Moreno. “But for me, I have to run with confidence. I told myself that when I took the lead, I had to do so with purpose because everyone knew what they were doing out here. I took deep breaths and tried to keep myself calm and relaxed.”
Moreno made sure she kept a lookout on the competition after she taking the lead.
“I don’t think I was ever unsure, but once I had the lead I was looking over my shoulder the entire time because I know these women have great leg speed. The last couple of miles, I looked back and saw Polina and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I really have to get going.’”