Film producer Lesley Paterson takes the women’s title at XTERRA Beaver Creek
Vail Daily
Courtesy photo
BEAVER CREEK — Despite being three-and-a-half minutes out of first after the swim, three-time XTERRA World Champion (and four-time runner-up) Lesley Paterson cruised to a dominant win at Saturday’s XTERRA Beaver Creek, covering the course in 2 hours, 43 minutes and 43 seconds.
“It was great. The swim was horrible but then the bike was amazing and the run was amazing, so I really enjoyed it all,” the Scottish athlete said, her relaxed posture and easy voice offering no indication of her having conquered the course appropriately nicknamed “the beast.”
“I really enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun.”
Accustomed to pulling out of the swim near rival Suzie Snyder, Paterson exited Nottingham Lake well behind the American in a time of 24:13. Maeve Kennedy was first in 20:44, with Amanda Presgraves second in 20:49. Snyder and Nicole Valentine were close back in fourth and fifth.
On the bike, however, Paterson would destroy the field, torching the 16-mile course five minutes faster than the second fastest athlete (Snyder) and 9:43 quicker than the third-fastest (Kennedy). After passing Snyder at roughly the halfway point, Paterson was “feeling really good.”
“And then I never looked back,” she said.
The 42-year-old was equally dominant on the run, covering the 10-kilometer trail in 46:00. Presgraves, who would finish in third overall (2:58:24.0), was next in 50:08, while Snyder, who finished second overall (2:52:02.3), did the run in 52:33.
Paterson isn’t sure what the calendar looks like for her triathlon interests as she is more focused on her other career as a film producer.
She wrote the screenplay and produced “All Quiet on the Western Front,” a Netflix movie based on the Erich Maria Remarque World War I novel which is set to come out later this year.
“The book is amazing. So it’s a beautiful film,” she said, adding that the movie will be in German with English subtitles. Paterson studied film during undergraduate and graduate school, and has always done it alongside racing. “As I’ve started to move away from racing and get older, I’ve started to do more film, and now film is the emphasis now that I’m in my forties.”
Her training is “feast or famine,” and often completed to allow her to simultaneously absorb media content.
“You have to keep up with so much content now because whenever you’re going into a meeting and you’re pitching ideas, you’re working with different writers and you need to know everything that’s out there,” she said. “I figured I might as well train while I’m doing that.”
Instead of group speed sessions, her sessions involve “a lot of climbing so I can be creative.”
“To be honest, this course suits that and I have so many years of experience,” she said of the training transfer to the Avon course.
Jill Sorensen of Dillon and Jennifer Razee of Edwards had a bit of a battle in the 45-49 age-group on Saturday. Razee trailed after the bike and couldn’t make up the gap despite completing the run in 55:56, the fastest in her division. Sorenson (3:10:54.0) took the win with Razee (3:17:01.3) in second.
Lisa Isom finished second (3:26:03.5) in the 50-54 age division as did Tracy Tutag in the 55-59 age division.
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