Emotions and tears of joy for the finishers of eagleXman extreme triathlon and eagleXman 113 on Saturday 23rd of July 2022. It all started at 5am on Lake Campotosto (1.200 m above sea level), with the first rays of the sunrise creating magical colors on the fresh lake water. Full distance athletes are first to begin the swim- one hour later, followed by athletes of the half distance.
At the end of the 3.800 m swim, as for the 2021 edition, the fastest athlete to get out of the water was female racer Fabia Maramotti who kept the lead of the race also for the first half of the bike leg until the turning point in Campo Imperatore.
From there onwards the absolute protagonist was male racer Nicholas Montemaggi, who finished the long 177 km bike ride with a major advantage, dominating the 3.574 m eg on a boiling hot Italian summer day.
The picture perfect setting of the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park graced the eyes of all athletes during the final marathon: a two lap loop with a check-point at Fonte Cerreto before starting the final 6km climb…
The race provided many surprises, the most surprising one, Montemaggi pulling out of the race at km 25 of the marathon because of the extreme heat conditions of the day that made it also difficult for other participants.
The lead of the race passed on to Francesco Rapino (Briganti d’Abruzzo) who was the first athlete to conquer the finish line after climbing the final 6 km: a vertical climb that makes eagleXman special. Rapino reached the top of Campo Imperatore (2.128 m above sea level) with a time of 15 hours, 40 minutes and 2 seconds.
Second overall athlete was the first woman, British champion Michelle Parsons- a lover of the Italian country, who completed the day with her supporter husband Phil.
Each finisher, with the help of their support person,, showed courage, determination, effort and a strong bound. One of the most beautiful moments was when Claudio Minotti reached the top and crossed the finish line with his son Mirco.
Concerning eagleXman 113 (1.900 m swim, 85 km bike and 23 km run including the final 6 km climb) Tito Tiberti of Zerotrenta Triathlon Brescia won the battle against Giorgio Lampa (Civitanova Triathlon), and third place for Daniele Paolini (Team Studio Moda); on the women side, the home athlete Marina Coccia (Flipper Triathlon) finished before Angela Castellani (Grottini Team).
The emotions continued on the next morning at 11:30am in Fonte Cerreto where the awards ceremony of the full distance took place. All eagleXman 2022 finishers and their supporters were called up by Raffaele Avigliano, President of Flipper Triathlon (organizing team).
Before saying goodbye and inviting athletes to return for the 2023 edition, the final comment from British athlete Michelle Parsons answering the question “Tell us your overall thoughts about your EagleXman experience.” was “It was amazing! Now that it has finished.. but last night not really…!”
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://eaglexman.com
RESULTS: https://www.endu.net/it/events/eagle-x-man-extreme-triathlon/results