Championship / Sprint Course Description

The course at Oak Mountain State Park in Shelby County, located in the southernmost part of the Appalachian Chain, is praised by competitors as being one of the most fun, fast, scenic and difficult on the XTERRA schedule.

The largest park in the Yellowhammer State, Oak Mountain has 52 miles of trails spread among 9,900 lushly forested acres and includes rolling hills, stream crossings and the technical, pine-studded ridges of Double Oak Mountain.

The race starts in Double Oak Lake, a long narrow warm water lake.  Sprint racers swim a 750-meter loop while championship competitors double that with two 750-meter laps separated by a short beach shuffle in-between.

From there the long, single-loop 20-mile mountain bike course starts at about 500 feet elevation, twists, turns, and rolls through the forest for seven miles then begins a gradual 700-foot climb to the summit.

The descent is a fast, wild ride highlighted by the notorious “blood rock” section – a series of tricky to maneuver, uneven and jagged rocks. After descending through Blood Rock section, take a right turn onto Centipede Trail for 0.8 mile making the connection to the very fun and flowing Jekyll ‘n Hyde trail, eventually crossing Terrace Park Rd. and onto Mr. Toads Trail, Family Trail and finally Rattlesnake Ridge trail back into transition.

The full course bike is 20.5 miles in length with 1650ft of overall elevation gain.

The sprint bike course starts with a climb up Peavine Road then connects to the full course at the Centipede Trail and follows the super fun downhill single track to the finish.

The 10K championship run course (5k for Sprint) goes around Double Oak Lake on hard-packed, tight, and twisty trails with scenic views at every turn and passes through the main arena at the midway point so spectators can follow the action and cheer for their favorites.

Runner’s World Magazine called the trails one of America’s “Crown Jewels – 25 best trails in the nation,” and the International Mountain Bicycling Association granted them the prestigious EPIC Rides Hall of Fame designation – given only to those rare trails “guaranteed to blow your mind.”

Credit belongs to the Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers (BUMP) and Shelby County for the continued development of world class trails.  BUMP has spent more than 100,000 hours in design and construction of new trails over the past 20 years in conjunction with the efforts of County Manager Alex Dudchock and Oak Mountain Superintendents.

Xticer Course Description

We start with a 200 meter swim in Double Oak Lake before getting on the bike for a 10k ride (about 6 miles).  You’ll head up Peavine Falls Road for about a mile and connect onto Double Oak trail and Rattlesnake Ridge Trail back to the main compound.  It’s about 1 mile of road and 5 miles of sweet trail.  Put on your running shoes for a short 2k (a little over a mile) – mostly road up towards Peavine Falls and then a final section of trail to the finish line.

2019 Race Details

2017 Results: Xterra / Sport / Xticer

2016 Results:  XTERRA S.E. CHAMPS / Xterra Sport 

2015 Results:  XTERRA S.E. CHAMPS / Xterra Sport

2014 Results:  XTERRA S.E. CHAMPS / Xterra Sport

2013 Results at athlinks.com: XTERRA S.E. CHAMPS / Xterra Sport

2012 Results: ITU World Champs / XTERRA S.E. CHAMPS / Xterra Sport

2011 Results: XTERRA S.E. CHAMPS / Xterra Sport

2010 Results: XTERRA S.E. CHAMPS / Xterra Sport

2009 Results at: besttimescct.com / athlinks.com  

2008 Results at athlinks.com: Olympic / Sprint / / Duathlon

2007 Results at athlinks.com: Olympic 

2006 Results at athlinks.com: Olympic / Sprint