Running: SLC racer wins XTERRA event

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Salt Lake City resident Patrick Smyth made the most of his first experience in the XTERRA Trail Run Championship, winning the event held Sunday at Snowbasin Resort in Ogden.

The former Notre Dame track and cross-country athlete covered the 21-kilometer course in 1 hour, 16 minutes and 38 seconds to record the fastest time since the event moved to Snowbasin in 2011.

"This was a good excuse to get up here and get on the trail system here," the 27-year-old Smyth said after winning the race.

Lindsey Anderson defended her women's title, becoming the first female to win back-to-back titles since Lauren Fleshman did so in 2009-10.

Smyth set a quick pace from the start, shaking all his competitors except for Washington's Joseph Gray, who finished second in 1:18:01.

Gray was the co-winner of the 2012 XTERRA Trail Run World Championship in Hawaii.

The women's race was closer, with Liz Stephen, who hails from Vermont, keeping a close tab on Anderson.

The two flip-flopped the lead until Anderson, an assistant coach at Weber State, was able to pull away and win in a time of 1:27:46, improving on her winning time of last year by almost 6 minutes.

"On the last mile-and-a-half, coming back uphill again, I said, 'Ok, here we go, I'm going to go for it' and luckily it worked," Anderson told XTERRA.

Stephen was second at 1:28:12.