STOLTZ NEW FOE, MARCEAU: While it certainly was a bummer that Steve Larsen didn't stick around to perpetuate the classic Steve vs. Stoltz match-up at Xterra Championships this year, racing fans need fear not for the “Caveman” has a new foe - Olivier Marceau! The current Swiss short distance champion and former ITU World Champ (2000) has seven Xterra races on his schedule this year. Three of those events (Keystone, Richmond, and Lake Tahoe) are part of the Nissan Xterra USA Championship series, meaning Marceau will join a growing pack of Pros trying to dethrone Stoltz, the series champ three years running. Marceau won the Xterra Czech Republic Championship in 2002 and placed fifth at the Nissan Xterra World Championship the same year. In that race (his only head-to-head with Stoltz) he posted the third-best swim, second-best run, and held a substantial lead during the early stages of the bike before a flat took him out of title contention. Stoltz won.

In a letter to race director David Nicholas, Marceau said that Xterra racing would be good training for the Olympic games. He's also racing at Xterra Saipan, Xterra Austria, and Xterra Czech before the Olympics race on August 26 in Athens. His final two races of the season are at the USA Championship in Lake Tahoe, Nevada (Sept. 26) and then Worlds in Maui (Oct. 24). Of course Stoltz already has an imposing list of adversaries with the likes of Xterra specialists Nicolas LeBrun, Justin Thomas, Tyler Johnson, Dominic Gillen, Jason Chalker, and Josiah Middaugh. It is Marceau, however, who has all the tools necessary to become rival No. 1.

ANOTHER DOUBLE IN PARADISE: The Hawaiian Airlines Double Award, given to the athletes with the fastest combined Ironman Hawaii Championship and Nissan Xterra World Championship times, has inspired another - the Pacific Islands Club Double. And just like the original, the PIC Double will be held in an exotic location. The island of Saipan in the middle of the Western Pacific Ocean will host the Xterra Saipan Championship on April 17 and the Tagaman Triathlon a week later on April 24. The man and woman with the fastest combined Xterra and Tagaman time will win $500, 6-days/5-nights at the Pacific Islands Club, and return airfare for next year from Continental Airlines. The Xterra race starts with a 1.5-kilometer swim in crystal clear waters, follows with a 30k mountain bike ride that traverses island terrain to the top of Mt. Tapotchau (the highest point on the island at 1,545 feet) and finishes with an already legendary 12k run that takes competitors past WWII relics and through secret jungles and caves. The Tagaman is a road triathlon consisting of a 2k swim, 60k bike on flat roads, and a 15k run along the west coast. In between the two races the Marianas Visitors Authority is producing the “Saipan Sports Fest” - a weeklong celebration with more races, games, clinics, and gatherings (see schedule below).  One of the clinic instructors is none-other than Olivier Marceau!

KAHUNA'S KORNER: Welcome to 2004. This will be one heck of a year not only for Xterra but also for history. It's a leap year (that means 366 days for those of you from Canada), a Presidential election year that will provide some of the hottest discussions and arguments in years, the Olympics back in Greece where they started, Lance going for an unprecedented 6th, and a renewed Nissan Xterra USA Series and World Championship. Our schedule is shaping up and getting finalized quickly and we'll have more than 40 races in eight regions in 28 States plus 9 other National Championship events in New Zealand, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Holland, Japan, Canada and Germany. So don't get too upset if schedules change a bit…that is a whole lot of planning to get accurate.

Thanks to our fabulous friends at Nissan we are announcing a $70,000 increase in pro prize money for 2004. This will bring the total to $300,000! So dust off the mountain bike, start stretching and get back to training. The season starts in Arizona with the first Nissan Xterra Points Series race in Mesa. And, as an extra prize for this being such an unusual and exciting year, anybody with a birthday of February 29th gets a free entry into any race, anywhere this year. How's that for Happy New Year?

Nissan Xterra World Championship
Pro Purse ($130,000) @ Maui
Rank Men Women
1st $25,000 $25,000
2nd $15,000 $15,000
3rd $8,000 $8,000
4th $5,000 $5,000
5th $3,000 $3,000
6th $1,750 $1,750
7th $1,200 $1,200
8th $1,000 $1,000
9th $800 $800
10th $700 $700
11th $600
12th $500
13th $400
14th $300
15th $300
*Double $2,500 $2,500

Nissan Xterra USA Championship
Pro Points Series Purse ($70,000) @ Lake Tahoe
Rank Men Women
1st $14,000 $14,000
2nd $7,000 $7,000
3rd $4,500 $4,500
4th $3,000 $3,000
5th $2,000 $2,000
6th $1,200 $1,200
7th $900 $900
8th $700 $700
9th $500 $500
10th $450 $450
11th $400
12th $350
13th $300
14th $250
15th $200

Nissan Xterra USA Championship
Pro Purse ($40,000) @ Lake Tahoe
Rank Men Women
1st $5,000 $5,000
2nd $4,000 $4,000
3rd $3,000 $3,000
4th $2,400 $2,400
5th $1,800 $1,800
6th $1,400 $1,400
7th $1,000 $1,000
8th $700 $700
9th $500
10th $400
11th $300
12th $200

Nissan Xterra Regional Championships
Pro Purse ($20,000) @ Big Bear, Richmond, & Keystone
Rank Men Women
1st $2,500 $2,500
2nd $2,000 $2,000
3rd $1,500 $1,500
4th $1,200 $1,200
5th $900 $900
6th $700 $700
7th $500 $500
8th $350 $350
9th $250
10th $200
11th $150
12th $100