By J.T. Keith El Rito Media

jtkeith@elritomedia.com

If a sporting event announcement by a world-wide company had a one, two punch, left, right, jab, jab Ruidoso scored a one-round knockout on Tuesday, March 25, 2025

XTERRA, an extreme endurance sport triathlon, announced it will hold its World Championship in Ruidoso in the summer of 2026.And when was the last time a world-wide sporting event in Italy was displaced by Ruidoso, New Mexico?

The announcement was made at a press conference at the Downshift Brewery by Steve Andrus, XTERRA-Americas Tour Manager. In his remarks addressing why Ruidoso was chosen for the World Championship, the 6 ‘ 7” Andrus, who looked like he could tackle a mountain trail on foot or bike right that moment, became emotional, pausing to speak and then saying he had seen the village immediately after the fires and floods and had been overwhelmed the community’s resilience. He also loved the terrain for his racers.

So, he looked at Italy, current site of the World Championships, and then Ruidoso.

“Caio,” Ruidoso.

“Arrivederci,” Italy.

This year’s world championship is being held in Molveno, Italy, before moving to Ruidoso in the summer of 2026 for a multiple year commitment. Estimates indicate the local community will receive an economic boost of over $12 million a year.

But that is then and here is now. We get a preliminary glance at an EXTERRA event this summer as a prelude to next year.

August 15 to 17, 2025 XTERRA will hold its Gold Level Event in Ruidoso. The XTERRA Gold Level Event will start at Grindstone Lake Recreation and run through the Trial System in Ruidoso.. The Gold Event will offer a $15,000 purse for the Elite Athletes and will treat the events as a championship-level event.

Also, there will be a 10k event for athletes who are not XTERRA athletes on Sunday., November 17.

How did this happen?

A year and a half ago, Eddie Ryan, the Village of Ruidoso manager of events and strategic partnerships reached out to Andrus inviting him here.

Ryan said he had seen the event before and knew it was high-quality. He wanted it in Ruidoso.

“I reached out to them (XTERRA) and started a conversation with them,” Ryan said. “I was very fortunate to have them come to Ruidoso, and they thought it would be a great place to hold an XTERRA event, so we started the process. And here we are.”

The village had been wracked and torn by the two fires and subsequent flooding, and was in shambles but citizens were fighting back. Andrus visited and saw the heart and fight of the community. He said he saw the resiliency. That spirit that Ruidoso showed in overcoming adversity, fire and floods made an impact on him.

“All of the places we have been,” Andrus said, “you guys have the potential, you guys have a world-class resort horse trail and an untouched market. You have a pride about your community.”

What makes XTERRA unique is the values it possesses in the community. The race is a small part of XTERRA. XTERRA is an off-road triathlon, unlike the traditional triathlon, which has the biking and running part of the race on the road. In XTERRA, the biking and running take place on mountain trials.

Andrus said the World Championship event will be broadcast live across the world.

“We at XTERRA are not looking at this as an event, but an investment in the community,” Andrus said.

The Village of Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said the economic impact for Ruidoso for the athletes that will come here, it will be an estimated $12 million dollars based on a $60 a-day food budget, which is conservative estimate for a World Championship event.

“This event will influence the region of Southeastern New Mexico,” Crawford said. “For a small town that has been fighting floods, it is hard to believe that we are going to be on an international stage.”

Crawford said the people coming into Ruidoso for the event will be coming over from Europe and that 97% of the people will be outside Texas.

The XTERRA sport started in 1996 in Maui, Hawaii and was there and for 20 years, before moving to Molveno, Italy. The World Championships returned to Hawaii in 2021.

Along with the race, the week will include an Under the Stars Concert at Wingfield Park, a kid’s race. The event will have an XTERRA Movie Night featuring X-Discovery Video Story Collection and a free 10K on Sunday.

According to Ryan, the town has 1,300 hotel rooms, 1,500 RV spaces, and close to 4,000 rooms for short-term rental. The Village of Ruidoso is hoping to have 4,000 people attend the event