Monsters And Warriors Compete In Highland Lakes

America's premier stage race, the Tex Robertson Highland Lakes Challenge concluded this weekend with local Collis Williams defending his Monster Challenge title over two strong masters age-group long-distance national champions: Dave Barra of Kerhonkson of New York (second overall) and race founder Dr. Keith Bell (third overall).

In a dominating fashion, Collis (shown in photo with Keith) won each of the five races in the five-day Stage Race held in the Highland Lakes and finished in a cumulative time of 5 hours and 48 minutes.

Collis' sense of pace was incredible - given his victorious cumulative time last year was 5:47:22.

The Tex Robertson Highland Lakes Challenge takes place on five consecutive days in Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake, Lake LBJ, Marble Falls and culminates in Lake Travis, averaging about 3 miles each stage.

The Challenge also offered a Weekend Warrior option where swimmers raced for the lowest aggregate time for the last three stages of the 5-day race. Like Collis, defending Weekend Warrior champion Robert Alford of Austin repeated his stage victory.

Monster Challenge Top Finishers - cumulative time + 5 individual stage times:
1. Collis Williams - 5:48:08 (51:05 + 54:20 + 1:29:35 + 1:20:43 + 1:12:25)
2. David Barra - 6:02:14 (52:01 + 57:32 + 1:32:14 + 1:25:39 + 1:14:48)
3. Keith Bell - 6:28:05 (55:56 + 1:01:00 + 1:42:36 + 1:29:45 + 1:18:48)

Weekend Warrior Top Finishers:
1. Robert Alford — 4:29:50 (1:39:10 + 1:30:23 + 1:20:17)
2. Kelley Schall — 5:35:57 (2:05:41 + 1:48:00 + 1:42:16)
3. Scott McDonald — 6:00:39 (2:11:44 + 2:02:45 + 1:46:10)

The Tex Robertson Highland Lakes Challenge is one of the swims on both the World's Top 100 Open Water Swims list and America's Top 50 Open Water Swims list.