XTERRA News

Middaugh, McQuaid Win East Championship

RICHMOND, VA – Father’s Day couldn’t have gone any better for Josiah Middaugh from Vail, Colorado as the 29-year-old turned in a brilliant bike and gutsy run to chase down South African Dan Hugo in the last mile to become the first American since Michael Tobin in 2000 to win the XTERRA East Championship on the epic trails of the James River Park System in Richmond today.

Middaugh, with a winning time of 2:02:51 – just 24-seconds ahead of Hugo, has been the top American in the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series for three of the last four years but this is just his second XTERRA championship race victory, and first since winning the Mountain crown in 2004.

“This one is for all the Father’s out there,” said Middaugh, who has two and four-year-old boys, to an appreciative crowd at the awards ceremony.

Overnight showers and early morning cloud cover created ideal racing conditions and a fast course with temperatures in the mid 80’s compared to the high 90’s just yesterday.

The short swim across the James River was predictably unpredictable with shallow water that was just knee deep at some points so racers could dolphin dive sections in the middle of the James.  Craig Evans was first out of the water but after a quarter-mile run to the swim-to-bike transition Hugo was first out on the bike just 14 minutes after the race started.  Hugo’s lead lasted just seconds, however, as Conrad Stoltz powered past him and started building a huge gap on the rest of the field.

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