Coloradans Josiah Middaugh of nearby Vail and Shonny Vanlandingham of Durango won the men’s and women’s titles at the XTERRA Mountain Championship Saturday at the Beaver Creek Resort in Avon, Colorado.
After two straight years of disappointing third place finishes at this rugged mountain course just miles from his home, Middaugh came from 2 minutes back after the swim, took the lead 10 miles into the bike, and held off the runs of Seth Wealing and Brian Smith to hit the line first in course record 2:12:05.
Middaugh’s margin of victory over runner-up Wealing was 19 seconds and 41 seconds over third place finisher Smith.
“I’m certainly thankful that I was finally able to take this race,” XTERRA media reported Middaugh speaking at the awards ceremony. “I’ve had a little bit of a monkey on my back these last couple years not being able to pull this one off on my home course.”
By contrast to Middaugh’s three year crusade to win this raxce, Vanlandingham continued her dominance with her third straight XTERRA Mountain Championship title.
Thanks to a recent injury, Vanlandingham’s road to victory was tougher.
Last month at the XTERRA East Championship in Richmond, Virginia, Vanlandingham caught her thumb in one of the shallow rocks in the swim and it ripped her ulnar collateral ligament in half. Against her doctor’s advice, Vanlandingham braved the pain and raced Beaver Creek with a special brace for the swim and the bike.
“Melanie was so strong early in the season winning three of the first four races she put me in a position by Richmond where I knew I had to win the rest of the races if I was going to defend my Pro Series crown,” Vanlandingham, last year’s XTERRA US Pro Series champion and XTERRA World Champion, told XTERRA media. “I played mind tricks on myself to let the pain in the thumb motivate me to go faster.”
Vanlandingham set fastest bike (1:22:43) and fastest run (42:52) to overcome a deficit after the swim and hit the finish in 2:30:16 with three minutes in hand over McQuaid.
McQuaid said she had not planned to race Beaver Creek until she realized that if she did not, she would jeopardize her chances of winning the XTERRA US Pro Series title after starting the season with wins at three of the first five XTERRA US Pro Series events.
At this point, McQuaid leads Vanlandingham by 10 XTERRA US Pro Series points and the series title will come down to who finishes ahead in the finale at Snowbasin Resort in Ogden, Utah in September.
“You know, this would be my favorite all-time course if it was at sea level,” McQuaid told XTERRA media as she rushed to catch a flight from Denver to California to compete at Vineman 70.3 in order to qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Las Vegas in September. “This is a big confidence booster heading into Utah, because it’s not as high as here and I felt good today.”
XTERRA Mountain Championship
Beaver Creek, Colorado
July 16, 2011
S1k / B 14.5 mi. / R 5.5 mi.
Results
Elite Men
1. Josiah Middaugh (Vail CO) 2:12:05
2. Seth Wealing (Boulder CO) 2:12:24
3. Brian Smith (Gunnison CO) 2:12:46
4. Nicolas Lebrun (FRA) 2:13:42
5. Branden Rakita (Manitou Springs CO) 2:17:19
6. Brad Zoller (Avon CO) 2:17:36
7. Jason Michaels (Lakewood CO) 2:20:18
8. Tim Reed (AUS) 2:20:24
9. Cody Waite (Lakewood CO) 2:21:53
10. Patrick Valentine (Colorado Springs CO) 2:23:36
Elite Women
1. Shonny Vanlandingham (Durango CO) 2:30:16
2. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 2:33:16
3. Kelley Cullen (New Castle CO) 2:35:00
4. Sara Tarkington (Boulder CO) 2:35:25
5. Emma Garrard (Park City UT) 2:39:59
6. Luisa Bryce (Denver CO) 2:46:42
7. Christine Jeffrey (CAN) 2:48:14
8. Suzie Snyder (Fredericksburg VA) 2:48:32
9. Kim Baugh (Colorado Springs CO) 2:51:07
10. Tracy Thelen (Colorado Springs CO) 2:54:19
2011 XTERRA US Pro Series Standing after 6 races
Pro Men
1. Conrad Stoltz (RSA) 490 points
2. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 447
3. Nicolas Lebrun (FRA) 376
4. Branden Rakita (USA) 364
5. Seth Wealing (USA) 312
Pro Women
1. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 480 points
2. Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) 470
3. Christine Jeffrey (CAN) 377
4. Emma Garrard (USA) 352
5. Suzie Snyder (USA) 331
