On a sweltering hot day in the heart of Arkansas, Americans Josiah Middaugh and Shonny Vanlandingham grabbed the XTERRA South Central Cup titles and held off previous winners Dan Hugo and Melanie McQuaid. Conrad Stoltz wasn't at the start of this event as he was still dealing with the aftermath of his injuries from the previous race.
The men
The 1500 meter swim in Victory Ski Lake was quite warm and that bothered a few competitors, but that seemed to have no impact on Craig Evans who was first out of the water. Josiah Middaugh and Nico Lebrun also had good swims and were not far behind. Dan Hugo had a relatively slow swim and had a bit of catching up to do.
Evans pushed hard on the bike and it would take his pursuers quite some time before they finally caught him. Hugo had moved up too and was in good position heading into T2 - only a few seconds behind new leader Middaugh. Lebrun was next into T2, having passed Evans just shortly before the transition area.
Lebrun was running hard and soon caught Hugo. But Middaugh was another story. Usually you "don't want Lebrun to see you on the run or he'll hunt you down and catch you." But the heat got the better of Lebrun and even though he got to see Middaugh, he didn't have anything left to actually catch him.
"When your mind starts going crazy, it’s time to slow down” said Lebrun. "I could see Josiah, but I had nothing for him."
This allowed Middaugh to cross the line in first and take his first win since his XTERRA South title last year. Lebrun hung on to second place and Hugo took the final podium spot.
"Today was a battle against the elements. The water was hot and the air was hotter," said Middaugh to slowtwitch. "I had a small cushion over Nico going into the run. He got close, but I managed a final push over the last mile to take the win. I love Arkansas."
The women
Christine Jeffrey came out of the water with the lead men and just like Evans disappeared out of sight on the bike.
Melanie McQuaid who had won all previous XTERRA Cup races this year needed a a full lap to finally catch her. Jeffrey then had a mechanical issue and fell from the top spots. That moved Shonny Vanlandingham into second place and Jen Smith into third.
McQuaid had a nice lead heading into the run, and usually that would be all it takes, but she wasn't feeling well seemingly due to some food she ate the night prior. Vanlandingham looked good and did not seem to be bothered neither by the heat, nor by other things. Soon Vanlandingham caught the struggling McQuaid and eventually crossed the line with more than 3 minutes in hand. McQuaid crossed the line in second and Smith rounded out the podium.
"The Little Rock XTERRA was a battle of attrition due to the extreme heat. But that wasn't the only extreme aspect of the race." said Vanlandingham. "A big portion of the 10K run was more like a scramble up the side of a mountain using your hands to hold on to roots and rocks so you didn't step off the cliff to your left. That's what XTERRA is about, Adventure!"
XTERRA South Central Cup
North Little Rock, AR / June 20
Top 7 men
1. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:06:06
2. Nico Lebrun (FRA) 2:07:00
3. Dan Hugo (RSA) 2:10:52
4. Mike Vine (CAN) 2:13:06
5. Brian Smith (USA) 2:15:42
6. Craig Evans (USA) 2:16:23
7. Seth Wealing (USA) 2:21:00
Top 7 women
1. Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) 2:21:24
2. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 2:24:38
3. Jenny Smith (NZL) 2:28:48
4. Rebeca Dussault (USA) 2:36:58
5. Christine Jeffrey (CAN) 2:41:56
6. Erin Kummer (USA) 2:45:44
7. Alexendra Borelly (FRA) 3:07:46
