Josiah Middaugh edged Mike Vine on the run after a race-long duel while three-time XTERRA World Champion Melanie McQuaid shut down all opposition with a race-best bike and run to win XTERRA Canada on the rugged course at Whistler, British Columbia.
The men
Vine and Middaugh came out of the two-loop swim in Alta Lake 4th (17:53) and 6th (18:28) respectively, behind Jordan Bryden (16:31), Branden Rakita (17:02), and Conrad Stoltz (17:05). But the race really started on one of XTERRA’s toughest bike courses, full of hills and rain-slick roots, rocks and mud. With early season dominator Conrad Stoltz still suffering from a bad cold, Middaugh and Vine rocketed to the front and finished with virtually identical 1:06:43 splits that put 5 minutes or more on the chasers.
Middaugh took fastest bike split by just one hundredth of a second. “I like going uphill and the technical stuff was OK” Middaugh told XTERRA’s President Janet Clark. “But Mike Vine was awesome - he was whaling that stuff – it was crazy. I was trying to keep it close, but he would put 40 seconds on me on the descents.”
“I haven’t been racing these guys all year,” Vine told XTERRA. “I raced in Saipan in March and since then I started my new career working full time at a physical job,” said Vine. “I came out to have a good time today and it felt good to go full throttle and let it rip. But for Josiah to come up here and ride these trails that well is impressive.”
Near the end, Vine paid the price for his demanding new work schedule and lost touch with Middaugh near the end. Middaugh’s race-best 44:21 run brought him to the line in 2:09:30, 52 seconds better than runner-up Vine and 8:07 better than third place Branden Rakita. Stoltz, who dominated many of the late spring and early summer XTERRA events, took a wrong turn on the run and faded near the end and came 6th, 15 minutes back of Middaugh.
The women
Christine Jeffrey came out of the swim in 16:35, just four seconds back of fastest male pro Jordan Dryden and 2:46 ahead of Melanie McQuaid, who was just coming off a 3rd place at the Tri-California pavement triathlon at Alcatraz. Feeling strong, McQuaid posted a spectacular 1:18:28 on Whistler single track, which was 8 minutes better than second-best mountain biker Joanna Harrington and a whopping 16:32 better than Jeffrey and 15:20 better than XTERRA elite regular Danelle Kabush.
“I can’t bike that” said Jeffrey to XTERRA’s Clark after the race. “I really struggled with that super technical Whistler single track. I had a few problems and took a few tumbles.”
If anything, Canadian McQuaid took pity on her rivals. ““This is home,” said McQuaid, who lives relatively nearby. “So it is kind of unfair, as it is all about my kind of single track. XTERRA is a mountain bike triathlon. Different courses suit different people, and I think anyone who can do this race can be proud of their ability.”
McQuaid’s women’s race-best 51:39 put 2 minutes 35 seconds on Jeffrey in the run and led to a 16:20 margin of victory on her fellow Canadian.
Alberta, Canada’s Danelle Kabush, who gave birth to her second child just three months ago, took 3rd, another 4:49 back of Jeffrey.
"Trying to get the endurance back [after the birth] is the toughest part,” Kabush told XTERRA’s Clark. “I’m half way through my four-race season and trying to be as fit as I can. This course is super fun. The rain made the roots a little slick, and I had a few good crashes.”
XTERRA Canada Championship
September 5, 2010
Whistler B.C., Canada
S 1.5k / 19k MTB /R 11k
Results
Pro men
1. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:09:30
2. Mike Vine (CAN) 2:10:22
3. Branden Rakita (USA) 2:17:37
4. Cody Waite (USA) 2:20:41
5. Adam Wirth (USA) 2:23:31
6. Conrad Stoltz (RSA) 2:24:12
7. Jordan Bryden (CAN) 2:29:35
8. Kirk Turner (USA) 2:32:02
9. Karsten Madsen (CAN) 2:33:14
Pro women
1. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 2:29:28
2. Christine Jefffrey (CAN) 2:45:48
3. Danelle Kabush (CAN) 2:50:29
4. Joanna Harrington (CAN) 2:59:09
5. Tanis Tomlin (CAN) 3:00:47
