Josiah Middaugh from Eagle-Vail, Colorado and Lesley Paterson from Scotland captured the 15th annual XTERRA Pan American off-road triathlon elite titles on a beautiful morning at Snowbasin Resort near Ogden, Utah on Saturday, September 15, 2018.
In the men’s elite race Middaugh came out of the water less than one-minute behind the leaders, took the lead from South Africa’s Bradley Weiss at about mile eight on the bike, and took the tape in 2:26:34. Weiss finished second in 2:30:32, and Sam Long from Boulder, Colorado was third in 2:31:18.
One of the race favorites, 2016 XTERRA World Champion Mauricio Mendez, had to drop out during the mountain bike section due to a broken saddle on his bike that couldn’t be repaired.
Brad Zoller had the fastest swim of the day, but Mendez was second out of the water and was charging hard on the bike. Branden Rakita was next, followed by Ian King, Brad Weiss, Karsten Madsen, and Middaugh, who interestingly, didn’t know Mendez was out of the race.
“Going up Wheeler, Brad Weiss was riding off the front and Karsten was riding really well,” said Middaugh. “I caught them both and couldn’t see Mauricio. I thought he was a good minute or two ahead of me up the trail. I thought I was having a really bad day.”
It wasn’t until after the bike-to-run transition that Middaugh realized he was in the lead.
“I thought I was chasing and was pleased to find out otherwise,” said the 18-year veteran of XTERRA who posted the fastest bike split of the day.
Brad Weiss experienced Middaugh’s hardcore racing strategy first hand.
“Starting the climb on the bike, I thought if no one wants the lead, then OK, I’ll take it. But as we gained elevation I could feel the altitude starting to creep in. When Josiah caught me, I thought, OK, try to stay with him. At last year’s race I managed to stay with him the whole ride, but this year, he kept surging and surging and I thought man, this is miserable. You got to give it to Josiah. When you race the King of Altitude at altitude you always have your back against the wall. I’m happy with second. It’s my best result here at the Pan Am Champs and it’s a great stepping stone to Maui.”
At T2, Middaugh had more than two-minutes on Weiss, and Karsten Madsen’s ride was strong enough to launch him into third place, which he attributes to a solid six-week training block in Vail working with Middaugh.
Sam Long – who grew up mountain biking in Colorado - also had a strong bike segment and was only 20-seconds behind Madsen coming out of transition. As the youngest elite in the field, just 22-years old, Long surprised only himself with his performance today.
Walter Schafer had the fastest run split of the day, which was enough to nudge bolt him into fifth place overall today. Madsen finished the race in fourth after Long passed him, and Weiss held on to second-place.
In the women’s elite race Paterson was seventh out of the swim, caught Suzie Snyder at about mile five of the bike and never looked back. Her winning time of 2:52:12 was more than nine-minutes faster than Snyder, who placed second. Fabiola Corona finished third in 3:04:49.
In past years, Paterson battled Lyme’s disease as well as several injuries, but the “Scottish Rocket” is nothing if not tough.
The day started with Magali Tisseyre, a road triathlon star from Montreal, coming first out of the water followed by Julie Baker, Jessie Koltz, Suzie Snyder, Fabiola Corona, and Allison Baca.
“I was seven minutes back in the swim but that’s pretty typical of me at altitude and I know that,” said Paterson.
After T1, Paterson passed most of the athletes ahead of her on the climb up Wheeler Canyon but it took her a bit longer to catch Snyder.
“Suzie did really well, and I was stoked to see that,” said Paterson, who had the fastest bike split of the day. “I passed her about a mile outside of Wheeler and then once you are in the weeds, it’s just about attacking.”
Snyder missed a few races last year because of a health condition that affects her vocal chords and her breathing.
Behind Snyder, Fabiola Corona from Mexico and Allison Baca from Colorado were engaged in a battle that began on the bike course. Corona came out of the water fifth with Baca just behind her.
“We rode together the whole way,” said Corona. “I told myself to keep her pace and keep it strong and follow her uphill because she is such a good climber.”
Paterson passed Corona and Baca at about mile two of the bike course. Then the two athletes passed Baker and Tisseyre.
“I passed Allison on the downhill and moved into third,” said Corona. “Then Allison caught me in transition, so we were running together again. It was both a physical and mental battle for me to push. It was a tough fight.”
About three kilometers from the finish, Corona moved ahead of Baca, but just when she thought she could relax, she looked back and saw Tisseyre.
“I really wanted that podium,” said Corona. “On the downhill, I was like a snowball. I didn’t care. It was podium or die and I didn’t care. So, at the end I was really, really happy with third place.”
Tisseyre was fourth in 3:06:21. Allison Baca was fifth in 3:07:18.
MALE ELITE:
1 Josiah Middaugh, USA 2:26:35
2 Bradley Weiss, RSA 2:30:32
3 Sam Long, USA 2:31:19
4 Karsten Madsen, CAN 2:32:15
5 Walter Schafer, USA 2:35:21
FEMALE ELITE:
1 Lesley Paterson, GBR 2:52:01
2 Suzie Snyder, USA 3:01:39
3 Fabiola Corona, MEX 3:04:50
4 Magali Tisseyre, CAN 3:06:21
5 Allison Baca, USA 3:07:18