RICHMOND, Va.—Josiah Middaugh of Vail, Colo., and Melanie McQuaid of Victoria, British Columbia, won the XTERRA East Championships on Sunday.
The race consisted of a 0.7-mile swim in the James River, an 18-mile mountain bike race over Richmond’s James River Park System trails and a 6.2-mile trail run.
Middaugh became the first American since Michael Tobin in 2000 to win the men’s event.
Middaugh passed South African Dan Hugo with less than a mile to go in the run and crossed the line in 2 hours, 2 minutes and 51 seconds. Hugo finished 24 seconds behind.
Conrad Stoltz, winner of the last three East Championship titles, had more than a minute lead halfway through the bike race before puncturing his back tire. Stoltz fell far back in the pack by the time he repaired his tire and chose not to continue.
McQuaid, a three-time XTERRA world champion, also won the women’s race in Richmond in 2004.
The Canadian went ahead to stay early in the bike portion and finished in 2:18:45, more than four minutes ahead of runner-up Jenny Smith of New Zealand.
Richmond was the third of five stops in the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series.
Hugo holds a 61-point lead over Craig Evans of Spring Hill, Tenn., in the series points race. McQuaid has a 51-point lead over Danelle Kabush of Canmore, Alberta, in the women’s division.
