VAIL — How do you become the ultimate mountain man?
Try mountain biking 22 1/2 miles on Vail Mountain, road cycling another 10 miles up Vail Pass, trail running a mountainous 10K and kayak racing 4 miles down a mountain creek. Now try doing it faster than Josiah Middaugh.
Vail Valley local Middaugh, 29, won his third consecutive GNC Ultimate Mountain Challenge event Sunday to wrap up two days of competition at the eighth annual Teva Mountain Games in his backyard stomping grounds, besting runner-up Travis Macy by 17 minutes, 49.6 seconds in the endurance-based sporting medley.
“It’s a good combination of events, but it’s all about endurance, though, and I feel like I’ve got pretty good endurance,” Middaugh said. “And, you know, living here, I’m gradually picking up some of the outdoor sports. It’s just fun. It’s a fun way to compete and a good excuse to get outdoors and train every day.”
Sari Anderson of Carbondale won the women’s Challenge by dethroning defending champ Gretchen Reeves of Edwards in a flip-flop of last year’s results. After two days of competition, the women were separated by only 2 minutes, 54.4 seconds.
Team “Better Late Than Never,” made up of road cyclist Alex Hagman of Fort Collins, runner Rickey Gates of Boulder, two-time Olympic mountain biker Todd Wells of Durango and a female kayaker known only as Eva, won the team competition. Gates finished third overall in the 10K run only a day after winning the half-marathon run up Vail Pass.
Californians roll to raft victory.
Scott Waidelich and Chris Baer of Orange County, Calif., took their roles as media representatives in the Teva Raft Cross race as far as they possibly could. The editors for “Canoe and Kayak” Magazine slipped past two teams made up of members of the U.S. National Rafting Team to win the group sprint/slalom race down Gore Creek in their first attempt.
Gordon, Sutton not behind the 8 Ball.
Ruth Gordon of Canada and Sam Sutton of New Zealand snaked their way through the chaotic 8 Ball Kayak Sprint race for victories in the women’s and men’s divisions, respectively. The spectator-friendly race combines a mass start with a smash-up derby, in which noncompeting kayakers known as “8 Balls” attack the racers and attempt to slow them down throughout the course.
Winning angler.
Steve Parrott, manager of the Blue Quill Angler fly shop in Evergreen, won the Costa Del Mar Two-Fly fishing competition.
Scott Willoughby: 303-954-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com
