Josiah Middaugh and Mexico's Fabiola Corona captured the titles at XTERRA Mexico on August 4,^, 2018 in Tapalpa, Mexico. The race included a 1500 meter swim, a 30K mountain bike ride, and a 10K run.

It’s the third win of the XTERRA season for both Middaugh and Corona. Middaugh, the 2015 XTERRA World Champion, won XTERRA Oak Mountain and XTERRA Dominican Republic while Corona won XTERRA Argentina and XTERRA Dominican Republic.

Elite Men’s Race a Game of Cat and Mouse

In the swim, Mexican ITU triathlete, Irving Perez, who won the 2017 Yucatan ITU World Cup, was the first out of the water in 19:32 and gained almost a minute on the rest of the pack. Leonardo Saucedo and Esteban Rosas were out next in 20:17, followed by Branden Rakita, who was about 30 seconds behind.

“I was swimming with Rosas, and Saucedo,” said Rakita. “Karsten wasn’t too far behind and then Kieran McPherson and ‘Paco’ Serrano were just behind. Josiah had a rough swim.”

“I had a pretty atrocious swim,” admitted Middaugh, “But I felt fine, no issues. I got on the bike and I didn’t hear any splits but I knew I had a big gap to make up. I kept pressing the whole time, but I was riding in no man’s land for most of the race.”

While Middaugh was putting his heart and soul into catching up, the leaders kept looking over their shoulders, expecting to be caught. They were pedaling as hard as they could to stay out in front of Middaugh, who is an expert climber with a knack for riding at altitude.

“I had a pretty good swim,” said runner-up Kieran McPherson. “I got out of the water with Paco and I knew he would be heading out to the front of the race on the bike. We worked well together to reel the front guys in. On the climb, there was a group of four of us – Branden, Paco, myself, and Irving Perez – who were working well. I tried to attack the second climb to make a get but we were still together at the top. My game plan today was to get over the top of the first hill before Josiah caught us, but we managed to stay away until the last three kilometers of the bike.”

Canadian Karsten Madsen, who is usually solid on the bike, had a big crash on a steep downhill and lost ground to the leaders.

“On the bike, I worked to stay as close to the leaders as I could,” said Madsen. “On the downhill, my bike went away from me and I tumbled halfway down the hill. I had to really persevere to stay on track.”

During the last three kilometers of the bike course, the pack included Middaugh, McPherson, Rakita, and Serrano. Each was trying to make it into T2 before anyone else, but they all entered transition together. Middaugh had the fastest bike split of the day with 1:21:35 followed by Francisco Serrano with 1:24:10 and Kieran McPherson in 1:24:21, showing just how well matched these athletes are.

In transition, McPherson had some trouble with his shoes and lost about 15 seconds, which ended up being the difference between first and second place today.

“The ten to fifteen-second gap I lost in transition remained the ten - to fifteen-second gap that Josiah and I stayed apart for the rest of the run,” said McPherson, who remained positive about the outcome. “I’m pretty happy with how it went today. It was a showdown of the top five on the XTERRA Pan Am Tour, and it truly lived up to its expectations. I’m really looking forward to XTERRA Quebec when we all meet up again.”

After Middaugh left T2, he was followed by Serrano and then McPherson and Rakita.

“It was a footrace from there on out,” said Rakita. “Those guys steadily got away on the run. Paco and I fell off the back and it was a cat and mouse game with Josiah and Kieran.”

Middaugh finished in 2:25:04 with McPherson just 18 seconds back in 2:25:22. Karsten Madsen was third in 2:25:53.

Kieran McPherson typically runs like the wind, and usually, the only XTERRA elite who can get an edge on him is Mauricio Mendez. Today, however, the fastest split on the run belonged to Canada’s Karsten Madsen, who has been supplying the fireworks all season with his surprising performances. McPherson admitted that he rode his heart out and didn’t have much left in his legs for the run. Madsen, on the other hand, was left with a bad taste in his mouth after his ninth-place finish at XTERRA Beaver Creek last week and was frustrated with his crash on today’s course.

“I had the mental fortitude to tell myself that if I ran really hard I could get myself back into the top,” said Madsen. “So I put my head down and ran as hard as I could. This was an incredible field of athletes, an exhilarating race, and I was fortunate to get on the podium today.”

Madsen finished the run in 37:22, almost a minute ahead of Middaugh who ran it in 38:15. McPherson posted a split of 38:22.

“That was a hard race,” said Middaugh, after crossing the finish line. “I feel good now that it’s over but I was suffering out there for sure. Now, I feel a bit of relief and a whole lot of joy. As a professional athlete, I’m always questioning myself, but today was a validation of my training.”

Then Middaugh said that maybe his win was due to his years of experience. (Middaugh celebrated his fortieth birthday last week at XTERRA Beaver Creek.)

“I’m pretty pumped to have my first win in my new, 40-plus age group,” he said with a wink. “I have to kind of take it to these young guys a bit. It’s good to be back on top, at least for a little while.”

ELITE MEN RESULTS

LaPoint and Corona Battled for Women’s Title

The women’s race was a battle between XTERRA Pan Am Tour leader Fabiola Corona and Kara LaPoint, who is currently ranked second in the XTERRA Pan Am Standings.

“Today was perfect,” said Corona who had no issues on her home turf today and cruised to a victory in 2:59:10. “XTERRA Mexico is the best.”

La Point was second in 3:01:34 while Mexico’s Maria Barrera was third in 3:07:45.

“I’m really happy with my race today,” said LaPoint. “I felt strong and consistent throughout the day. Some of the most amazing swimmers I’ve ever seen were assembled here today and I ended up last out of the water with a much bigger gap than I would have liked on the bike.”

On the swim, Andrea Gutierrez, who finished fourth, had the fastest swim split of 21:38 and fastest run split of 44:45. Corona had the fastest bike split in 1:44:50 and LaPoint was close behind with a 1:45:16. She also had the third fastest run split of the day.

ELITE WOMEN RESULTS

XTERRA Pan Am Tour Elite Standings

In the men's XTERRA Pan Am Tour Elite Standings, New Zealand's Kieran McPherson remains on top with 652 points followed by Canada's Karsten Madsen with 508 points. Josiah Middaugh moves into third after today's race with 499 points, with Branden Rakita behind him with 490 points. Brian Smith also made a jump today after finishing seventh at XTERRA Mexico. He now moves into the number seven spot with 209 points, while Alejandro Sfriso and Rafael Juriti bumped up as well.

The women's XTERRA Pan Am Tour Elite Standings remain consistent with Mexico's Fabiola Corona in the lead with 529 points followed by Kara LaPoint with 503 points and Kelly Montgomery with 395 points.

Next up on the XTERRA Pan Am Tour is XTERRA Quebec on August 18^th.

ELITE STANDINGS AFTER TEN