Reigning XTERRA Pan America Tour Champion Josiah Middaugh is undefeated so far in the season, which is a stunning accomplishment both because of the talent of the competition and the unpredictable nature of the event itself. Middaugh has been up against the best athletes in the world, in all kinds of weather, in races from Colorado to Costa Rica. And he is still on top.

Middaugh won XTERRA Costa Rica, XTERRA Oak Mountain, and XTERRA Beaver Creek, where he finished 40 seconds ahead of reigning XTERRA World Champ, Mauricio Mendez. Then he continued his streak at XTERRA Mexico and XTERRA Dominican Republic.

Despite his undefeated season, Middaugh is currently in second place in the XTERRA Pan Am Pro Series Standings, behind Branden Rakita. A consummate professional, Middaugh is in it to win it and is going for both the XTERRA National/Pan Am Championship and the XTERRA Pan Am Pro Series title.

“The Pan Am Series has always been important to me, but the rules changed this year, making it more challenging,” said Middaugh. “I have tried to remain focused on winning big races. I am in a good position and feeling optimistic going into the championship race in Utah especially since it is worth double points.”

Currently, Rakita has 466 points to Middaugh’s 450.

“It isn’t all about winning, but I know what winning form feels like and if I can get there and then execute on race day I will be satisfied.”

While training to peak for a specific race involves synchronicity of training, nutrition, and recovery, Middaugh doesn’t make it more complicated than it needs to be.

“I think the secret to my consistency is my consistency,” he said. “There are lots of excuses not to get out there and do the work, but I just don’t ride that bus.”

Middaugh adds that because he has always juggled his athletic career, coaching, and family, he takes a very scientific approach to his training, partly out of necessity.

“My lifestyle is different than the perception some people have of elite athletes who spend six hours per day training, then napping, compressing, stretching, rolling, massaging and sleeping nine plus hours per night. I think that is why I sometimes relate better to the highly driven age group athletes who are juggling career and family.  So yes I am busy, but I’m not complaining about it. It’s a good life.”

A 12-time XTERRA National Champ, Middaugh won by slim margins to runner up Braden Currie the last two years. In 2015, Middaugh won by 26 seconds, but last year, the race came down to whatever timing chip came over the line first. In the closest finish in XTERRA’s 21-year history, Middaugh finished in 2:20:23.57 to Currie’s 2:20:23.64.

Clearly, Middaugh has a target on his back going into the XTERRA National/Pan Am Championship race on September 16th, but this doesn’t rock his steady focus. He admits that the XTERRA National Championship will be his toughest race so far in the season, but he hasn’t lost sight of the fact that he simply loves what he does.

“I really enjoy the XTERRA Nationals course and the setting,” he said. “Something about spending time in the Wasatch mountains in Utah while the leaves are changing recharges my batteries after a long season.”

 

XTERRA PAN AM PRO SERIES STANDINGS After 9 (As of 8.13) S S S S G S G G S PL NAME, NAT TOT ARG CHI CRC BRA OAK VIC BVR MEX DOM 1 Branden Rakita, USA 466 56 47 56 DNS 69 61 58 63 56 2 Josiah Middaugh, USA 450 DNS DNS 75 DNS 100 DNS 100 100 75 3 Kieran McPherson, NZL 320 DNS DNS DNS 67 63 DNS 41 82 67 4 Jean-Philippe Thibodeau, CAN 282 61 56 61 DNS 37 67 DNS DNS DNS 5 Gonzalo Tellechea, ARG 217 75 67 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 DNS 6 Cedric Wane, TAH 208 DNS DNS DNS DNS 41 51 63 53 DNS 7 Brian Smith, USA 208 DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 DNS 75 58 DNS 8 Julien Buffe, FRA 182 43 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 51 9 Francisco Serrano, MEX 172 DNS DNS DNS DNS 82 DNS DNS 90 DNS 10 Karsten Madsen, CAN 165 DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 75 DNS DNS DNS 11 Ryan Ignatz, USA 149 DNS DNS 51 DNS 53 DNS 45 DNS DNS 12 Felipe Moletta, BRA 136 DNS 61 DNS 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 13 Maximiliano Morales, ARG 118 67 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 14 Chris Ganter, USA 114 DNS DNS DNS DNS 58 56 DNS DNS DNS 15 Ian King, USA 108 DNS 27 47 DNS 34 DNS DNP DNS DNS 16 Veit Hoenle, GER 98 DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 DNS 49 DNS DNS 17 León Drajer, ESP 94 51 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 18 Micheal Nunez, USA 92 DNS DNS 30 DNS 31 DNS 31 DNS DNS 19 Mauricio Mendez, MEX 90 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 DNS DNS 20 Sam Long, USA 82 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 82 DNS DNS 21 Felipe Barraza, CHI 75 DNS 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 22 Guiherme Goncalves, BRA 72 DNS DNS 36 36 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 23 Ben Hoffman, USA 69 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 69 DNS DNS 24 Leonardo Mata , MEX 69 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 69 DNS 25 Kris Coddens, BEL 67 DNS DNS 67 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 26 Alexandre Manzan, BRA 61 DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 27 Leonardo Chacon, CRC 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 61 28 Frederico Zacharias, BRA 56 DNS DNS DNS 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 29 Mario de Elias, ARG 53 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 53 DNS DNS 30 Henrique Lugarini, BRA 51 DNS DNS DNS 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 31 Andres Darricau, ARG 47 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 32 Diogo Malagon, BRA 47 DNS DNS DNS 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 33 Cody Waite, USA 45 DNS DNS DNS DNS 45 DNS DNS DNS DNS 34 Esteban Rosas, MEX 45 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 45 DNS 35 Greg Schott, USA 43 DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 36 Rodrigo Moreira, BRA 43 DNS DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 37 Daniel Ramirez, MEX 41 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 41 DNS 38 Federico Venegas, CRC 39 DNS DNS 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 39 Silveira Silva, BRA 39 DNS DNS DNS 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 40 Thomas Spannring, USA 37 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 37 DNS DNS 41 Joaquin Pereda, MEX 37 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 37 DNS 42 Diego Moya, CHI 36 DNS 36 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 43 Guilherme Goncalves, BRA 36 DNS DNS DNS 36 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 44 Joshua Merrick, USA 34 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 34 DNS DNS 45 Gaspar Riveros, CHI 33 DNS 33 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 46 Billy Gordon, PAN 33 DNS DNS 33 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 47 Anderson Ferreira, BRA 33 DNS DNS DNS 33 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 48 Benjamin Munizaga, CHI 30 DNS 30 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 Wellington Conceicao, BRA 30 DNS DNS DNS 30 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 50 Ryan DeCook, USA 28 DNS DNS DNS DNS 28 DNS DNS DNS DNS 51 Taylor Charlton, AUS 28 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 28 DNS DNS 52 Andres Zuniga, CRC 27 DNS DNS 27 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 53 Pericles Andrade, BRA 27 DNS DNS DNS 27 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 54 Fernando Melo, BRA 25 DNS DNS DNS 25 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 55 Leonardo Lisboa, BRA 23 DNS DNS DNS 23 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS

 

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