Posted by: Shauna Farnell
Most people know Josiah Middaugh. He’s the local triathlete/coach that has singularly dominated the GoPro Mountain Games’ running and biking events for more than a decade. It’s no mistake that his time crushing it in the triathlon world over the years has earned him the nickname “Beast Mode.” In 2021, the 43-year-old Vail Valley local was inducted into the XTERRA Hall of Fame as the greatest American XTERRA triathlete of all time. And guess what? He has beast mode brethren. Josiah’s teenage sons – Sullivan, 18, and Porter, 16 – are swiftly joining their dad’s elite athletic ranks.
Last fall (2021), Sullivan and Porter both broke the 5-kilometer cross country record at Battle Mountain High School, where Sullivan graduated this spring and Porter wrapped up his sophomore year.
“Both boys have ran faster high school times than I ever did,” Josiah says. “That’s been fun to watch.”
Sullivan went on to beat his pops for the first time in a cross-country snowshoe race this winter and will head to Arizona State this fall, where he earned a spot in the university’s elite developmental triathlon program, Project Podium. He can run a mile in 4 minutes, 19 seconds — less time than it takes many people to simply get out of bed in the morning.
Meanwhile, Porter was just named to the U.S. Junior Mountain Running Team and will compete in Italy later this summer.
“They’ve had a healthy sibling rivalry their whole lives. Their main form of play growing up was racing each other, starting with made-up obstacle course races. It’s been pretty natural,” Josiah says. “I’ve actually tried to stay out of a coaching role and stay in a parenting role. It’s been good for all of us, letting it develop mainly with their own motivation and me just trying to be the best role model I can.”
Expect to see the Middaughs crushing it – and going head-to-head – in at least one, if not all, of the 2022 GoPro Mountain Games’ running and biking events.
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