Sullivan Middaugh won the 2026 Xterra World Championships 11 years after his father won the same title. He covers his training leading up to it at altitude, how the race unfolded, and his fueling plan that carried him through.
This was the first year the Xterra World Championships were being held in Ruidoso, New Mexico. Ruidoso is at 7,000ft of elevation, so I decided to go home to Avon, Colorado for the 6 weeks leading up to the race, which is at 7,500ft plus of elevation. I spent a lot more time on my mountain bike and a few trail runs each week. I also did some more threshold-type workouts to help prepare for a slightly longer race than I usually do.
I went into the race knowing that the course suited my strengths. I felt very confident racing at altitude, especially in a similar environment to home. Going into the race, I felt that it was my best shot at winning worlds since I started racing elite Xterras in 2022.
I definitely had nerves going into the race, but I kept reminding myself to have fun and enjoy it. I like to push myself, especially on the trails, and I wanted to remind myself of that instead of making it stressful.
THE SWIM
I was able to swim at the front of the race, and at the first buoy I wanted to be as close to the front without leading, in case the field split apart. I ended up swimming the rest of the swim in second position and came out in second.
THE BIKE
The single track started pretty early on the bike, so I tried to get to it first so that I could ride at my own pace. I was able to get to it with a small gap and expand it through the opening climb and hold it the rest of the bike.
On maybe the third switchback on the course — less than a mile into the bike — I slid out and had to remount my bike. It wasn't until a little later that I noticed my bike computer had fallen off. I don't know if it would have changed anything if I had it, but I rode to how I was feeling instead of power. I think that was maybe a good thing — I was able to pace myself but also push hard without having to think about looking down at the computer.
After getting a gap early on the bike, I just raced like I didn't know what my gap was behind. I knew that a couple of the guys had very strong runs and I wanted to get off the bike with a gap if possible. I carried that on to the run. I ended up getting off the bike with around a 4-minute lead and finished the race with almost a 6-minute gap to second.
THE RUN
I felt very good coming off the bike, even though I biked hard. I wanted to take it out strong, but not so much that I might blow up. I focused on running the uphills hard and letting it roll on the downhills.
There were no spectators on the bike, so I didn't know any splits until the second transition. Once I got on the run, I saw my family, including my mom, sister, and grandparents. On the second lap of the run, I saw my dad and brother on a two-way part of the course. I was able to give my dad a high five, and that gave me some more motivation for the rest of the race.
FUELING
The night before the race, I had pasta with marinara sauce and vegetables, plus garlic bread on the side. Then I topped off with First Endurance Ultragen recovery drink.
The morning of the race, I had two pieces of toast with peanut butter and jam, 3 hours 15 minutes before the race. I had a Nomio shot and an Amacx beet shot 3 hours before the race started, then bicarb (19g) about 1 hour and 45 minutes before the start.
My fueling plan:
Take an Enervit 40g gel 15 minutes before the swim started.
Fueling on the bike was fairly difficult because the majority of the climbing was at the beginning, leaving few opportunities to eat later. I had a 40g Enervit gel 5 minutes into the bike, 1 bottle of Maurten 320 that I drank from frequently, then 1 Carbs Fuel gel with 100mg caffeine at the high point of the race about 30 minutes in.
On the run, I had 2 Enervit gels that I took at the beginning of each of the 5k loops. This was roughly 120g of carbs per hour.
The conditions were perfect, with mild temperatures around 60 degrees and sun. I think I could have drunk more water with electrolytes, but I had no issues in the race. I was unable to fully finish my bottle of Maurten because there were not many opportunities to drink and the race took less time than expected — I may have missed out on 40g of carbs. Next time, I think 1 bottle would be enough to save some weight.
WORLD CHAMP, 11 YEARS AFTER HIS DAD
I don't think I expected to feel a certain way crossing the finish line, before the race or during it.
When crossing, I felt joy. I was mostly happy with how I executed the race, and a little relieved that I reached a huge goal of mine.
It was a crazy feeling to win the World Champs after my dad did back in 2015. I grew up immersed in XTERRA and went to watch many of my dad's races as a kid. I was in Hawaii when my dad won that year, and that memory of watching him race was in the back of my mind on race day.
