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Middaughs go 1-2 at Davos Dash in first-ever father-son sweep of legendary Vail race

39th annual mountain biking race is one of the oldest in Colorado

The Davos Dash has been running for 39 years, making it one of the oldest continuously running mountain bike races in Colorado.

Longtime Eagle County resident Pavan Krueger has been taking part in the race for 24 of those 39 years, and she exited the course happy with her time on Wednesday.

“I think I got about the same time I always get,” she said. “So that’s good.”



Course record holder Jay Henry takes on the Davos Dash on Wednesday. Henry finished 11th with a time of 19:24.
Bobby Cornwell/Special to the Daily

The course has remained unchanged throughout the race’s history. And while many surprises have occurred on the course over the years, no one had ever seen a father-son duo put down the two fastest times on the day, before Wednesday.

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Josiah Middaugh and Sullivan Middaugh were running neck and neck for a large portion of the race, but Sullivan, 17, crashed, giving Josiah the edge.

Josiah said he did feel a twinge of guilt in leaving his son behind.

“He got caught in a rut,” Josiah said with a laugh. “I looked back and he was getting back on his bike.”

Sullivan Middaugh, left, chased his father Josiah up the legendary Davos Dash course on Wednesday in Vail. The father-son duo clocked the two fastest times on the day.
John LaConte/Vail Daily

‘The hurt locker’

Josiah said his experience on the course allowed him to get the best of his son.

“It can get pretty technical with those ruts,” he said. “You end up hitting some of that stuff at 15 or 20 miles an hour.”

The race begins at the intersection of Chamonix Lane and Chamonix Road and takes riders 3.5 miles up paved and off-road surfaces to the radio tower at the top of Davos.

In the uphill-only race, Josiah said he knew Sullivan was going to be tough to beat.

“I’ve seen him put me in the hurt locker a couple times this year, so I know what he can do,” Josiah said of Sullivan.

On Friday, Sullivan won the Expert Junior division for athletes 17 and under at the GoPro Mountain Games cross country mountain biking race. Josiah entered the pro division and took seventh. Sullivan said he was thinking about entering the pro division himself at the GoPro Games, but as the track and field season is still underway at Battle Mountain High School, he was a little worn out from the recent meet.

Sullivan Middaugh at the Davos Dash race on Wednesday.
Bobby Cornwell/Special to the Daily

Also a runner

Sullivan will have another track meet on Friday, a last chance effort for the team to make it to state in the disciplines for which they have not yet qualified. Sullivan said he’ll likely compete in the 3200-meter run there, and he may even be called in to sprint in a 400-meter dash.

“I think the 4×4 team is close to qualifying for state,” he said.

In preparing for Friday’s meet, Sullivan said he’ll likely take the day off on Thursday after putting in the hard effort at the Davos Dash on Wednesday night.

While Josiah was himself a talented runner at Sullivan’s age, Sullivan took to the mountain biking side of endurance sports a lot earlier than his father. Josiah began mountain biking after college.

Sullivan said his plan at the Davos Dash was to simply chase his dad, and the plan worked out well.

“But pretty soon it will be the other way around,” Josiah said.

Top three finishers:

Pro men

1 Josiah Middaugh, 17:02

2 Sullivan Middaugh, 17:26

3 Jake Wells, 17:33

Pro women

1 Rebecca Howland 23:37

2 Tam Donelson 23:41

3 Bayli McSpadden 24:37


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