Trek Marathon Series Round 1
Thetford, April 8 2007
Report & Images Joolze Dymond
Trek Marathon Series
Trek Marathon Results
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Event Report
Above: The marathon riders get underway Sunday dawned, with a bright sun shining down on another day with plenty of hot racing action in the offing. This time the races were split into 3 distances 25, 50 or 100km, around a slightly extended version of the course used the previous day's XC races, including more of the spectacular and unrelenting singletrack that Thetford has become famous for. The boys from Thetford MTB (the same ones behind D2D) designed the course, once more pooling all their experience and utilizing their local knowledge to provided an interesting and varied course which, despite it's reputation for flatness, worked the riders pretty hard.
Over 100 riders, including some who obviously couldn't get enough of the trails, having raced the day before, set off at 10am to start the first of 8 laps of the 12.5km course. In amongst the front runners were defending series winner Robin Seymour, current National Marathon champ Nick Craig along with enduro specialist Kate Potter.
The format has slightly changed this year, with the 100km riders going off first, followed by the 50 & 25km riders 2 hours later, with the aim of all the events finishing roughly at the same time.
100km
After a disappointing finish in the elite XC race Seymour was hoping to better his performance in the enduro, very soon a small group of riders containing Seymour, Craig, Will Bergfelt, Richie Mardle, got a gap and worked hard to keep the lead. By lap 2 Mardle, suffering mechanicals, got shelled out, whilst Bergfelt did his best to attack, and rode strongly on the front. By lap 7 Seymour and Craig were out on their own until they were caught by the fast moving 50km riders. Craig got caught in a crash involving one of the 50km riders, which gave Seymour the chance to jump and get a gap. Despite a hard chase Craig could not get back on terms with the Irishman and disappointedly had to resign himself to 2nd spot, whilst a strong finishing Simon Ernest picked up 3rd. Robin told me later: "I'm surprised I got the win, I thought Nick was stronger, and I thought, "Here we go again. It was sort of neutralised when the 50kms caught us, and we rode with them for a while. Nick wasn't in the position at that time to keep attacking me as we were going flat out anyway. I think it sort of affected his game plan. When it came to the last climb it just became an all out sprint and then another sprint on the fire road
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Will spent a lot of time on the front he's a good big guy to sit behind. I knew the 50kms were catching us on the 7th lap, so I put the hammer down and only Nick could come with me. Up till that point I felt terrible, but I ate and drank enough I kid of came round. Better result today. I can't do any better than winning can I?!"
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Above: Thetford's tight singletrack plus the excellent weather made for fantastic racing
When I spoke to Nick after the race, he was, as usual, his diplomatic self, disappointed to lose the race but ever the pro that he is complimentary to his main rival Robin: "It all came down to the last drag I think I started it off I jumped and Robin responded and then attacked and I couldn't respond which surprised me. He got dropped half way round the last lap, so I was surprised he came good, but I should have known that Robin certainly has the will to push hard. He did it in the end. Crashing into the back of Billy Joe didn't help out there, but Robin rode a strong race and he did well to recover as he seemed to be having a rough patch out there."
In the women's 100km race it was seasoned enduro rider Kate Potter who was looking on paper to be strong favorite. Though after such a hard race the day before she was unsure of how today's racing would go: "I wasn't sure how I was my legs were going to feel after the race yesterday, so I just started and tried to keep up with the guys, I just took it easy and towards the end my form kicked in and I felt really good over the last couple of laps."
She had some good competition with seasoned enduro riders Elizabeth Scalia, Jenn Hopkins (now back on her trusty singlespeed) and Ruth McGavigan all giving chase. Potter, fresh from her tour down under, was on blistering form, revelling in the copious amount of singletrack and thoroughly enjoying herself in the process. She did have one scary moment when a ripped tyre nearly put paid to her winning ride, she managed to get back to the pits unscathed to replace it and continue on. She won with a comfortable margin of over 7mins. McGavigan held off Scalia in an inspired ride to take 2nd with Scalia settling for 3rd.
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A very tired but extremely delighted Tracey Miles took the honours in the 100km vet women's category, rueing her decision to take the winter off: " I'm very happy plus very surprised. I haven't raced for 6 months and it was just so painful, that's all I could think of as I was going round, pain. I remember what it's like now after 8 laps. The course was great but yeah, I don't think I'll have a winter lay off again, I think I'll race here over the winter."
Meanwhile roadman returning to mountain biking Paul Ashby rode a tough race to take the men's Vet race, despite a tumble or two during the event: "That was a tough race, really tough. I was in the front group and got a puncture early on and by time I got it mended it was a long hard fight back to the front. I passed Gavin (Rumbles) and I don't think he was feeling too good. I was battling with the other chap (Michael Powell) and eventually I got the better of him, it was fairly close in the end only a couple of hundred yards at the end. Yeah it was a tough race."
50 and 25km
At midday, a couple of hundred more riders took to the trails competing in the slightly shorter distances of 25 and 50 km. Gareth Montgomerie, keen after his fantastic 4th spot in the elite XC race the previous day, took up the mantle and led the 50km race from the front, with Dan Booth, Billy Joe Whenman and 25km rider Michael Butler all vying for position behind the strong Scot. Gareth explained to me later: "I lead a lot of the way in a group of 4 riders. 1 was just riding the 25km so it was down to 3 of us, then we caught up with Robin and Nick in the 100km. They pulled away and Dan attacked up the drag that killed me yesterday. I got back on but he got me on the sprint."
A delighted Booth took the win and told me after: "That was an excellent result, my first mountain bike win in a long time. I just went fast at the end so he (Montgomerie) couldn't get round me, I don't think I can call it a sprint, but happy to get the win."
3rd man in was youngster Billy Joe Whenman happy to have survived two 'head first over the handlebars' experiences to carry off a fine podium position.
Marcie Reinhart took her second win of the weekend, adding the 50km women's race to her first spot in the Expert race the day before. Later Marcie said, "Yeah it was fun, I had no idea what position I was in, I just enjoyed the course and tried to pass as many men as I could. It's been a good weekend, I must like these flat courses!"
Abi Greenaway and Nadine Spearing came home to claim the remaining podium places.
A fresh Dave Nelson nearly felt guilty taking the win in the men's 50km vets race just ahead of Paul Gibbons: "I felt like a bit of an intruder having not raced yesterday, but a win's a win. It was a tough race, but I managed to get in a group with about 3 other guys and we worked well together. It's a great sport and I had a lot of fun."
While in the women's vets 50km race an extremely pleased Amanda D'Arcy recently recovered from knee surgery took her first win: "Excellent result - I've never won before, I've been second loads of times so it's brilliant to finally take home a win. I'm pretty chuffed."
In the 25km races it was two youth riders who took the honours, adding these victories to wins obtained in their respective races the day before. Rebecca Thompson enjoyed the much more technical course despite it being much harder: "It was quite hard seeing how I raced yesterday but it was still good. I found the course more technical in the enduro which made it more enjoyable to ride, but much harder."
While it was Michael Butler who ruled supreme in the men's 25 km race delighted in the fact he had raced well with the 50km men along the way: "I didn't know what to expect today after the race yesterday. When I got going I actually felt a bit better than yesterday, I got mixed up with the guys in the 50km and did some of the work, so pleased to be able to mix with them and get the win in the 25km. The course was loads better than yesterday, it would have been too long for the XC, but perfect for the enduro."
Finally special mention has to go to all the guys and girls tackling the marathon on singlespeeds. The first one back was Dean Taylor explaining the delights of singlespeeding: "It was wonderful, perfect for singlespeeding - the trails were perfect, buff, dusty, but not as bad as yesterday. I'm not nearly as tired as I was yesterday after doing nearly the same distance. It was really, really good and now I can tuck into cake!"
Above: Sunshine and singletrack - a perfect combination
The beauty of these events is that every rider can approach it with their own agenda; do you want to race eyeballs out with your rivals? Or just compete against yourself, enjoying the experience? The choice is yours. It's a friendly end to a marvellous weekend with wicked riding on some excellent trails and to those that just want to see what it's all about there's plenty to see and do without racing. In the race village, visitors could check out the bike demo's provided by What Mountain Bike, plus have a mooch around the various trade stands or enjoy a freshly cooked pancake and coffee. The next round is taking place at Sherwood Pines on 13th May. Why not come along and enjoy a weekend of family fun, camping onsite, rounded off with a demo ride of some of the best bikes in the country. More details can be found - www.xcracer.com and www.bikedemodays.com.