After two sun spoiled rounds at the start of the season the 3rd round of the Chain Reaction Cycles MTB Marathon Series powered by Mercedes-Benz Vito Sport showed once more the ‘versatility’ of the UK weather.

Our first marathon in Yorkshire had a promising start with the majority of the riders arriving at the extraordinary setting right underneath the Kilnsey Crag in perfect summer conditions. But unfortunately the weather gods had something slightly different in mind for the marathon day.

More than 1000 marathon riders lined up behind the Chain Reaction Cycles start arch ready to tackle one of the four demanding courses on offer. When the gun went at 10am it already started looking turbulent in the skies and only a short time after the last rider left the event venue, rain and heavy winds added an extra element to the already challenging trails.

Even with the challenging conditions and the last minute changes we had to make to the event the Yorkshire round of the MTB Marathon series was a great success and hopefully a great foundation for bringing an even better event to the area in 2011.

The weekend

The Yorkshire round is the only ‘classic’ marathon weekend in the 2010 series with ‘only’ the MTB Marathon to focus on. That did not keep people from arriving early turning their marathon weekend into a little mini camping trip. The Saturday was focused around signing on, going through the last few preparations for the big day, maybe polishing up on a few riding skills with the CycleActive Team, checking out the various trade and display stands in the arena and simply chilling out before the ride.

Sunday morning started with registration opening at 7am ready to sign on the few riders who decided to turn up only a couple of hours before the ride and to sort out the riders who were waiting to grab one of the highly sought after cancellation places. From then onwards everything was focused on MTB marathon riding and with the clock slowly makings its way towards the start time at 10am riders started to gather in the start arena. Exactly ay 10am more than 1000 riders made their way along the bottom of the Kilnsey Crag before heading up into the hills along the infamous Mastiles Lane to start their marathon adventure.

After just over 65 minutes in the saddle the 1st rider in the mini marathon made his way over the finish line with the 1st full distance rider being out in the elements for 4 and a quarter hours. The last rider finishing the riding tasks of the full distance and picking up the well deserved event T-shirt after 7 hours and 34 minutes.

The 3rd event of the Chain Reaction Cycles MTB Marathon Series 2010 powered by Mercedes-Benz Vito Sport was a great success with lots of worn out looking yet smiling faces coming over the line. But if you couldn’t make it to the July round or did not get an entry in in time don’t worry there are still two events left in the 2010 series.

Photos and website updates

At this event we had 2 photographers out on the course; our regular photographer, Jon Brooke and his colleague – the idea being to give you an even greater selection of images to choose from. Check out Jon’s website www.rightplacerighttime.co.uk where you can find your photos to view and to buy. We have also made some further updates to the www.mtb-marathon.co.uk site so keep an eye on the news in the top left hand corner.

Upcoming events

• 31st July – 1st August – Selkirk (CycleOps Power Road Sportive to be run on Saturday and the MTB Marathon on Sunday)
• 18-19th September – Ruthin (ELBNO Night Marathon to be run on Saturday and the MTB Marathon on Sunday)

Find out more at www.mtb-marathon.co.uk