The first round of the Chain Reaction Cycles MTB Marathon powered by the Mercedes-Benz Vito Sport kicks off this weekend with the Exposure Lights Big Night Out marathon at Builth Wells on the 11 April.

As in the years before the Night Marathon will be run on Saturday evening and will get started at 7.30pm. The registration for the first event will open at 12pm on Saturday and will stay open till after the start of the night marathon. It will reopen on Sunday morning at 7am and will stay open till 9am. The start of the Chain Reaction Cycles MTB Marathon is at 10.30am on Sunday morning – giving the night riders who want to go out again an extra half an hour in bed.

The event including the trade village, registration and camping will be based at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells which will be signposted from Friday afternoon onwards. Simply make your way to Builth Wells and follow the signs to the event village. The event will be open from Friday afternoon all the way to Monday morning – ideal for everyone who wants to make a proper cycling weekend of the first round of the series.

Entries are still coming in. If you have sent your entry form in the post in the last couple of days we might not be able to get you the confirmation back in time. But don’t worry – everybody will get in. You don’t need a confirmation to sign on. The online entry (www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/entry_forms/entry_forms.php) will stay open till Friday lunch time. Please make sure you don’t enter after that as we might not be able to get your entry in time. If you haven’t entered at all but still want to come along and ride the ELBNO night marathon and/or the Spring marathon simply come to the registration in the event village and enter on the line. Please be aware that there is a £5 surcharge for entries on the day. Don’t forget that there is £15 discount if you enter both events. So even if you have entered one event already and decide on the day that you quite fancy th

Exposure Lights will be on site with the multi-award winning range of cable free designed Exposure MaXx lights including the much loved MaXx-D front light, Joystick MaXx helmet lights and the much loved Diablo amongst their other lighting offers. They will also be providing a charging station on-site for everyone that needs a quick top up for their lights. Please be aware though that the charging station is only for top ups and that everybody should make sure that they come with their lights fully charged.

Even with rain being fairly frequent in the area over the last few weeks (as everywhere else) the conditions on the ground are surprisingly good with the ground drying quickly and the wind helping along nicely. The weather forecast for the rest of the week and the weekend is very good with no rain and the sun coming out. So as it looks we are going to have a spring like start to the season once more.

More at www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/local_services/local_services.php.