The MTB-Marathon series has been announced and for 2011 there will be five events, with two brand new venues debuting for the first time.

The Chain Reaction Cycles and Mercedes-Benz Vito Sport sponsored series will kick off in April and run through to September stopping off at Builth Wells, Llandovery, Shopshire, Selkirk and Ruthin.

As in previous years all events will have four different courses to choose from so that every rider can find the right lengths and level of difficulty. The exception to this rule are the Exposure Lights Big Night Out weekends where there is one course length on Saturday night and three-four different lengths on Sunday.

The courses are approximately 25, 50, 75 and 100km long. All marathons are run as non-competitive one loop rides with the start and finish being conveniently located in the event village and the camp ground. All rides have mass starts where all courses and categories start together. 

Dates and venues

Builth Wells – Wales 9-10th April 2011

Chain Reaction Cycles Spring Marathon / Exposure Light Big Night Out (Night Marathon)

NEW – Llandovery – Wales 21-22nd May 2011

Chain Reaction Cycles MTB-Marathon / CycleOps Power Road Sportive  

NEW – Marshbrook – England (Shropshire) 2-3rd July 2011

Chain Reaction Cycles MTB-Marathon / CycleOps Power Road Sportive 

Selkirk – Scotland 23-24th July 2011

Chain Reaction Cycles MTB-Marathon / CycleOps Power Road Sportive 

Ruthin – Wales 17-18th September 2011

Chain Reaction Cycles MTB-Marathon / Exposure Light Big Night Out (Night Marathon) 

The new events

We are heading to Llandovery for the May round – an area which event organiser and course designer has been studied for years, followed by the July round taking us to Shropshire, to the small village of Marshbrook. A special feature of the Marshbrook round is going to boasts the longest single-track in Shropshire, possibly the longest in England. All events will be double events with either a Exposure Lights Big Night Out Night Marathon (at the April and September round) or a CycleOps Power Road Sportive run on the Saturday.

Head to www.mtb-marathon.co.uk to enter now.