Marathon riding - what's it all about?

The tenths season of the MTB marathon events is here – how time flies when you are having fun. If you are a regular to the events or you have followed them over the last few years then it is more than likely that you have heard the story of how this all started once or twice before. I believe it was at some point in the summer of 1999 when John and I were chatting at one of the National Point Series events about events. The question came up if we could run a marathon type mountain bike event which were already the main kind of the event in main land Europe. And with his ‘lets do it and think about the potential problems later’ attitude he say ‘Yes. Let’s do it’. Less than a year later and after lots of more thinking about the details and the potential problems we gathered more than 800 riders at the Royal Welsh showground and run the first marathon over the hills surrounding Johns hometown Builth Wells. From there is snowballed into a series of now five events covering (almost) the whole country.

2009 will see a continuation of our proven concept and the addition of 2 new locations in Wales. We will also continue with the GORE BIKE WEAR Road Sportive series which will be run at three of the five 2009 events. This will turn our events even more into a cycling festival, hopefully has something to offer for everyone (no matter what sort of riding you prefer) and will offer lots of reasons to make a proper weekend of it with your family and friends. Please go to www.gorebikewearsportives.com for further details and entry facilities of the GORE BIKE WEAR Road Sportive Series 2009.

Anyway now onto what is going to happen in 2009 and how it is going to happen.

First of all the HOW:
The Merida Bikes MTB Marathons are non competitive events with no winner and no looser. All rounds have mass starts with all course lengths starting at the same time behind a pace car. We have been trying, and will continue doing so to sort out potential bottle neck problems at the beginning of the rides but as the tracks and trails we can use are limited that might not be 100% possible all the time. Every rider has to register either on the Saturday or the Sunday morning where you get the detailed briefing for the ride, various vouchers and your number board. The number board has to be fixed on the handlebars and has to be clearly readable when passing checkpoints and the finish line. The start of the rides is on the Sunday morning where a final verbal briefing will be held. As the ride goes over public roads every rider has to obey the Highway Code at all time – this is extremely important as you might ride towards a Land Rover or tractor even on remote off-road sections.

The courses are fully marked so that no map, compass or navigation skills are required. Around the course our energy food sponsor High5 will be present with energy drinks and food as well as with water. Alongside the energy backup, the Merida mechanics will be out there trying to help everybody with any technical problems. The feeding stations are normally between 15-20km apart but should not be understood as the sole source of food and drink. Check out the 17 Commandments and the FAQ section for some useful information regarding eating, drinking and the general running of the events.

We have four different courses at each event to choose from. The Mini Marathon which with its approximately 25km course, is specifically set out for families and beginners, a short course that is approximately 50km long, a medium course that is approximately 75km long and a long course that is normally around 100km long. With a selection of distances at five different events you will find the perfect setup to progress from the Mini or the short course all the way to the long course in one year. A tough job but possible!

Camping and parking facilities are available at all UK events and are included in the entry fee, so if you fancy making a proper weekend out of it come along on Friday and stay all the way to Monday morning. Facilities like showers and toilets are going to be available over the whole weekend.

Once you’ve managed to complete your ride and come over the finish line make sure you don’t just race past the commentator and the timing crew as you would miss out on your unique finisher present and on your chances of getting one of the many spot prizes that we will give away again. As always we will have bike cleaning facilities near the finish line where you can clean your bike for your next outing or simply your drive home.

Now the WHERE:
The 2009 Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series is going back to some of the locations of the previous year as well as adding new ones to the line-up. Four events will be held in Wales, and one event will take place in Scotland. Please see the homepage and the ‘Event page’ for the complete rundown of where and when the events are going to take place. Besides the UK based events we are proud to announce that the ‘Merida Bikes MTB Marathon on Holiday’ round in Bad Goisern, Austria will be part of the series for the 6th year in a row.

Another event that has made its mark over the years and we are happy to welcome it once again into the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series is the (as far as we aware) only night marathon – the EXPOSURE LIGHTS BIG NIGHT OUT. For the last four years the ELBNO has launched the new season and will do so once more in 2009. The night marathon as the name suggest follows the same concept as the ‘normal’ marathon while being simply run at night. Around 300 riders have been taken up this unique challenge each year and enjoyed the fascination that is night riding.

The ELBNO is followed by the ‘Spring Marathon’ on the following day which allows lots the hard core riders out there to have two rides in one weekend. As always one final word of warning after this brief introduction to mountain bike marathon riding: our events are not for enthusiasts only. The shorter courses are put together with novice riders in mind with the difficulty of terrain increasing with the length of course. If you feel that you could do with some extra technical riding tips join one of the CycleActive classes on the Saturday and try to put your newly learned skills into practice the following day. We would like to ask everybody to ride within their technical abilities and not putting themselves or others at risk.

From the fitness point of view we believe that everybody can do it who goes out in the months leading up to event and rides his or her bike, and possibly even follows the training planner. If you are worried that your fitness is not sufficient, start off with the short course and work your way up to the long one over the next couple of events. Once out on course you can always reduce the course length. For the young riders and absolute beginnings who want to tackle the Mini Marathon the guys from CycleActive always have a riding instructor out on course who could help with any other problems you might have.

So I guess this should have given everybody a brief overview of what the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series 2009 is all about.

Michael Wilkens Co-Organiser of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathon Series If you have any questions you can get hold of us via email info@mtb-marathon.co.uk or you can ring John Lloyd on 01982 552923.