Montane Kielder 100 Mile MTB Marathon

Around 500 riders gathered on a warm Friday night to register and be briefed for the second Montane Kielder 100 Marathon. Despite mild temperatures just about everyone was wrapped up from head to toe as a thick cloud of midges hung in the air and attacked any flesh that was accidently exposed.

After energy bars and gels were parcelled up and deposited into the 3 large drop bags which would be taken to checkpoints around the course most riders headed D31_6792 straight to bed to avoid the swarm and get their heads down ready to line up early for the 6:30am start.

As the local villagers still slept the race started with a low key roll out behind the pace van for a couple of miles and those with serious intentions positioned themselves towards the front of the pack. 6 of last years top 7 were joined by a host of XC racers as well as the Enduro Specialists for whom this might even be regarded as a short race. Matt Page was there looking resplendent in his National 24hr Solo champion's jersey and so too were 24hr supremos Ant White, Josh Ibbett and Rich Rothwell who completed the top 4 at Newcastleton back in May.

As the van pulled over and the riders hit the dirt I'd managed to position myself behind this group hoping to at least keep them in sight for a little while. There was a little kick up the first rise but then their pace looked to settle and with the main protagonist of last year's super quick getaway, Ian Leitch, absent this year they looked like they were off to a more tempered start. By the time we hit the first climb proper though they disappeared from view, that was no great surprise but I was falling back through the 110 field rather too rapidly. A week of no sleep and a manic trip round Eurobike weren't the ideal preparation but I still thought I should be going a lot better than this; my legs were burning and heart rate through the roof and I was struggling to keep up with less serious riders. By mile 6 I had a stitch and was regretting cramming down too much food just before the off.

Up front Stephen James was the first to give the lead group the slip and get clear. Andrew Cockburn then timed his attack to bridge the gap to James without company before James suffered a mechanical at around 50 miles. After this set back James didn't have the legs to pull Cockburn back and the lead started to grow.

By 40 miles I'd had enough of beating myself up only to maintain a disappointing pace so started to chat with other riders and enjoy the ride. By 45 miles I'd lost any racing mojo I had left and talked myself into pulling out at the 50 mile mark. The next 5 miles were pressure free and I could burn the rest of my legs up a bit and have fun. It turned out later as the symptoms developed; I'd got myself run down and picked up a cold. The nice thing 537 about the course and the early start though was that the half way point was only a mile of fire road from Kielder and it was only 11am by the time I got back to race HQ. There I met Matt Page who had put in a big effort to catch the lead group after losing contact early on, only to get grit in his eye, and lose lots of time washing it out eventually withdrawing at 44 miles.

Fed, showered and changed, I had plenty of time to get up to the finish and watch the leaders come in. First to arrive in just under 8hrs was Andrew Cockburn, with shins and elbows covered in blood it was obvious he'd been on the deck but he was otherwise in good nick and certainly in good spirits. 15 minutes later Stephen James joined him at the finish having held off last year's winner Neal Crampton by 2 minutes. First of the 24hr specialists was Josh Ibbett in 5th place and first Vet was Paul Ashby in 9th. Dan Treby gave an outstanding performance to give some top endurance racers something to think about on his way to come in as first singlespeeder. Dan was on his way to a top 10 spot but wiped out at speed on a gravelly fireroad descent and ended up more or less OK but with some deep cuts and 15th place.

First Woman home was Mel Alexander who I'd seen at the half way point just before leaving the course. Mel didn't feel great then and wasn't convinced she'd make it all the way round at that pace. She dug deep though D32_9161 and managed to sneak in under 10 hours with a winning margin of over 40 minutes to Julie Fearns in second place. Heather Dawe claimed the final position on the women's podium another 4 minutes later.

All in all the event was a great day out with some good racing at the top end and a challenge for riders throughout the field. On a reputedly tougher course than last year 347 riders made the full distance within the time limit making the attrition rate something like 35%. For some a long and full season of enduro racing has taken its toll while others suffered mechanical or the broom wagon was just out to get them. The Kielder 100 is a unique and logistically challenging event for the organisers, some may have cursed certain sections of the course and everyone cursed the midges, but it all went down without a hitch and the 2010 edition was a great success. Whether they finished or not all the riders I met had a good day out and many will be back next year to take it on again.