Race Report: XC Marathon National Championships, Kielder Forest

A hot sweltering day greeted riders for the 100 kilometres of the XC Marathon Championships. This year's National Championships were held as part of the Deadwater 100 Race and raced through 100km of brutal Kielder Forest terrain which, despite the glorious weather, was no easy task.

Riders set out early to avoid the hottest time of day, with the women setting out first also covering the same 100km distance. Early on, Cross-country newcomer Amy Henchoz took the lead, staying that way for the whole race. It’s hard to believe this is only her second ever XC Marathon and her first ever season racing cross-country. Amy really put in a performance deserving of her national title. Followed by Sophie Johnson in second and Christina Wiejak in third.

In the Men’s race, there was a strong field of contenders, both from the XC Marathon community as well as some XC Olympic big hitters. The pace was fierce from the get-go but soon, a pack of four were out in front ahead of the race consisting of the XCO riders. However, Ben Thomas‘ experience of XC Marathon showed with him biding his time and waiting for his moment to strike. This came on lap three of three where Ben caught the front of the pack closing a greater than 40 second gap in the process. Ben was followed by Hope Factory Racing’s Thomas Mein and Cameron Orr in third.

Alongside the elite two winners, there was also National Champions crowned in the Men’s Veterans Over 40s with Marc Chamberlain taking the win. In the Veteran Mens Over 50 field Nick Craig added another National Championship jersey to his collection. For the Women’s Over 40, Elise Sherwell won the National Champion title.

An amazing day of XC Marathon racing with riders looking forward to Round 3 of the National Series next at the Isle of Man in October.

All smiles on the start line, not sure how long they lasted

An early start for the ladies with an 8AM start time

Christina Wiejak seemed pretty happy on the start line

Although I'm not sure what Amy had said to her that made Christina pull this face

Others had their game face on

Some riders seemed quite chilled on the startline

Not sure what Cam Mason was praying for on the start line

A long solo climb up the fire road for this rider, but atleast the views were stunning

Great to XC Legend Nick Craig racing the Marathon National Champs. If you wonder just how tough this course was in the 30 degree heat, it's not very often you see Nick Craig looking this tired

There's not a minute to switch off on this Kielder course, with riders having to negotiate a big mix of terrain on both single track and trail park features

Although large portions of Kielder Forest had been felled, it was good to see that plenty of areas had been replanted and were regrowing despite the adverse weather

Christina Wiejak battled hard for third place

It was a tough day to ride with high temperatures and lots of technical climbing on offer throughout the 100km

Ben Thomas on the gas closing a 40 second gap to the race leaders

Cameron Mason was having plenty of fun

The riders climbed to the last of the feed stops which was a welcome sight on a day where temperatures reached 30 degrees

The final descent towards the start/finish line was fast and flowy

The riders not only took on food and water at the various feed stops but also took the opportunity to cool off by covering themselves with water

The last lap of the three that the Elite Men rode was fast-paced originally started with a four man breakaway with then broke to two, and then eventually one, with Ben Thomas taking the win

Some never ridden before sections were cut in just for this race, which led to some very tough riding through some very narrow single track with plenty of branches to key your eye on

Although most of the riding was done on Kielder Forest's amazing single track, there was some road and fire-road sections too

Despite riding 100km round some tough trails, most of the riders still managed to keep their spirits up

There was plenty of single track on offer for the riders through the amazing Kielder Forest

Some much-needed shade through the woods for the riders

Hope Factory Racing's new rider Thomas Mein battled hard all day with Ben. But was beaten by Ben's experience, although second place in the National Championships isn't to be sniffed at

Cameron Orr gave it his all

It was great to see XC Riders like Cameron Orr stepping up to take on the Marathon distance

Ben Thomas showed his experience by executing a perfectly prepared race plant and not getting suckered into chasing down break-aways

Amy Henchoz looked comfortable over the long distance, in fact Amy commented the longer the race the more comfortable she feels

Early on in the race Christina Wiejak briefly led the Women's field

Riders of all abilities raced, with plenty of riders enjoying the challenge of tackling 100km

Plenty of smiles on the first lap, not too sure they were there by the time the 100km mark came around

It's impossible to tape the whole 20 mile lap, so the riders have to follow tape hanging from firs like bad Christmas decorations

The riders made their way through what's normally a boggy section of Kielder Forest, but this years back to back heatwaves had made it strangely harder to ride as it was just like riding through marshmallow

There was plenty of smiles when you're heading down hill

During XC Marathons, it is one of the unique times that Men and Women compete over the same distance on the same course

Not many riders kept their jerseys closed

The fire roads meant an opportunity to put the power down

The pockets of light in the woods really showed off the amazing Kielder trails

I'm not sure all of the riders were too keen to get out of the shade that the woods provided

The hot weather really was starting to take its toll on the riders

Riders climbing out of the darkness of the woods

It was great to see the British Cycling Competition Officer for XC Mark Nulty also took the opportunity to have a cheeky lap of the Kielder course

Richard Jones powering through the long grass

Plenty of dust kicked up by the fast mass start of the Men's race

You can't switch off for a second, these fresh cut trails had plenty of invisible undulations for the riders to negotiate

Peter Armistead putting the power down along the fire road

Nadine Reilly making her way through the former bog

Kielder Forest is truly stunning in the sunshine

Another XCO Rider trying his hand at the marathon distance was Cameron Mason of Trinity Racing. Cam seemed to have alot of fun despite not being on the podium

Ben Thomas reclaimed his National Championship jersey in what was a very tough race

Amy Henchoz taking her first ever National Series jersey in only her second ever XC Marathon race. It's been a whirlwind start to Amy's XC career

Nick Craig, Elise Sherwell, Ben Thomas, Amy Henchoz and Marc Chamberlain: this years XC Marathon UK National Champions

Full Results

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Mandownmedia
Member since Nov 28, 2019
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