RIP Mike Hall - British Endurance Racing Legend

A post by the Guardian reported that one of the world's toughest and well loved ultra-endurance athletes died on the scene after being struck by a vehicle during the inaugural Indian Pacific Wheel Race, a self-supported, 3300-mile coast to coast endurance event. Hall, who was in second place at the time, had warned fellow competitors to be wary of high speed close encounters with motorists on the highway near Canberra where, ironically, the 35-year-old ultra-endurance legend lost his life.

All parties involved are cooperating with authorities, and race organizers cancelled the event only hours before it was set to finish at the Opera House in Sydney. This coming Sunday, Sydney will host a tribute ride to Hall, who won the World Cycle Race in 2012. To say Hall was well loved by friends and competitors would be an understatement. The Guardian reports:

His friend and fellow endurance racer James Hayden has set up a JustGiving page to support Hall’s mother, Patricia, and his partner, Anna. Four hours after being launched, it had raised more than £20,000.

Hayden told the Guardian: “It is a devastating loss, but Mike’s legacy will live on.

“The reason that the JustGiving page has had such a phenomenal response is that Mike was the greatest endurance racer that lived. He was the best. But he was also such a positive figure within the community of ultra-endurance racing. He set up his own race, the Transcontinental, to put back into the racing community. He was a shining light.”

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