Selkirk Marathon 2011

Last year I had missed a number of MTB Endurance events and this was one I was determined to complete. Boat booked in February, there was no turning back!

Every year (for the last 12) our very own ChainReaction Cycles (CRC) have put together a mountain bike series (often preceded with a road sportive the day before) covering 5 locations across England, Scotland and Wales. Selkirk is often tipped as the best of the bunch and after reading a report a colleague had made the year before, I knew I was in for a treat. 

Saturday morning, out on the boat from Belfast and then a 3-4 hour drive to Selkirk, located an hour south-east of Edinburgh . I had decided to avoid the option of camping (free with your entry) and gone for a B&B up the road – Haters Gon Hate, but you can’t deny the pleasant feeling of heat and a comfortable bed after a long day on the bike – plus have you seen the size of the midges out there??
 
Registration was recommended the night before – a short 5 minute stroll from my palace – where CRC had taken over a large part of the sports field at Selkirk Rugby Club and gave out a goodie bag along with their race plates and safety info. Vouchers were also given for a free Pasta Party and some free energy supplies from suppliers on site. Schwalbe were available to check bike setup and sell tires etc and a range of Vitus bikes were on display in the sunshine.
 
Morning of the Race, I went to meet Scott from work at the Rugby Club and the number of people who had arrived was astounding – they seemed to appear out of nowhere! As usual orders were given out over a PA system and then riders were off toward the hills. Hundreds of riders has assembled both in front and behind us chosing one of the 4 distances from 25km, 50km, 75km and 100km – me choosing the 50KM. The only real noticeable differences to the distances were an extra climb in each one. Scott and I raced up the main road, attempting to get as far to the front as we could before the single-track started and then turned into Bowhill (either a Golf Course or a Park of some sort) before the elevation started to go up. At this point I gotten ahead of Scott who shouted “Sure go you on ahead, I’ll see you at the finish” and I was thinking “Come on this is barely a bump never mind a hill”....having done it 4 times before, he knew what was coming.  :-(

Through the well tarmaced driveways we broke through the tree-line and begun the first climb on a fire-road which then broke into the direction of Yarrowford and Broadmeadows. Yikes!!!!! I thought "how about a photo?" as I waited on Scott and sneakily got my breath back:
 
Up and up and up we went (1,500 feet according to the Garmin) before the first break and then it was a quick sketchy descent. Several people whizzed past me – I was now setting the pace for the bunch behind – only for them to flip over the bars and tumble across the lanes.  ;-) You had to laugh at their impatience.
 
The weather was incredible at around 18 degrees and the first water stop came after an hour – with energy bars, gels, bananas and the liquid gold supplied. We didn’t hang about long and then it was back into the next climb – only 1,300 feet this time.
 
On the fourth and final climb I had had enough pedalling on the grass (MTBer’s worst nightmare) and decided to push and chat to people who were just ahead of me before the final descent. The final run into Selkirk was gnarly to say the least. I was hanging off the bike for dear life as Scramblers ripped past us (yes there was also a moto endurance race taking part on the same course and it was difficult not to take a wrong turn and follow them down through the fun parts) through a water-splash where a photographer awaited and then back toward the road we had started on. 

Someone from CRC shouted my name, people cheered and then it was finishers photo-op and T-shirt followed by some burgers and pints. What a day, I was wrecked!!
 
 
Another one to be recommended for next year. Finished in 4 hours 30 minutes and stats can be seen here:

More photos here:

Cheers,

Adrian