This was the first time that the UCI have sanctioned a marathon event and the winner will be World Champion and can wear the rainbow jersey. Their criteria for the race was it should be longer than 4 hours, between 60 - 100km and have a combination of difficulties destined to enhance the bikers qualities. In short a mountain bike challenge. The event was open to all which I think is unique for a World Championship. There were more than 1000 starters made up of men & women all completing the same course and starting together.

After last weeks experience I had a better idea in what I was letting myself in for. This week it was "only" 78km made up of 28km tarmac, 22km rough track and 28km singletrack with 2857m of climbing. The highest point of the course was 1640m so no altitude to contend with.

The start was on a wide road which climbed and narrowed but was about 6km long before it went off-road. There were 5 main climbs of the day, like last week a lot was on tarmac. I got a good start, not over stretching myself too much and had a position in the 30's. Once on the narrow tracks it was hard to pass or be passed. On the second descent I punctured. I must have hit a rock, I was all fingers and thumbs trying to fix it - it took a while. I set off again but it was not long before I had another puncture, this time in my front wheel. I fixed it but I was having trouble with my quickfill as the o-ring was not seating correctly. I had 4 quickfills but could not get it to inflate enough. So now what? With Marathon racing many of the normal rules go out of the window. You can receive help along the route, it was not long before my New Zealand friend Jon came along and he leant me his pump. I pumped it up and set off - now with no tubes left. I caught Jon and gave him back his pump and plugged on up the field.

There were some good technical descent along the route but most of the time seemed to be struggling up hill! The climb to the highest point was very windy. I saw a rider in front blown completely off the track. At the monument you had to turn so the wind was blowing from the side and climb a steep bank. Bikes were being blown off the ground and people were almost crawling up against the wind. After a bit more climbing it was almost 20km of descent mostly off-road.

With 2km to go I had another flat, with no spares I just rode into the finish I came 80th. At the front of the race Thomas Frischknecht out sprinted Bart Brentjens for the win. Thomas Deitch was leading with only 5km remaining but had the misfortune of a 6" nail through his tyre. I'm glad Thomas won.

World Marathon Champs - official race website

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