James Williamson was a much respected person, mountain bike racer and journalist. And the quality of the event, the racers and the volunteers really showed this.
The Southern Highlands turned on some fantastic weather for the James Williamson Memorial – with trails that were in perfect condition, glorious sunshine and only a chance of afternoon rain.
The fields of racers were well stacked, with competitors coming from intertstate and even abroad to attend the event in commemeration of Willo.
After the 13km Junior event was run, competitors for the 75km Mens event lined up. After some choice words from James’ father, the race was underway, and the pace was on. Very quickly the field was strung out. With such top racers like Adrian Jackson, Shaun Lewis, Dylan Cooper, Pete Hatton, National Marathon Champ Ben Mather and even MarathonMTB.com’s own Justin Morris and Graeme Arnott up in the mix. The first singletrack caused a minor hiccup and a bottleneck, but the strong riders were already away.
The 25km course in Wingello Forest was in perfect condition, with the firetrails recently graded, the singletrack well bedded in, and the infamous Wall gratefully not included. With each lap, the temperature climbed and there were more riders lagging.
Pete Hatton ended up taking the win, well clear of Ben Mather and Craig Gordon. With sub 3hr race times, the front of the race was certainly moving. Niki Fisher had a deserving and emotional win in the womens 75km event, with Jenny Fay and Ben Henderson winning the womens and mens 50km events respectively.
Full results can be seen on the James Williamson Enduro Challenge website.
Open Male 75km
1 Peter Hatton
2 Ben Mather
3 Craig Gordon
4 Dylan Cooper
5 Ivan Rybarik
6 Shaun Lewis
7 Rohin Adams
8 Marc Williamson
9 Brendan Johnston
10 Charlton Durie
11 Graeme Arnott
12 Troy Glennan
13 Justin Morris
14 Ray Shaughnessy
15 Mike Blewitt
16 Ben Hallowell
17 Mark Tupalski
18 Allan Sieper
19 Simon Finch
20 Jason Morgan