Jason English claimed overall victory in the inaugural Essential Energy Tathra 100km Enduro, which has been hailed by many of the 220 competitors has one of the most challenging marathons they had experienced.
English claimed a comfortable victory in both the prologue and enduro events to finish almost six minutes ahead of Ben Henderson and Marc Williams, who shared second place on the men’s podium. Anne Broadbent won the women’s race, with Amanda Sanderson and Eliza Greening completing the podium.
English took an almost three minute victory in the 10km prologue event, with Lachlan Paton and Michael Bruce finishing second and third, respectively.
Despite issues with tyre pressure during the first half of the enduro race, English was able to reel in all of his 100km rivals, catching Henderson after 2.5 hours of racing before pushing on to his eventual victory.
The 100km course, which included two ascents of the Doolagharl climb to bookend the race, was praised by competitors. The repeat of the climb at the end of the race caught a number of riders – English included – by surprise, but consensus after the event was that it acts as a definitive feature of the race.
Indeed, some pointed to the challenge of the climb as the key difference between the new Tathra race and other marathons in East Australia and suggested that plans to remove the second ascent for next year should be scrapped.
Riders were also glowing about the condition of the course’s groomed singletrack and fire-trail sections, which had been carefully prepared by organisers.
“I was really enjoying [the] section around the 50km mark. The fire trails had been raked! Most 100km events would have you dodging sticks and sliding on debris but here it was all smooth sailing,” wrote English on his blog.
The bulk of riders taking part in the event were entered in the 50km event, with a 20km race giving a wide-range of riders the chance to experience the Tathra course.
Brad Morton, Lachlan Paton and singlespeed rider Ian Heddle shared the spoils in the men’s 50km event, while Tara Sutherland, Michelle Macfarlane and Rachel Melrose completed the podium for the women’s race.
Many of the 220 riders reported to race organisers that they will almost certainly return for next year’s race. For more information about the Tathra Enduro, visit the event website. Full overall results can be viewed (in PDF) here.