Lee Williams of Team Wiggle has won the 2012 British national marathon championships. He was one of a number of XCO specialists in the field, who kept the marathon specialists out of the top spots.
The podium was completed by Scott rider and UK MTB legend, the long-lasting Nick Craig, and ex road pro Dan Fleeman, now riding for Cycleshack / Forme Coaching.
The first surprise of the day was waking up to broad sunshine. Still a nip in the air, but the strange glowing ball in the sky was a shock to British riders, who have seen little but rain for the last six weeks. Sadly this was never going to be enough to dry out the trails, but it at least put a smile on most people’s faces.
This year’s championships were run as part of the Chain Reaction Cycles marathon series powered by Mercedes Benz Vito Sport, in Selkirk in the Scottish borders. The promise of excellent trails plus the added spice of the championship race had drawn a field which was both big, at 100+ riders, and had strength in depth.
Riders de-brief after the race, won by Lee Williams
The profile promised 3,000m of climbing over the course of 85k, and it didn’t hang around before going uphill – a 400m boost up to the moors, following a few miles of neutral tarmac behind one of the sponsor’s vans. This climb quickly sorted the wheat from the chaff, with a group of about seven riders forging ahead.
It was from that group that the podium places came, with Lee Williams pulling back into Selkirk a few seconds before Nick Craig, after Craig had crashed a little earlier in the race. I don’t think he was alone – there were some pretty slippery boggy sections where steering proved pretty challenging.
Chris Pedder shows off the hard-earned grime of the 2012 British XCM Championships
Marathon specialist Ben Thomas from Mountain Trax, in fourth, was heard muttering about the race being “too short!” At well under four hours, it did have something of the feel of a slightly elongated XC race. Personally I was pretty happy to see the finish when it came around! Tim Dunford, for Cannondale Racing, was fifth; he must have had a pretty impressive second half, because he was lying about 15th on the first climb.
Winner of the women’s race was Jane Nuessli, with an emphatic margin over second placed Rachel Fenton. Third place went to Verity Appleyard.
Highlights of the race were the scenery in general and the sections of trail centre singletrack at Innerleithen, part of the renowned 7Stanes network. This part of the Scottish Borders is stunning, with rolling hills as far as the eye can see, gorse in full golden flower, and a superbly remote feeling. I hope riders managed to look up from the wheel in front every now and then and take it all in.
My race was reasonably satisfying – 13th in the senior championship, 14th overall (I think that means I was beaten by a vet – that’ll be Nick Craig then). My tyre choice was pretty borderline – the Maxxis Ikons were superb as ever on the hardpack fireroads and singletrack, but I was slithering all over the place when it got grubby. Three stacks, luckily all at fairly low speed and with soft landings. I was decent uphill, a bit ropey down; plus ça change…
Will Hayter happy to be taking his place in the field