This past weekend of the 16-17 June saw three notable marathons taking place in Europe. The season is hotting up in mainland Europe, with Championship events, UCI Marathons, and then the longer Stage Races in Europe and North America.
Rocky Mountain BIKE Marathon Willingen
A typical European Marathon, with a mass start and multiple options for the length that you race. It’s not just a Marathon, but a whole festival with dirt jumping, Enduro, XC and a bike show. Of the three Marathon lengths, Robert Mennen won the long distance, well clear of Ben Sonntag in second and Ramses Bekkenk in third. The women’s race was won by Katrin Schwing, who had a huge lead on Jana Zieschank. Full results can be seen on Datasport.ch.
Black Forest Ultra Bike Marathon
A nice shift from the freezing rain of 2011 for the Marathon in Kirchzarten. This is a popular race, and typically draws about 4000 participants across the distances and categories. The men’s race was a close run affair, with Matthias Bettinger just getting the win over Max Knox after over 4 hours of racing. Ann-Katrin Hellstern beat Arian Kleinhans in the women’s event. Full results for all grades and distances can be viewed at Datasport.ch.
Malevil Cup, European XCM Championships
Championship events are thick on the ground in late Spring and early Summer. The European Marathon Championships are a well contested event, but with such a variety of races on at the same time, racers responsibilities can be split. After such a dominant performance at the Alpentour Trophy, a win from Kristian Hynek should be no huge surprise. Hynek was just clear of his compatriot Pavel Boudny, with Austria’s Alban Lakata in third. Pia Sundstedt (Finland) won the women’s event, in a very close race with British racer Sally Bigham. Silke Schmidt from Germany took bronze. Results are online.
Ben Thomas and Tim Dunford from Great Britain were racing, as part of their aim to qualify for the 2012 XCM World Championships.
Ben Thomas reviews his race. Ben finished a commendable 31st.