The AMB100 Marathon took place at Stromlo Forest Park on Valentine’s Day 2016 and the racers from all over NSW and the ACT experienced tough love out on track. The AMB100 is one of the toughest of its kind on the Australian mountain bike racing calendar. Despite the challenges of one or two laps (or even 5 for the toughest of the tough 100 mile racers), the classic ‘100km’ distance is a massive undertaking in the race that has more hard singletrack than almost any other marathon event in Australia.
The racers braved hot conditions and horrendous wind gusts in the afternoon and with riders flocking in from all over NSW, most top podium positions were claimed by the Canberra locals. Callum McNamara took out the 100 Miler competition riding out onto a dark track at 5am with less than two dozen fellow racers keen enough to complete five laps of the almost 30km monster circuit laid out by Rocky Trail Entertainment.
In the classic 100km distance, Australian National Marathon Champion Brendan Johnston raced his green and gold jersey to victory in the elite men’s and Catherin Moore won the women’s event. Johnston’s Trek team mate Dylan Cooper took out the 2 lap challenge and Eliza Kwan claimed the women’s 66km distance. A strong Claire Whiteman impressively took out the one lap challenge in her first race back from a baby break.
The AMB100 Marathon will return to Stromlo Forest Park in 2017 and the next cross-country event on the Rocky Trail calendar is the series launch of the SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix at Newcastle’s Glenrock trails on 5 March. For more event information and detailed results, visit http://www.rockytrailentertainment.com
Photo story by OuterImage.com.au
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