After our racing weekend in Mogo one can’t help but be in awe of Mother Nature’s resilience – the Deep Creek Dam Loop hosted our Shimano MTB GP endurance race on Saturday 21 November and the very first Rocky Trail Running race on the Sunday. Our riders and runners are so beautifully framed by lush bushland surrounds, depicting just how amazingly it bounced back from the devastating fires of last summer in the area.
“This is where it all started”, 4-hour winner Brendan Johnston
The Saturday mountain biking event offered 4 and 7 hour solo and relay team competitions. In the 4-hour Australia’s National Marathon Champion Brendan Johnston didn’t leave anything out on track to claim the outright and solo victories. The Canberran recorded the fastest lap time of the day in 20:54 minutes – on his final and 11th lap! At the finish after a race time of 4h05:41 he said that he got into mountain biking on these very trails while doing an apprenticeship at the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens when he was younger.
“I actually lived here for quite a while when I was younger. This is my first time back at the Deep Creek Dam Loop and a lot has changed but the trails are still as amazing as I remember them.”
Brendan Johnston about his race of re-discovery in Mogo
Moruya’s Morgan Fitzgerald came in second in the solo men’s overall on 10 laps ahead of Daniel Schwartz from Campbelltown.
In the women’s 4-hour it was Jacqui Allen who won with 9 laps in 4h17:02 ahead of Karla McKinnon from Canberra and Maddy Scott from Goulbourn, both on 8 laps.
Morgan Fitzgerald 
Jacqui Allen 
Brendan Johnston
“The best track yet”, 7 hour winner Alwyn Miller
A first-timer in Mogo was the experienced endurance racer in the 7-hour ‘Big Al’ Alwyn Miller from Walcha near Tamworth. Miller clocked in 16 laps in 6h59:17 to claim the overall 7-hour solo win ahead of Garry James (15 laps) from Canberra and John Gardner (14 laps) from Tathra.
“That has to be one of my [new] favourite tracks! Batemans Bay…What a spot!”
Alwyn Miller, 7 hour solo winner after a total of 135 kms at the Deep Creek Dam Loop
In the women’s Gwynn McLeod won ahead of Alison Strinic, finishing 7th in the solo field outright.
The line-honours in the 7-hour event went to the Male Pair of “Enough Torque”. Rob Mclachlan and Dave May from Canberra completed 18 laps in 7h24:04.
Alwyn Miller 
Gwynn McLeod
Mogo launch: Rocky Trail Run
In a first in the 12-year history of race organiser Rocky Trail Entertainment, the Deep Creek Dam Loop saw runners hit the ‘rocky trails’ on the Sunday following the mountain biking event. With a new format for the trail running scene, the event offered a time-trial style race with one, two or three laps on the mountain bike circuit with a neutral, un-timed feedzone in the event centre. The format had been several years in the making, explains Rocky Trail’s Juliane Wisata:
I’m a casual trail runner and this year’s Covid-hiatus gave us the head space to find a place for trail running alongside our portfolio of mountain biking races, like this weekend in Mogo. We can draw from over a decade of experience in the outdoor events space and it’s exciting to get to know a new sport – as an outdoor family and especially as entrepreneurs we never stop exploring.
Juliane Wisata, Rocky Trail co-founder
This weekend had been a wonderful opportunity to meet new Rocky Trail racers, who represented a fantastic mix of all backgrounds and trail running and racing preferences, Wisata added and she confirmed that for 2021 the plan was to add trail runs to the existing cross-country mountain bike races at selected venues.
The top finishers at Mogo’s Rocky Trail’s Run were Lauren Evans from South Durras (2h08:13) and Anthony Miles from Catalina (2h26:59) who completed 3 laps. In the double-lap local Batemans Bay runner Donna Davis was the fastest female in 1h35:14 and Mat Lambert from Broulee finished in 1h30:30. With a race time of 44:04 min Karla McKinnon backed up a 2nd place in the 4 hour yesterday with the fastest time in today’s single-lap challenge. In the men’s Matt Johnsen from Broulee smashed out a 32:33min lap, the fastest time outright per lap in the event. He was a top 10 finisher in the last Melbourne Marathon and this would have been a very respectable time even on a mountain bike! Chapeau!
Karla McKinnon (1 lap) 
Matt Johnsen (1 lap) 
Donna Davis (2 laps) 
Mat Lambert (2 laps) 
Lauren Evans (3 laps) 
Anthony Miles (3 laps)
A huge thanks to the team from the Eurobodalla Shire Council and Destination NSW for their enthusiastic and hands-on support over these past few months and weeks – Rocky Trail will return to the Eurobodalla with a whole weekend of MTB racing and trail running in August 2021!
Photos: OuterImage.com.au
Attention media: photos may only be used free of charge for coverage about Rocky Trail Entertainment owned or branded races, events or corporate news. For more media photo requests, photo use information or copyright details, contact Juliane Wisata via email or on 0416 737 972.
Competitors: Download your Race Photos
Race Photos are now online and ready for download from the Outer Image Collective portal! They are included in your entry with thanks to support from Mackay Regional Council, Ride Fox Australia, Lazer Sport Australia and Race Face Performance Products through Shimano Cycling Australia and Stans NoTubes via Jetblack Products Australia. Get your pics now and share them with your friends! Use the hashtag #rockytrailracer so we can follow your stories! Remember to check he no-number galleries too, just in case!
👀 Mogo Virtual Podium Celebration & Results – MTB:
👀 Mogo Photo Highlights & Results – RUN:
Next up:
You must be logged in to post a comment.