British MTB champs come to Selkirk

The 2013 British MTB Marathon Championships are set to be staged in the Scottish Borders, as part of the Selkirk MTB Marathon. The event will take place on Saturday June 8 over an 80km single lap course.

The popular Selkirk MTB Marathon (previously known as the “Merida” and the “CRC”) is under new management and is being staged by Selkirk-based Durty Events, also responsible for award-winning triathlon and duathlon events throughout Scotland including the Durty Triathlon, Craggy Island Triathlon and the famous Celtman! Extreme Triathlon.

A British Cycling Spokesman said:  ‘We are delighted to be returning to Selkirk for the 2013 Marathon Championships. The Scottish Borders have some excellent trails, and it’s one of the few areas in Britain that can provide a course over a single loop.  We had other applications which were considered but the Selkirk bid was considered to offer the best combination of date, proven course and established event infrastructure.’

More on the MTB champs

The British MTB Championships are open to male and female riders (19 or older) who are British citizens and hold a full BC or UCI recognised racing licence. The coveted red, white and blue jerseys are up for grabs. There are also integrated championship categories for veteran men and women.

For non-licence holders who are taking part in The Selkirk MTB Marathon, there are three fully marked courses with distances of 25km, 50km and 80km. This means there will be a bike event for everyone, including families, novices, intermediates, enthusiasts and racing snakes alike.

All the courses offer “real” mountain biking with a mix of natural and hand-made singletrack, twin-track forest roads and ancient drove roads.  Riders will visit the valleys of the Rivers Tweed, Yarrow and Ettrick. They can expect lung and thigh busting climbs that are rewarded with epic descents. The 80km course will also include some of the best man-made trail centre routes at downhill mountain biking downhill Mecca Innerleithen.

Renowned trail builder and course designer, Pete Laing (7Stanes and Golspie), is already scouting new sections to freshen up the marathon courses and will include a few special timed Enduro sections to add a little more spice to the events.

Paul McGreal, of Durty Events, said: “We’re really chuffed to have been asked to organise the British Championships alongside the popular Selkirk Mountain Bike Marathon. We’re expecting the very best riders in the UK to come and test themselves on the very best single-lap course in the country. 

“We believe we have the best trails the Scottish Borders has to offer and the most popular and challenging course in the UK which is why Selkirk has been voted ‘Best MTB Marathon’ several times. We aim to provide an achievable challenge for riders of every ability in fantastic surroundings with a lot of fun thrown in as well.”

Online entry is via Entry Central and there are also links from Selkirk MTB Marathon.