It was a clear advantage on his home track and a great deal of sheer determination that had Ed McDonald win the Rocky Trail 100 Miler elite race for the second year in a row at Stromlo Forest Park. On a monster circuit track he was the fastest rider to complete five laps, winning ahead of 24H endurance racer Jason English from Port Macquarie and fellow Canberran Callum McNamara.
The Rocky Trail 100 race attracted the most high-profile field of athletes this year with nationally and internationally acclaimed mountain bikers on the start line at Stromlo Forest Park on the weekend. The race track challenged riders to complete laps of the longest possible circuit of singletrails at Stromlo.
The Rocky Trail 100 Miler racers had to tackle an additional hurdle – a 5am start on Sunday morning, which rewarded them with views of the sunrise high above Canberra. “It’s awesome that this 100 miler race that began as a crazy idea and dare to the organisers a few years ago now attracts such great riders”, said Ed McDonald on the podium. “I knew I had to put the foot down early to have a chance to beat Jason [English]”.
One of the race favourites, English, had suffered a mechanical on his first lap and for the first three laps came through timing in fourth behind a strong Canberran rider field with McDonald in the lead ahead of Andrew Hall and Callum McNamara. While McDonald kept his pace and a five to seven minute lead to the field, English started to make up time and all top three riders completed the five laps in under seven hours.
The 100KM or three-lap challenge podium was in tight Canberran hands with Shaun Lewis winning ahead of Jarrod Hughes and Scott Chancellor in just under four hours. Sarah Neumann from Newcastle took out the 100KM Elite Female win. In the two lap/66KM races, Lewis’ fellow team mate Jenny Fay took out the Elite Female category and Garry Millburn won the Elite Male race.
Three-time Rocky Trail 100 Miler winner Ed McDonald racing at Stromlo.
Rocky Trail 100 Winners
100M Male Elite – (1) Ed McDonald, (2) Jason English, (3) Callum McNamara
100M Female Elite – (1) Liz Smith, (2) Merryl King
100M Male Elite Single Speed – (1) Brett Bellchambers, (2) David Speering, (3) Scott Ryan
100M Male Master – (1) Jason McAvoy, (2) Greg Burghardt, (3) Clayton Locke
100K Male Elite – (1) Shaun Lewis, (2) Jarrod Hughes, (3) Scott Chancellor
100K Female Elite – (1) Sarah Neumann, (2) Tylana Woodward, (3) Kate Nelson
100K Male Master – (1) Tony Rice, (2) Ben Edols, (3) Russell Reid
100K Male Super Master – (1) Garry James, (2) Peter Selkrig, (3) Rodney Hart
100K Male Team 2 – (1) Quantum Racing: Ondrej Slezak and Michal Kafka
66K Male Elite – (1) Garry Millburn
66K Female Elite - (1) Jenny Fay
66K Male Master - (1) David Medlock
66K Male Super Master - (1) Paul Morgan
33K Male Elite - (1) Glenn Columbine
33K Female Elite - (1) Jacki Sculthorp
33K Male Master - (1) Darren Dawson
33K Female Master - (1) Anthea Couvee
33K Male Super Master - (1) Paul Burbidge-Smith
33K Male Junior - (1) Griffin Layton-Scheld
33K Female Junior - (1) Nicola Burton
Full results are available via www.rockytrailentertainment.com
Photo: Gilbert Romane/GiRoPhoto
The Rocky Trail 100 race attracted the most high-profile field of athletes this year with nationally and internationally acclaimed mountain bikers on the start line at Stromlo Forest Park on the weekend. The race track challenged riders to complete laps of the longest possible circuit of singletrails at Stromlo.
The Rocky Trail 100 Miler racers had to tackle an additional hurdle – a 5am start on Sunday morning, which rewarded them with views of the sunrise high above Canberra. “It’s awesome that this 100 miler race that began as a crazy idea and dare to the organisers a few years ago now attracts such great riders”, said Ed McDonald on the podium. “I knew I had to put the foot down early to have a chance to beat Jason [English]”.
One of the race favourites, English, had suffered a mechanical on his first lap and for the first three laps came through timing in fourth behind a strong Canberran rider field with McDonald in the lead ahead of Andrew Hall and Callum McNamara. While McDonald kept his pace and a five to seven minute lead to the field, English started to make up time and all top three riders completed the five laps in under seven hours.
The 100KM or three-lap challenge podium was in tight Canberran hands with Shaun Lewis winning ahead of Jarrod Hughes and Scott Chancellor in just under four hours. Sarah Neumann from Newcastle took out the 100KM Elite Female win. In the two lap/66KM races, Lewis’ fellow team mate Jenny Fay took out the Elite Female category and Garry Millburn won the Elite Male race.
Three-time Rocky Trail 100 Miler winner Ed McDonald racing at Stromlo.
Rocky Trail 100 Winners
100M Male Elite – (1) Ed McDonald, (2) Jason English, (3) Callum McNamara
100M Female Elite – (1) Liz Smith, (2) Merryl King
100M Male Elite Single Speed – (1) Brett Bellchambers, (2) David Speering, (3) Scott Ryan
100M Male Master – (1) Jason McAvoy, (2) Greg Burghardt, (3) Clayton Locke
100K Male Elite – (1) Shaun Lewis, (2) Jarrod Hughes, (3) Scott Chancellor
100K Female Elite – (1) Sarah Neumann, (2) Tylana Woodward, (3) Kate Nelson
100K Male Master – (1) Tony Rice, (2) Ben Edols, (3) Russell Reid
100K Male Super Master – (1) Garry James, (2) Peter Selkrig, (3) Rodney Hart
100K Male Team 2 – (1) Quantum Racing: Ondrej Slezak and Michal Kafka
66K Male Elite – (1) Garry Millburn
66K Female Elite - (1) Jenny Fay
66K Male Master - (1) David Medlock
66K Male Super Master - (1) Paul Morgan
33K Male Elite - (1) Glenn Columbine
33K Female Elite - (1) Jacki Sculthorp
33K Male Master - (1) Darren Dawson
33K Female Master - (1) Anthea Couvee
33K Male Super Master - (1) Paul Burbidge-Smith
33K Male Junior - (1) Griffin Layton-Scheld
33K Female Junior - (1) Nicola Burton
Full results are available via www.rockytrailentertainment.com
Photo: Gilbert Romane/GiRoPhoto