Mountain Mayhem came back for 2019 after a hiatus year in 2018 and the riders have given it a thumbs up.
Moving from its old home of Gatcombe Park the new venue of Marston Lodge, just outside Market Harborough, saw riders orbit a shorter, five mile course that included 250m of climbing per lap.
around 900 riders wore a dusty groove in the brand new course 
Hands up if you want to crawl into a tent and fall asleep! 
The Osprey staff made the most of the endless sunshine 
Hecklers corner provide encouragement and abuse in equal measure 
The arena vibe was chilled and relaxed – as it should be 
Out for a glory lap
The course included a great many climbs and descents, but feedback from the campsite was mostly positive about the way the climbs were steep but short and avoided the dreaded long drawn out slog. The descents were surprisingly technical and challenging for a course built on a private estate in the UK midlands.
One rider from the Mixed Forces team even told us, “the climbing is sick!“.
The weather helped of course – it’s hard to fail at running an event when the trails are dusty and the sun keeps on shining. But regardless, there was general high praise for this first reincarnation of the longest running mtb endurance race in the world.
Teams of four
The dry weather and short course meant that lap times were low and the lap counts flatteringly high. The winning male team of four, Shibden1, amassed a staggering 48 laps in total, one more than runners up DMRC Quicksilver.
48 laps at 250m per lap works out at unit mixing 37,200 feet of climbing in total.
The winning female team of four, Team Empella cyclo-cross.com, clocked up 39 laps, four laps clear of nearest team Freed from the Shire.
Solos
In the solo categories the mens winner, Martin Handley finished on 35 laps, two laps clear of Tim Plimmer.
Womens’ solo winner, Dorothy Liviabella finished on 27 laps, 3 laps clear of Danielle Wood.
New categories, new options
Along with the new venue came some new categories. The new ‘6 of One’ category allowed teams to race the first 6 hours then have a 12 hour break before starting a final 6 hour shift at 6am on Sunday. A category for sleep lovers.
Another new category was the e-bike category. However, not a single entrant registered, leaving ebike haters with no one to shout at on the course.
Full results and lap timings for all categories can be found below.
Team name comedy
Another Mountain Mayhem tradition that continues is the comedy team name.
Some classics from the past are “Norfolk And Good”. “Short, Tall, Hairy and Paul” is another name that we admire for its elegance of language – so says Chipps anyway.
This year we had some contenders for team name history. Here are some of our favourites.
- Oo look there’s a tractor – 37 laps
- Epping Forest Honey Badgers – 11 laps
- The Hurty Pointy Trees – 45 laps
- Rob Peter to Nathan Paul – 39 laps
But this year we have to give a hand clap (slow or enthusiastic, depending on your frame of mind) to team Thick as 2 short cranks. But less for their pun-tastic team name and more for the fake names they each gave themselves. Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you the members of team Thick as 2 short cranks.
- Jack Goff
- Dixie Normous
- Mike Litoris
- Willie Stroker
To their credit they put in 33 laps.
Bravo gentlemen. Bravo.
The start
Hecklers corner
Some Mountain Mayhem traditions will never go away, no matter how much you hope they will.
Retro bikes welcome at Mountain Mayhem
We had a quick scour of the pits and were surprised at what we found.
More info
Comments (4)
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I could say that us Epping Forest Honey Badgers put in 21 laps during the 12hrs of the “6 of One, Half a Dozen of the Other” race thank you very much, but honey badger don’t care.
I can confirm that the course was indeed sick, though.
Was good,was tough but fun. Would of been a nightmare in the wet though………
Disappointed our walking start-line interview didn’t make the final cut!