The 4th Annual Durango 100-mile Mountain Bike Race was held at Durango Mountain Resort on Saturday, August 26th. Mountain bikers from around the country came to compete for the title of MTB 100 Champions in addition to cash prizes and to challenge themselves physically and mentally on the hardest 100 Mile course in the country.
“The event brought pro mountain bikers in addition to weekend warriors to compete in the hardest 100-mile course in the nation with the spectacular San Juan Mountains as a backdrop,” stated Will Newcomer, Race Director. “Unfortunately Mother Nature didn’t cooperate and in addition to the tough course racers had to battle cold temperatures, rain and hail storms throughout the day.”
The 100-mile Mountain Bike Race began at 6:45am on Saturday, August 26th at Durango Mountain Resort, after a 15 minute delay to let the rain storm ease up. The course, utilizing some of the San Juan Mountain’s more challenging terrain, and parts of the 1990 World’s course, contained
over 18,500 feet in elevation gain, more than 6,000 feet per lap. Held on singletrack, doubletrack and four-wheel drive roads, the course traversed some of the most spectacular scenery in Colorado.
The weather forced race organizers to stop racers from beginning the final lap in the 100 mile course, therefore ranking everyone based on either the one or two laps completed.
In the Pro Men’s category Mitch Moreman of Durango, Colorado finished in first place with an official time of 6 hours and 58 minutes for 2 laps (100K). Second place went to Cale Redpath and third place went to Peter Kenyon. Elizabeth Vollmer took first place in the women’s 100K category with an official time of 10 hours and 23 minutes. Full results for the event can be found at
www.MTB100.com
Racers registered for either the 100-Mile course; the 100K course; or the 50K course. “The various categories and race distances really gives participants a full spectrum of competition options,” explained Will Newcomer, of Gravity Play Sports Marketing, the Colorado-based marketing company producing the Durango MTB 100. “We even have had competitors on single speeds and unicycles and might add a single speed category next year,” added Newcomer.
“The MTB 100 is the definitive test of toughness and perseverance in mountain biking,” said Newcomer. “No matter how you tackle those 100 miles or just push yourself through the shorter course, there’s nothing quite like it. There’s a true sense of accomplishment for all competitors when they cross the finish line.” The consensus among the racers at the finish line was that it is the hardest 100-mile mountain bike race in the country. To date, no one has broken 9 hours on the course, despite the $500 cash bonus offered to the first racer who does.
Sponsors of the Durango MTB 100 include: Jeep, Zorrel.com, Zia Taqueria, Hammer Nutrition, Checkpointzero.com, DEAN Bicycles and Durango Mountain Resort.
For more info or to view complete results visit
www.MTB100.com. For more information on Gravity Play Sports Marketing, visit
www.GravityPlay.com or call 970.259.7771. Free media photos are available by emailing
events@GravityPlay.com