Running the Muc-Off 8 Enduro Race in Sussex

Whilst in the United Kingdom, my emphasis has been more on long range riding – more than 200 kilometres at a time – but in April some mates and I decided to hop into a competitive enduro race. It was basically a last minute decision made over a few pints about two weeks before hand so we shopped around for the closest and quickest race available: the Muc-Off 8 at Pippingford Manor, just down the M1.

This was a lot different than the distance runs we have been doing, being on a circular track. The first half of the track was absurdly easy – or so it seemed on our trial runs – with just a few small hills and a much better laid out track than a lot of the trails we have been accustomed to. The problem was – and we noted it but did not really think about how much of a difference it would make – were all the small single track stretches along the way. The second half was more in line with what we were accustomed to having larger hills, steeper climbs and longer downhill stretches. With the track only being between seven and eight miles long, we figured this should be no problem. Not necessarily winning per se, but at least just basic riding.

We opted to just run with our regular bikes as they were, no special modifications needed and gear wise we both opted to emphasize hydration. Since we were a two man team – as opposed to the few guys running the race solo and the large number of four-man teams – we opted for cycles three laps each before switching off. However, since we were on a track and much closer to help than we were accustomed to, we decided to drop most of the excess equipment we usually carry and just run with water and a few extras. We both decided to bring our separate Camelbak Classic hydration packs, which have little room for cargo, but would be excellent for this little track run.

As we expected, the actual race itself was no problem; but as it turned out we were completely uncompetitive. I got lucky and the first three laps went to my mate and what killed us was the slow start. The beginning of the race is similar to that Le Mans or the like, with about three hundred riders all crushed up against each other for the first few hundred yards. Being unaccustomed to this sort of start, we got off to a horrible start and were far enough behind that we lost any really chance at competition within the first twenty minutes of the race. Although we have been playing with my partner, jokingly blaming him, realistically I would not have done any better. Those types of opening take some getting used to and the simple fact of the matter is that neither of us have that experience.

Although not in competition for winning, we still made excellent time and our experience with endurance runs really paid off later in the race when we managed to gain a lot of ground due to others falling out. The race itself was a breeze and given a more disciplined opening I have no doubt we would have done much better. In the meantime, we are both in agreement that it is much more fun to stick with the long distance runs than the tracks, so we probably will not being that again anytime soon.