MTB

Ed Crossling and Kim Hurst, both emerged victorious at Sunday's forty kilometre Craters Classic

By Nduro Events

Wellingtonians, Ed Crossling and Kim Hurst, both emerged victorious at Sunday's forty kilometre Craters Classic. The event sold out for the second consecutive year well before any riders put pedal to pumice and is fast emerging as a popular feature on the Kiwi calendar. Four hundred and fifty racers took to the startline to contest the 13, 27 and 40 kilometre course offerings which all headed out from the Wairakei Resort event hub and traversed the resort grounds for a short loop alongside a geothermal stream that the area is so famous for before heading into the pump and flow trails that typify the Craters of the Moon trail network.
 
Despite heavy rain on Friday, Taupo’s trails lived up to their reputation of draining well and sunny skies over the Central Plateau greeted everyone on race day. Many predicted scorching times for the undulating course, which offered no respite given the huge amount of singletrack it entailed. In fact, Event Director Tim Farmer, gleefully described that the only section of open 4WD road provided a staunch climbing challenge for tired legs so far into the race and was convinced the re-designed course would be a huge hit.

Ed Crossling signaled his intentions from the gun and quickly opened up a comfortable lead in the Taupo singletrack. Crossling’s winning time of 1 hour 44 minutes lays down the benchmark for racers who wish to take record honours in 2017. Young guns James Kirkham and Tristan Haycock took the fight for the silver medal right down to the line with Kirkham edging our Haycock in the sprint finish after nearly two hours of racing.

Kim Hurst followed Crossling’s approach to her own race strategy, riding with the front group of men in the opening ten kilometres of the race before settling into her own rhythm. The masters racer proved the value of experience over her younger contenders and just missed her goal of a sub-two hour time for her first time on the Craters Classic course by a handful of seconds. Amy Haddon and Ann Hunn rounded out the women’s podium. Hurst is sure to be back next year to try to squeeze those few seconds off her time.

Many more racers followed in the treadmarks of the leading groups and were welcomed home to a beer at the event bar. Taupo Mountain Bike Club were delighted to be presented with a donation of $1,800 from the Nduro Event crew. All course options were hugely popular so expect to need to get your entries in early to make the cut next year.

The fun doesn’t end there with the Winter MTB Series kicking off in July and running through to September before the Whaka 100 in October. At the Craters Classic finish line, both Crossling and Hurst confirmed they have their eye on the Whaka 100 later in the year, with Crossling planning to race two Australian Marathon Series events in September to hone his form and challenge for the top spot, while Hurst will be racing Canada’s Singletrack 6 multi-stage event in preparation as well as competing in the NDuro Winter Series closer to home.

Results:

Long Course:
Men – Edwin Crossling 1:44:38, James Kirkham 1:47:08, Tristan Haycock 1:47:08
Women – Kim Hurst 2:00:27, Amy Haddon 2:08:31, Ann Hunn 2:16:20

Medium Course:
Men – Hamish Dodd 1:16:16, Max Taylor 1:18:50, Hunter Morgan 1:18:52
Women – Sammie Maxwell 1:25:50, Caitlin Dalziel 1:43:25, Frances James 1:46:28

Short Course:
Men – Jared Lord 43:42, Michael Head 44:31, Ryan Newson 44:53
Women – Emma Lord 50:55, Seana Gray 53:20, Caoilonn Gray 53:25