During the spread of the coronavirus, numerous measures were taken to contain the pandemic. These included regulating people's leisure behaviour. At the height of the incidence, major events were banned by the state - including mountain bike races of all kinds. For a particularly long time, sport was subject to frequently changing restrictions. Even when sporting events were allowed to take place again, enormous efforts had to be made to guarantee the health protection of all participants. Many organisers were unable to afford the extra effort and put their events on hold or even cancelled their entire commitment.
It was indeed a difficult time for the organisers of mountain bike marathons. In our opinion, however, the sport of mountain biking has actually grown - at least for individual athletes. The pandemic partially bypassed athletes, who were able to continue their sport without any restrictions. Now it is up to the organisers to reunite the cycling community. - Mirko Kloppenburg, Nutrixxion Marathon Trophy
Especially in the MTB marathon sport, race events rely heavily on the help of volunteers. They are needed to take care of registration, timekeeping, the course, safety, catering, the press, finances and much more. Due to simultaneously rising costs and falling registration numbers, many a cult event has been on the brink of cancellation in the past two years. The uncertainty of the bike athletes proved to be particularly problematic. Uncertain as to whether mountain bike races would even take place, they only registered shortly beforehand or decided not to take part at all. The resulting uncertainty could not be borne by many marathon organisers.
The Nutrixxion Marathon Trophy as a race series motivates the participants of the individual events to think outside the box and take part in other races that have not yet been in their focus. - Mirko Kloppenburg, Nutrixxion Marathon Trophy
MTB marathon sport as a matter of honour
Mountain bike marathons have a fascination all of their own. It is thanks to the commitment and perseverance of individuals that marathon races continue to be organised. Four of these silent heroes are responsible for organising the Nutrixxion Marathon Trophy this year. Title sponsor Nutrixxion has been supporting the race series for over ten years. The series, which now has seven individual events in North Rhine-Westphalia and North Hesse, will enter its 13th year in 2023. The "MTB am Rursee" race in Einruhr-Erkensruhr and the "ARS Natura Mountain Bike Marathon" in Morschen are new additions. Main sponsor Nutrixxon has been supporting the race series for many years. The MTB races of the Marathon Trophy are organised as follows explicitly not as professional events, but as popular sports events for everyone. You can choose from three distance classifications for each race.
We want to appeal to the masses in particular to show how easy it is to start with us. When we talk about us, we mean all seven races within the Marathon Trophy, it only works together. - Mirko Kloppenburg, Nutrixxion Marathon Trophy
The races of the Nutrixxion Marathon Trophy
- Kellerwald Bike Marathon 23.4.23 Gilserberg - 45 km 885 m elevation gain / 89 km 1796 m elevation gain / 127 km 2707 m elevation gain
- Arnsberg Marathon 14.5.23 Neheim-Hüsten - 35 km 850 m elevation gain / 60 km 1700 m elevation gain / 90 km 2550 m elevation gain
- MTB on the Rursee 25.6.23 Erkensruhr - 30 km 550 m elevation gain / 50 km 1250 m elevation gain / 100 km 2500 m elevation gain
- Ars Natura MTB Marathon 16.7.23 - Neumorschen 44 km 1109 m elevation gain / 66 km 1600 m elevation gain / 88 km 2218 m elevation gain
- SKS Marathon 19.8.23 Grafschaft - 33 km 880 m elevation gain / 59 km 1545 m elevation gain / 109 km 2880 m elevation gain
- 3 Valleys Marathon 02.9.23 Titmaringhausen - 33 km 841 m elevation gain / 59 km 1505 m elevation gain / 86 km 2169 m elevation gain
- Langenberg Marathon 24.9.23 Bruchhausen - 32 km 850 m elevation gain / 62 km 1650 m elevation gain / 92 km 2450 m elevation gain
Anyone can start and take part in the Marathon Trophy, all you need is the equipment you already have for MTB sport. Register, put your race number on the handlebars and off you go! - Mirko Kloppenburg, Marathon Trophy
Interview with Mirko Kloppenburg from the Marathon Trophy
BIKE: The pandemic has hit the organisers of MTB marathons hard. How can a race series help to revitalise the sport?
Mirko Kloppenburg: Our race series is designed to help them reunite the cycling community. Many mountain bikers are looking forward to getting started again. For others, it's about winning them back and getting newcomers excited about the race series. Races have a very special feeling. We are offering an overall ranking across the seven individual races in 2023, which will be honoured with additional prizes and a trophy winner of the classes at the end of the season. During the season, the best-placed rider will receive a leader's jersey for the best performance.
What is your job as a race series coordinator?
As the organising team of the Marathon Trophy, we also coordinate the new dates for the next season together with the individual race organisers so that there are no overlaps with other race dates within the region. We are fine-tuning the joint regulations and harmonising all interests. The sporting aspect clearly takes centre stage here. We all do this on a voluntary basis and for the joy of the sport. With our homepage and Instagram account, we also offer a presentation area for the organisers and clubs.
Registrations for the Marathon Trophy have already started. Can we already see more interest?
This varies to some extent. What we could see last year was that registrations for the individual races were made at increasingly short notice. However, this may also be due to the fact that everything was still very uncertain and nobody knew whether a race would have to be cancelled at short notice. But that was never the case for us. All six planned races in 2022 were also held in full. The seven Marathon Trophy races are clearly popular sporting events for everyone. Our activities are designed for the longer term in order to build up the starting fields again.
What are you doing to raise awareness of the Marathon Trophy?
We created our Instagram account @marathon_trophy this winter to offer an "interactive" platform for all those interested in and enthusiastic about the Marathon Trophy. There we provide helpful and compact information about the individual races. We also provide information about dates, registrations and race procedures. This is in addition to our homepage (marathon-trophy.de) and the pages of the individual clubs and races. Our interview series "Who we are" is particularly popular with our followers. In it, we introduce different riders, teams and clubs of the Marathon Trophy. Everyone can introduce themselves and tell us why they like the sport of MTB so much and what the Marathon Trophy offers them. In this way, we promote cohesion and togetherness within the "scene".
Your four-person team works entirely on a voluntary basis. What motivates you personally to get involved in marathon sport?
All four of us are enthusiastic mountain bike athletes, either as race organisers, riders or even both. As we realise that such a series could never get off the ground without voluntary work, we have decided to actively support the Marathon Trophy series. A mountain bike series is something else than an individual race. Of course, nothing works without these individual races. We make sure that this becomes even more interesting in a series. We put our heart and soul into it because we want to continue racing in five years' time. The races are always a great and joyful get-together for all MTB enthusiasts. Meeting familiar and friendly people again and again and having a good time together - that spurs us on!
Jan Timmermann
Editor
