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The endurancelife 7x7x7 - Day 2 - Mountain Bike Marathon

Barry Matthews / 04.07.2005

The hills and dales of South Devon offered a severe challenge for today\'s mountain biking marathon. 26.2 miles of mud, hills, sweat and nettles, which after yesterday\'s off road run tested already tired limbs still further.

The early morning rain had created a wet and slippy course and after an early morning recce, the organisers strongly enforced the need for serious caution for competitors during the pre-race briefing.

The course comprised 3 loops of an 8.8 mile course. After the first loop there was only 4 minutes between the top 3 competitors, with Graham Walton leading. The second lap saw Graham increase his lead and as he rode the final impossibly steep hill climb to the finish he had put 11 minutes between himself and Joe Green in 2nd. Schalk Herselman came 3rd in 2.25 with Neil Thubron 4th in 2.30.

After day 2 there are joint leaders with Graham Walton and Joe Green on 26 points and Neil Thubron just behind on 25, but with the 26 mile run tomorrow, anything could happen !

For full results go to http://www.endurancelife.com/races/seven/two05.asp

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