Speaking of Tartu MTB Marathon, you can't get over the man who has been organizing this race for 23 years. Indrek Kelk, the chief of Club Tartu Marathon events, sheds light on the past, present and future of Tartu MTB Marathon.

 

What are your memories of the first race?

I worked in Tallinn during the first year of MTB Marathon, and for some reason that first year passed me by. However, I participated with a borrowed bike in 1999 and I remember that I was crazy about it and it went very well - I got a place in the beginning of 20. I started working at Club Tartu Marathon three weeks after my first bike marathon, and from then on, further participation was limited with relay marathons, but not any more with main races.

 

The initiators of the first MTB Marathon were Rein Lepik, the project manager of Tartu Rattaralli and MTB Marathon and Alar Arukuusk, the chief of the Club Tartu Marathon at the time. As well as Peip Reedi and Rein Kamarik – these men were the core team of that time.

 

They came up with the idea of ​​organizing a bike race on the famous Tartu Ski Marathon course, following the example of the Birkebeinerrittet held in Norway. The main distances were decided to be 63 and 31 km - they seemed to be tracks that are within the power of any healthy and active person. Before the first Tartu MTB Marathon, many experts were pessimistic about the success of this event, but the very first attempt brought together over a thousand riders. In three or four years, the event reached 3000 participants, which was then and still is a very large number on a world scale. The rapid development of the following years brought the number of participants of the Tartu MTB Marathon to the same level as the Tartu Ski Marathon. The bike marathon started in 1998 with 1264 participants, but the number of participants has increased year by year, and the limit of 5000 riders was exceeded in 2008. The overall record of Tartu MTB Marathon participants was set in 2015, when a total of 8577 cyclists participated in all program races. Despite the abundance of mountain bike races in Estonia, no other competition has come close in terms of the number of participants.

 

So what has been done over the years to make this event so successful?

It definitely shows that something is done right. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the participant numbers were going up. After all, we have managed to please the widest group of Estonian cycling enthusiasts. Over the years, there have been rather few changes, and none of them have been very big. But the lengthening of the track from 60 km to 90 km was the biggest change in the history so far. It was a logical continuation of the development of the amateur community. The level of participants and the wide carrying surface just got so good that 60 km of gravel and forest roads, relatively easy to pass, were no longer a challenge that would have inspired people. When the distance was extended, the number of participants also began to grow, which shows that the decision was justified and fully met the participant's expectations.

 

These small additions of recent years, even the addition of 21 km distance, have been the right decisions over the years. We haven't made big mistakes with bike marathon in all these years. We may have been a bit conservative and careful, but thanks to that we have also been able to avoid larger mistakes.

 

So what is the phenomenon of the Tartu MTB Marathon?

Life has brought all kinds of new developments - wheels have changed, 26-inch mountain bikes have long been abandoned, most ride 29-inch ones. In addition, cyclocross and gravel bikes got more and more popular. The phenomenon of the Tartu MTB Marathon is, above all, that it does not set limits for participation on any bicycle. Of course, depending on the weather and the type of bike, one is faster, lighter, more comfortable, but if you really want to, you can also ride with a 3-wheeler and you can do it. Tartu MTB Marathon is a really big and good bike race, and that's why its popularity among the people is so great.

 

However, this year's 25th Tartu MTB Marathon brings another very big and important change in the race history. For the first time, wave starts give participants the opportunity to choose her/his own place in the start corridor according to the expected riding speed. This is actually a fundamental change. Until now, we were still focused on competitiveness, the faster ones in front and the slower ones a bit behind, and the fighting spirit of who can start where. In addition, the result of the previous race was extremely important in determining the starting place. The whole thing still revolved around better and better results. Now the world has changed a bit, values ​​have become different, and this kind of competitiveness has gradually begun to fade. A more stress-free, relaxed, fun, enjoyable cycling marathon is what the future will bring us.

 

Is there any hope that the number of participants will exceed the 5000 again?

The participant number decrease from 5000 to 3500 was very clearly in one era, which was corona crisis. We probably cannot draw the conclusion that this drastic change in the number of participants is due to the saturation of participants from the traditional Tartu MTB Marathon and they are not attracted by it and that is why they have not come . These reasons are related to health risks, economic issues etc. I think that if we could survey about 1500 participants, which we had less last year than in 2019, 95 percent of them would not give reason that Tartu MTB Marathon is nonsense, boring or dull or that I am no longer interested in it. They probably all have some other reason.

 

We certainly expect and hope that the implemented changes will still fully support the course of the MTB Marathon in the new conditions and that the number of participants will gradually continue to recover this year, and why not close to 5000. But the most we hope from the new changes is that those riders who for some reason have not dared or wanted to participate until now because of its excessive competitiveness and fear of dirt, sweat and pain, will find their way to the Tartu MTB Marathon.

 

Hawaii Express 25th Tartu MTB Marathon starts on September 18 from Otepää, Tehvandi Stadium. Distances are 89, 40 and 21 km. The kids races take place a day earlier, on September 17, at Tartu Tähtvere sports park. Both adults and children can participate virtually from 09.09-25.09.

 

Early bird registration for the MTB Marathon lasts until September 12.