Southern Enduro Champs Minehead 2020
Southern Enduro runs a Champs race every year, this event always attracts lots of entrants but this year’s Southern Enduro Champs Minehead 2020 was slightly different.
Last weekend Southern Enduro managed to somehow pull off an excellent race at Minehead despite the Covid-19 situation, issues with the original venue and the weather.
The Southern Enduro Champs race was originally going to be held at the very popular Triscombe venue but due to Forestry Commission cancelling all events due to Corona Virus the team managed to move the race to a private venue in Minehead which Southern have used as their champs venue previously.
The race which saw over 700 participants in 2019 was restricted to 300 in 2020 to allow for social distancing in both the race village, camping and during the actual race.
The Southern Enduro team which is headed up by Scott Fitzgerald did an incredible job of running the event despite having everything against them. In my personal opinion, this was one of the best-run races I have ever attended with everything being run like clockwork and having minimal queues.
The race was run across two days with five stages per day. Some of the stages were used on both days but the race was run blind meaning you could not practise the stages before the race. I prefer this format as I find it more exciting.
The vibe at the race was really positive with all participants clearly enjoying themselves and very grateful to be able to get a race in this year.
The race even attracted some top riders including Wyn Masters, Maxine Filby, Becky Cook, Jono Jones and many more.
Because the race was run so efficiently I was able to both race and take photographs of other riders. One of my favourite spots to shoot was carnage corner which is the very last corner of the last stage on each day. This was a flat grassy corner just after an all-out sprint across a field. On day one the grass was really slippery due to the rain and nearly everyone crashed, below is a photo merge I created of Jono Jones demonstrating the carnage.
Southern Enduro Champs 2020 Results
U14 Boys
| 1st | |
| 2nd | |
| 3rd | Felix GRIFFITHS |
U16 Boys
| 1st | |
| 2nd | Toby MURPHY |
| 3rd | Archie BRADLEY |
U18 Boys
| 1st | Freddy BIRCHILL |
| 2nd | Henry CREASE |
| 3rd |
Hardtail Men
| 1st | Linford MILL |
| 2nd | Tom DUNN (elt) |
| 3rd | Matt LAKIN |
18-29 Men
| 1st | Richard TUCKER |
| 2nd | Jono JONES |
| 3rd |
30-39 Men
| 1st | Ross HANCOCK |
| 2nd | |
| 3rd |
40-49 Men
| 1st | Oliver MCKENNA |
| 2nd | |
| 3rd | Simon COMER |
50+ Men
| 1st | John COBB |
| 2nd | Jonathan TARR |
| 3rd | Mike NORMAN |
Fun Men
| 1st | Mark ROBSON |
| 2nd | |
| 3rd | Wills RAWLINS |
E-Bike Men
| 1st | Ben BAKER (1) |
| 2nd | Oliver MCKENNA |
| 3rd | Adam AGER |
U18 Girls
| 1st | Eme COSH |
| 2nd | Aoife BAKOVIC |
| 3rd | Imogen RABANI |
18-29 Women
| 1st | Francie ARTHUR |
| 2nd | |
| 3rd | Alicia HOCKIN |
30-39 Women
| 1st | Becky COOK |
| 2nd | Katie WAKELY |
| 3rd | Anna CIPULLO |
40+ Women
| 1st | Maxine FILBY |
| 2nd |
For the full list of results and all the photos from the event head over to Roots and Rain.
What do you think of this article? Want to read more race reports? Have you raced any Southern Enduro events? Did you race Southern Enduro Champs Minehead 2020? Let us know in the comments below.