The Marji Gesick 50/100 is one of the best long-distance endurance mountain bike races in the United States and is part of the National Ultra Endurance Series (NUE). This is it; this is the tip of the spear when it comes to difficulty. The Marji Gesick is one of the planet’s hardest and most grueling one-day endurance mountain bike races. This is not a straightforward 100-miler but obliterates the mountain bike endurance race calendar competition for having a technical single track and a sickening amount of climbing. A great quote from a great mountain biker named Mike Webb goes like this: “I’ve done some hard stuff. Leadville 100, Maah Daah Hey 100, La Ruta de Los Conquistadores, lumberjack 100, Butte 100; Hands down, Marji Gesick is the most terrible of them all.”
According to these devilish race organizers, “Now in our fifth year, the Marji Gesick challenges participants to, as we like to say, “Find your limits. Destroy them. We don’t think you can finish in less than 12 hours. We have our doubts you can finish at all. Are you willing to sign the dotted line and take the Danny Hill Challenge? We have a course just itching to break ya. Ride your bike a lot? That’s cute. We’ve watched many big motors blow up in the first 30 miles. We have rocked up here that will eat your little rocks. Not kidding. Consider yourself a “technical rider”? You will find our definition of riding technical terrain; yours are different. On the bright side, you’ll get a chance to find out if you enjoy riding in the dark – for hours. If it sounds miserable, that’s because it is. We want it to be. Danny designed the course to break you down and force you to ask yourself – What am I made of? Why am I doing this? Can I go on?
And most importantly: How will I feel if I quit? Don’t come here to race. Come here to put yourself up against an experience that will change you. From the edges of failure spring life’s defining moments. We’ll be waiting at the finish line to shake your hand and be part of yours.”
The Marji Gesick 100/50 is part of the National Ultra Endurance Series (NUE), which includes some of the best mountain biking events in the country. NUE comprises an Epic Series, 100-mile events, and a Marathon series, which includes 50-mile and 75k length events.
- True Grit 100/50
- Cohutta 100 – Big Frog 65
- Mohican MTB 100
- Wilderness 101k
- Telluride 100/50
- Shenandoah 100
- Marji Gesick 100/50
- Ring of Fire 100
- Big Grizzly 100/75
- Pierre’s Hole 50/100
The Marji Garisck is a tip-top organized event. There is plenty of food and drink option over the weekend, terrific aid stations and route marking, as well as so many other perks from training plans before the race start and even a training camp! You should know that you will be taken care of and in good hands, once you sign up. The only thing you have to worry about is riding your bike.
Below there is a Veloviewer interactive map of the full 100-mile course. You can drag and play around with both the map and the profile. And if you want even more nerdy details about everything there is to know about the course; you can click on the link to view further information.
