The Sunday Tribune Jeep Hill 2 Hill MTB Marathon is the only one-day mountain bike marathon between the cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban, running from Hilton to Hillcrest in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday, September 19, 2010.

The inaugural Sunday Tribune / Jeep Hill 2 Hill was a finalist for the 2006 SA MTB race of the year and was rated best one day MTB race on Bicycling “Rate the Ride” website for 2006. In 2007 it was voted 2nd best one day MTB race.

The full length event is approximately 105 kilometres long and is a true MTB marathon course, incorporating an interesting mix of gravel road, jeep track, cane brakes, single track and even a couple of kilometres of tar with a section of urban riding.

The field is limited and once the designated number of entries in each event is reached entries will be closed. The first 1 000 riders to enter receive a free top-quality Jeep T-shirt.

This one day event incorporates two separate races all ending at the Shongweni Polo Club in Hillcrest – the 105km race from Hilton and a shorter 40km race from Cato Ridge.

The aim is to grow the event into the stature similar to that of the Comrades Marathon and Duzi Canoe marathon with direct benefit to the communities in the area.

The 105km marathon race will be a challenge and riders will probably need to peak at 6 to 10 hours training per week before the race. The marathon event will also feature at least one cut off to make sure all riders are off the course before dusk.

Children are also catered for at the finish venue with 2 kids races – 2km route for children under 5 years old and a 4km for children between 5 and 12 years old. All children will receive medals.

There is a huge prize money purse for race winners and over R10 000 worth of lucky draw prizes up for grabs for all race participants, including a Jeep Wrangler up for grabs at the prizegiving as well as a full suspension mountain bike and Thule bike racks.

Entries are taken through ROAG (www.roag.co.za) and seeding is based on the Roag Seeding index. Final seeding will be released the week before race starts.

For further details on the course, training tips, information, etc, read the Sunday Tribune each week.