A Demonstration of Endurance

November 13th 2013

On the Sunday 13 October Rebecca W (Year 11) took part in the Weston-super-Mare Beach race, a motocross endurance race along the beach at Weston-super-Mare in Somerset.

Rebecca’s race was a 90 minute endurance event alongside 70 other riders. The course consisted of sand dunes and a mile long stretch along the beach front which is one the hardest and physically demanding motocross event in England.

In preparation for the race Rebecca went to train in Dunkirk, France. She would catch the Eurostar after school on Friday, then on Saturday and Sunday she rode all day to get as much time on the bike as possible. This enabled her to get used to riding on sand and learnhow to ride smoothly, which was very useful for riding the Weston-super-Mare Beach Race.

On race day Rebecca and the other competitors set off to the beach where there was a mile long straight where Rebecca was leading. At the first sand dune she decided to jump and some people didn't which resulted in Rebecca landing on someone below her and unfortunately coming off her bike. Despite landing on her back she was uninjured and determined to finish the race. After being 11 minutes behind Rebecca showed great strength of character and managed to claim back 38 places, finishing in 32^nd place overall and 2^nd out of the girls riding.

Rebecca took part in the Race in aid of the Air Ambulance and she has raised over £200.

Rebecca said “The beach race was definitely a lot different to my usual races as there were 100,000 spectators on the beach, so there was a lot of pressure. I enjoyed the whole experience and I am proud that I managed to gain 38 places after my fall.”