VOL. 50 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 24, 2013
P61
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN HILL
W
ith a brand new venue,
a wet track and the
looming ISDE event in
Italy, the top three podium finishers sure had a plateful to deal
with, as Kailub Russell, Charlie
Mullins and Thad Duvall had to
battle it out for the win at the latest edition of the 2013 GNCC
Championship held at the Riverstone Estate high in the Alleghany Mountains of Pennsylvania.
The weather itself prompted
many to guess how the 11-mile
course would hold up after a deluge of rain fell on Saturday. As it
turned out, conditions couldn't
have been better, as the soil
tacked up nicely for the threehour race.
Russell and Mullins came into
the race separated by just two
points, but Russell left The Gusher padding it to seven with his
fifth straight win of the season.
Mullins fired the first shot at
The Gusher by grabbing the
holeshot and leading the XC1
Pros into the woods. The new location provided plenty of technical sections, and the conditions
were quickly improving with every passing minute.
With the battle for the lead
heating up and the thoughts of
having to travel the next day to
Italy for the ISDE, neither Mullins
nor Russell wanted to make any
mistakes that could cause injury,
Kailub Russell's current hot streak
couldn't have come at a better time
for the series points leader.
