Giant team rider Lachlan Norris defied pundits’ predictions to win the Kona Odyssey Mountain Bike Marathon today, maintaining an unassailable lead after passing race favourite, Team Milka/Superior’s Chris Jongewaard, following the 25km mark.

In the 50km Kona Shorty, Team Torq dominated the men’s with the orange and black-clad Jack Haig and Robbie Hucker crossing the line in a time of 2:16:16 in what looked like a dead heat to the eye. Electronic timing splits revealed the 50km Shorty win went to a smiling Jack Haig by a slim 0.07 second.

Race favourite discusses the day ahead at today's Kona Odyssey.

You reckon the Kona Odyssey MTB Marathon will be tough huh? Complaining of a bad back, slightly stiff after your last training ride? I put it to you that you don't know what tough is. Eliza Jenkins, however, does. A Rapid Ascent regular competitor across MTB and adventure racing events, Eliza suffers from congenital scoliosis - a curvature of the spine that results from abnormally developed vertebrae in utero – yet has battled odds and pain to be lining up this weekend regardless...

Friends of those competing in this year’s Kona Odyssey mountain bike marathon will now be able to track the progress of the race from afar with the introduction of live tracking of elite riders, live splits for all riders and automatic post event upload of rider photographs on Facebook.

The 100km Kona Odyssey is about as hard as it gets. Hills so steep you feel like you’re going backwards, single track racing requiring unwavering concentration and undulating terrain surprising you at every turn make eating and drinking all the more difficult. Amongst all this, the what, why and how of hydration is crucial with one of the main challenges getting it in you. Hayley Blieden, (BNutrDiet, APD, AN) from Shotz Sports Nutrition takes a look at rehydration factors for Kona.