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MARQUETTE — It was a unique day of racing at the 23rd annual Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic on Saturday.

It started with one of the event’s few rainy race days to provide a muddy course. Despite that weather, the racers brought their “A” games, delivering in Michigan’s largest mass-start, point-to-point mountain bike event.

It was also the largest field ever for the Ore to Shore, which maybe combined with the weather resulted in close finishes across the board.

Kerry Werner holds his trophy above his head for winning the men's division of the 48-mile Hard Rock race during the 23rd annual Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Saturday. (Journal photo by Travis Nelson)

That included the grueling 48-mile Hard Rock race. In his Ore to Shore debut, Kerry Werner of Vinton, Virginia, won the men’s race in 2 hours, 34 minutes, 44.8 seconds, edging out defending champ Caleb Swartz of Missoula, Montana, by just two-tenths of a second.

Despite it being his first time participating, Werner said it lived up to his expectations of the race being fast when he looked at times from previous years. In fact, despite the wet and mud, the top eight finishers were all listed as averaging 18.6 mph for the entire course.

And Werner came in blind to the course.

“The style of racing that we did (Saturday) is right in my wheelhouse,” Werner said. “The one thing that I didn’t have that most of the other guys had was that course knowledge.

“Most of the course is private, so you can’t pre-ride it. The only thing I knew coming in was the last seven miles of the track today, so it was a little interesting at the beginning of the race.”

Emma Schwab, left, holds up the trophy as women's winner of the 48-mile Hard Rock race at the 23rd annual Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Saturday. (Journal photo by Travis Nelson)

The top Upper Peninsula finisher in the men’s race was Mattison Brady of Houghton, 34th in 2:42:59.2, while the top finisher from the area was Matthew Stilwell of Negaunee, 66th in 2:51:02.4.

Emma Schwab of downstate Williamsburg was the women’s winner in the Hard Rock in 2:54:23.9. Unlike the men’s race, she won going away with a more-than-three-minute win over runner-up Emily Werner of Advance, North Carolina, who finished in 2:57:40.9.

Like Werner, Schwab also enjoyed the rain, though it probably helps when you win it.

“I actually loved it, I love the mud,” Schwab said. “I was hoping that it was going to rain just because I like the technical part of it. That was so much fun, I loved it, it was amazing out there.”

Kristy McBride of Marquette was third in 3:01:22.6, not quite seven minutes after Schwab, while Elizabeth Sabin of Marquette was seventh in 3:05:10.9.

Grady Ellis, left, barely pulls out the victory over runner-up Brody Day in the men's division of the 28-mile Soft Rock race at the 23rd annual Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Saturday. (Journal photo by Travis Nelson)

The 28-mile Soft Rock race also provided some drama. At one point, there were 11 racers grouped together at the front of the men’s race in the final few minutes. Once the dust — or more likely, mud — settled down the stretch, it was a two-man sprint between Traverse City natives Grady Ellis and Brody Day. Day held a slight lead until Ellis found his way around him and won by two-tenths of a second. Ellis finished in 1:29:09.1, with Day came in at 1:29:09.3.

“It was pretty crazy,” Ellis said. “‘We started the sprint as soon as the concrete started (in Marquette), and we both pushed it as hard as we could. I’ve been working hard, trying to ride as much as I could.

“Riding with my dad helped a lot, and I just pulled it off. There was a big group, and I just got around at the finish.”

Marquette’s Corbin Grim finished a close third in the men’s Soft Rock in 1:29.17.3, exactly eight seconds behind Day, while Judge Anderson of Palmer was fourth in 1:29:40.0, just over 20 seconds after Grim.

The women’s Soft Rock winner was Lyllie Sonnemann of Madison, Wisconsin, crossing in 1:33:17.6 for a 12.3-second victory over Charlotte Wright-Rosinski of downstate Highland as Sonnemann was also 15th overall.

The top women’s finisher from the Upper Peninsula was Nicole Alexander of Marquette, who placed 13th in 1:46:17.0, while Nicole Kerkela of Negaunee was 14th in 1:47:43.5.

In other races, Reeve Oberman of Harbor Springs won the men’s 10-mile Shore Rock in 46:23.6, while Negaunee’s Emily Broeders was the women’s winner in 52:47.7. The top men finisher from the area was Cole Goedert of Marquette, ninth in 52:18.1.

In the four-mile Junior Rock, Ellie Schouten of Plymouth, Wisconsin, was the girls winner in 14:28.0, while Ethan Lewis of Kenosha, Wisconsin, won the boys division in 14:58.04.

Locally, Bella Glendon of Marquette was fifth and Aria Oswald-Swenson of Negaunee sixth for the girls as both were listed in 16:46.3. Among the boys, Cole Becker of Negaunee was sixth in 16:47.1.

No time was wasted on Saturday announcing that the 24th annual event will be held on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023.

With that being said, the countdown for next year’s event has already started.

Travis Nelson can be reached by email at tnelson@miningjournal.net.