Words & photos: Andy McGechan
The annual Honda Tarawera 100
cross-country marathon has just hit
the grand old age of 40. Cody Cooper
was the man left standing on the top
step of the podium.
H
onda hero Cody Cooper is fast closing
in on claiming a new dirt bike record.
The 33-year-old won his sixth national
MX1 motocross crown earlier this year,
and in August he made it a fifth time
that he’s now also won the fabled
Tarawera 100 cross-country marathon.
Cooper was at his scintillating best
when he won this year’s 40th running
of the great event at Te Teko, near Whakatane.
This famous Bay of Plenty race is a brutal 100-mile
(160-kilometre) affair – the distance that gives the
marathon its name – and Cooper’s win on Saturday