On The Track With Declan Durrant

Anne-Marie Kehres is championing the sport of mountain biking for the Whitsundays in more than one way.

The Proserpine local, who recently returned from the National Mountain Bike Championship Cross Country Marathon XCM with a national title and a championship jersey, is an extreme advocate for her favourite extreme sport.

For her, it was passion, discipline and unbridled commitment which helped her win, each born from a place of vulnerability matched by strength – as well as a photograph taken years before.

“At a previous tournament in 2020, I sat on the number one podium as a joke. I’d come dead last and I told my husband to take a photo of me sitting there. I’ve had that photo blown up and put on my wall as a goal,” Kehres said.

“I’m a huge believer in the power of the subconscious mind and that, somehow, somewhere, that goal would be met.”

It was two years before Kehres, at the Championships in Wagga Wagga two weeks ago, was ready to challenge that goal on the torturous 75-kilometre distance course with a fire in her belly.

“Everything fell into place that day; I felt well. I was very excited and there’s nothing better,” she said.

But there was a mishap: coming off the bitumen into the track, there was a small, muddy dip and Kehres underjudged and had a crash. But here’s where grit came into play.

“It was good in a sense,” Kehres said.

“My competitors went ahead of me and as soon as I got back on the bike, my brain switched. I said: no this isn’t happening today and I’m going to catch up, that jersey is mine.”

She conquered Wagga Wagga’s course and gained the top accolade in the process – a National title and a championship jersey.

“As I crossed the finish line, I looked at this lady I was riding with and said, did I just do that, and I started crying. The only reason I sometimes believe it’s happened is looking at the jersey. It just goes to show you’re capable of doing whatever you put your mind to,” Kehres said.

It’s another win in a long series of top spots the local rider has claimed, and another landmark in a journey that started over 20 years ago.

“I had a chronic disease that plagued me for 25 years – an eating disorder – where in my late 20s and early 30s I weighed no more than 30 kilos. Doctors would look at me and say, how are you still alive?” she said.

“Mountain biking is one of the things that God placed in my life to save me from my eating disorder.

“I was born and raised in Lebanon in the war, and my escape was going into the olive fields and the bush. Now, if life gets too much, I still go into the bush – just now on a mountain bike.

“I was in America and somebody introduced me to the bike and I loved being out in nature in the bush already. It was a perfect match.

“It takes your mind away and you can listen to the harmony of the birds, the wind, and it grounds you. It brings you back to what life’s about.”

Now, Kehres wants to impart the gift of mountain biking to the entire region through advocating on its behalf. Something she’s been doing as Secretary of the Whitsunday Mountain Biking Club.

“Because it’s such a grounding sport – it gets you one with nature – it helps with anxiety and getting you back into the world,” Kehres said.

“I want people to be able to experience that. I want my kids to experience that; because I try to show my boys that even if you’re older, even if you were slow, you can put your mind to something and do it. But you need to be disciplined and be faithful to yourself.

“That’s what I think people can get from mountain biking.”

Kehres wants to bring in more trails to the region in a wider range of levels -  green, blue, and black. Having access to those and being able to train the region’s up and comers and progress them is her goal.

“At the moment, all our mountain biking trails are black,” Kehres said.

“We’ve got champion mountain bikers who live in the region who’ve got nowhere to train on. Imagine the tourism and what that could bring to the area if we hosted a national championship some day – a Commonwealth Games.

“We’ve got the region; we’ve got the most beautiful views. All you need is elevation, which we have – it’s just about making it work now.

“I’d love to see riders from our region grow and prosper and achieve even more national acclaim.”

Local Anne-Marie Kehres has achieved an incredible feat in Mountain Biking, and wants the rest of the region to get in on the sporting fun

Kehres claimed a National title and championship jersey as winner of the National Mountain Bike Championship Cross Marathon XCM

From humble beginnings as a slow rider, Kehres said it was persistence and personal motivation that led her to the big win

Kehres’ new national championship jersey, which she says she can hardly believe she won

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