To make Australia’s enduro riders competitive. 

Back in 1977, a contingent of Australian riders returned from a world enduro competition held in Czechoslovakia with not one having finished the punishing six-day race.

So Mr Hall, and others, decided to host a four-day race to ensure when Australia’s riders returned to the world stage, they would be much better prepared.

That race first held in Cessnock in 1978 would become the Australian Four Day Enduro – an annual event now held at different locations around the country.  

“It was his idea, his invention if you like,” John’s son, Mal Hall said on Friday. 

“Basically what he wanted to do was make our Australia Enduro riders competitive, because we weren’t.”

To honour the inaugural event, the race has returned to the “birthplace of Australian enduro” – Cessnock. 

Over 350 men and women riders are in town to traverse the back country of the surrounding district. 

“It’s the 40th anniversary, it had to come back to Cessnock,” Mr Hall said. 

“For dad, for the club and for the town.”

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Each day, riders have commenced a gruelling schedule from Cessnock Showground with groups of three taking off intermediately over a two-hour period. 

During each day’s riding, they encounter multiple tests –  short sections of track riders stop at and are then timed over before continuing on the day’s trail route. 

Those test times are added together for a combined race total, but penalties are applied if a rider arrives late to a test. 

Cessnock Motorcyle Club secretary Matthew Short said riders have been pushed over the “physical and demanding” first three days with the field reduced to under 300 due to injuries and mechanical issues. 

“Anywhere from 160 to 200km each day,” he said of the course.  

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Mal Hall said Cessnock had embraced the visitors, some from as far as Europe and the USA. 

“It’s very important, it brings a lot of money into the town,” he said. 

“They didn’t know how big it was going to be, but the amount of people driving through town, stopping in pubs, stopping in cafes…. accommodation is fully booked everywhere.

“I drove past a butcher today who had a sign out the front that said ‘$30 Enduro pack’.”

The event culminates with motocross races at Cessnock Racecourse on Saturday, where riders can either make up or lose time from the first three days.

Gates open at 9am with racing until late afternoon.