Beta support rider Tanner Whipple may not compete in the MXC Racing series full-time, but he (and several others) couldn’t resist making the trip to the Illinois woods and cornfields of rural Fenton for the Moose Run, presented by Moose Racing.
Photos by Mark Kariya
While not an annual event on the MXC calendar like The Race in the fall (which has occasionally been known as the Moose Run), the springtime version often proved to be the most challenging round of the series because the cornfields were freshly planted and thus off-limits. While the lanes along the edges and the waterways in the lower sections were available for riders to take brief breaks and give top gear some use, promoter Bill Gusse would throw them into a section of tight woods at the earliest opportunity.
This year, however, the trails he laid out there proved more flowy and somewhat less technical—many actually deeming them fun, especially with the nearly perfect dirt in those woods.
It suited AMA District 17 Hare Scrambles champ and multi-time ISDE medalist Whipple just fine as he led nearly the entire two-hour race, co-sanctioned with the Iowa Enduro Riders Association (IERA). In the end, Champion Brick KTM-mounted Tobin Miller proved to be the only one able to hang with Whipple, though a minor crash in the later stages and a last-lap pit stop for a splash to guarantee the finish opened the gap to just over a minute. They were the only ones to complete nine laps of the roughly six-mile course, with Kade Heilman earning third on his KTM.
Whipple took control early, grabbing the holeshot on his D&W Cycles/G2 Ergonomics/FXR-backed 300 RR, with Heilman, Colt Converse, Miller and the rest of the AA line following closely.
But it wasn’t long before Whipple, Miller and Heilman broke away from the rest of the pack, the only change being when Miller passed Whipple in the pits—a change that lasted only a couple of miles.
“It was just kind of a yo-yo all day between me and [Miller],” Whipple said. “I was leading for most of it, but I would get a gap, then he would be right on me, just kind of back and forth. I think the last two laps I was kind of able to pull a little bit of a gap, and he had to [finally pit for gas] as well. It was good day. I think this race pays pretty good [contingency] to win. I’ve got two kids, and diapers ain’t cheap, so I’m happy to get her done!”
For his part, Miller said, “I pulled a pretty good start; I think I was fifth into the woods, maybe. I just wanted to get ahead of most of the dust and work from there. I was charging hard trying to pass Tanner, but that guy’s so bulletproof! When the pressure’s on—and there was a lot of money at this race, so the pressure was on—he shows up to play.”
The hard enduro specialist and his Zavorotti Suspension/Bulletproof Designs/Klim 300 XC-W finished a minute and seven seconds behind Whipple, who took the checkered after 2:13:37. (Coincidentally, Whipple and Miller were third and fourth overall at MXC’s The Race last November.)
As for Heilman, who rounded out the overall and AA podium (he was fifth overall and first A at The Race) on his D&W Cycles/G2 Ergonomics/FXR 300 XC, the Moose Run was a mostly solitary ride. “That was my biggest problem,” he said. “After Tobin passed me, I was by myself the whole time, and I started losing pace and getting caught [by Converse].”
Heilman opened his cushion over Hall’s Cycles Husqvarna rider Converse from 17 seconds on lap five to 55 seconds at the finish.
KTM-mounted Benjamin Ward was another 30 seconds back in fifth, followed by Dunlop YZ250 rider Jason Crawford and Steven Vanloo on his FXR KTM. Pro Motorsports KTM’s Briar Greene and Muc-Off Yamaha rider Brady Dillbeck were eighth and ninth, respectively, overall. Top A rider Jaden Hamilton rounded out the top 10 overall on his FamMX Husqvarna, though second A overall Cael Johnson was just one second behind aboard his Cycle Tech Sherco.CN
2026 Midwest Cross-Country Moose Run Results
