In the ‘States, it’s already huge: Ragnar Relay.

Take a bunch of mates – eight of you for kicks and trail giggles or get serious if you are ultra junkies, and you only need four – pack the tent, your trail runners, a sense of mateship plus enough trash talk to gee up your still-running team-mate as he/she swings through the tent-strewn event HQ at midnight while you’re warming your butt on the campfire.

Ragnar Relay Australia is a bit of a new format on the trail running scene in Australia, one that replicates in some ways the old and hugely popular (in their day) 24-hour MTB races or the current flavour of obstacle course events like the just-happened True Grit (congrats to TRM Assoc Editor Tegyn Angel on finishing second in what was the World Champs!) where participants go on through the night. It also mirrors to some degree the four-up team challenge of some events like the Surf Coast Century, albeit with camping added into the mix and double the overall distance.

Anyway, Ragnar Relay overseas is a bit of a relay trunning phenomenon, and has spread its wings to Australia, with the first Ragnar Trail happening in Glenworth Valley, NSW, on October 27-28, 2018.

Ragnar Trail see teams of 8 (or teams of 4 for Ultra teams) conquer a 200-ish km course over two days and one night. Each participant in a team of 8 will complete three loops with each loop starting and finishing at the central Ragnar village. The respective loops are 6km, 8km and 11km in distance which will see each (regular) team member run a total of 25km over the weekend Ragnar trail, or 50km each if a team of four.

The event HQ is located at the Glenworth Valley Outdoor Adventure facility, a one hour drive north of Sydney CBD. There, ‘Ragnarians’ as event organisers dub participants, will find a 3000+ acre wilderness property featuring wooded trails perfect for running and plush grass great for camping as teams experience the magic of Ragnar Village. Teams run relay-style on “green”, “yellow”, and “red” loops as they meander through the forest past rivers, streams and ponds.

The central Ragnar village is the epicenter of the Ragnar social experience where participants have the chance to grab some food, buy Ragnar gear, be entertained by on-stage performers, watch a movie, hang out around the fire, catch a quick nap, cheer for other runners, grab a drink, take part in contests and enjoy the whole Ragnar Trail experience. Sounds like a trail party to use where the social is more important than who’s winning. Well, to a degree… everyone likes to win. But you get the gist that the beauty of Ragnar is that half the action is off trail, while your buddy is enjoying the mud and stuff on trail. And the logistics are easy…

Teams can register for Ragnar Trail Glenworth Valley here >> https://runragnar.com/au/event-detail/trail/glenworth

Ragnar Relay
Glenworth Valley, NSW
October 27-28, 2018