October has arrived and apparently nobody told the trail calendar to slow down. The next few weeks are packed. There are backyard laps in Toowoomba, beer at the finish line in Beechworth (yes, really), mountain running in Victoria, one of Queensland’s biggest ultras and some cracking racing across New Zealand. At the other end of the spectrum, there are plenty of smaller local events proving you don’t need an ultra-distance bib to have a very enjoyable day on the trails.
Here’s what’s coming up.
AUSTRALIA
QUEENSLAND
Garden City Backyard Ultra
Date: 3 October 2026
Location: Toowoomba Showgrounds, Queensland
Distance: 6.706km every hour
Website: gcbu.com.au
Garden City Backyard Ultra returns to Toowoomba Showgrounds with the familiar backyard format: runners have an hour to complete a 6.706km loop, line up again on the hour, and keep doing it until only one competitor remains. The course incorporates the Main Arena, Peter Watts Criterium Track and Wilderness Challenge, and there’s onsite camping for those settling in for what could become a very long weekend.
The timing is rather lovely too: it coincides with Toowoomba’s Carnival of Flowers. Flowers for everyone else; sleep deprivation for this lot.
SEQ Trail Running Series – Enoggera Reservoir
Date: 11 October 2026
Location: Enoggera Reservoir, Queensland
Distances: 8.4km and 12.9km
Website: SEQ Trail Running Series
Season 14 of the SEQ Trail Running Series gets underway close to home for Brisbane runners, with Round 1 heading to Enoggera Reservoir.
There are two courses—8.4km and 12.9km—and the series format means runners aren’t just racing the clock. Individual and running-club points accumulate across the season, giving you an excuse to keep coming back each subsequent round.
It’s also an excellent reminder that trail racing doesn’t necessarily require months of ultra training or a road trip to the middle of nowhere. Sometimes a start line in the bush just outside Brisbane will do nicely.
Coombabah Trail Run
Date: 11 October 2026
Location: Coombabah Lakes Conservation Area, Gold Coast, Queensland
Distances: 6.5km and 13.5km
Website: Coombabah Trail Run
Coombabah deliberately keeps things low key. Starting at the main entrance to Coombabah Lakes Conservation Area, runners can choose between 6.5km and 13.5km through the reserve. Both races are wrapped up by 10am, when the area generally starts getting busier with the public.
It’s short, local and low-key—a nice change from some of the enormous undertakings elsewhere in this roundup.
The Turtle and the Lamb
Date: 11 October 2026
Location: Upper Davies Creek, Dinden National Park, Queensland
Distances: 3km kids, 6km and 19km
Website: https://www.adventuresportnq.info/events/trail-running-2/turtle-and-the-lamb/
The name might sound cute and fluffy. But the terrain isn’t necessarily playing along with the gentle vibe. The Turtle and the Lamb heads into Dinden National Park in Far North Queensland, with 6km and 19km courses aimed squarely at runners who enjoy dirt, mountains and a bit of work for their finish line. There’s also a 3km kids’ dash.
Previously held as a moonlit ramble, the 2026 edition is a daytime affair, starting and finishing around Upper Davies Creek.
Blackall100 – SOLD OUT
Date: 17 October 2026
Location: Mapleton, Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Distances: 21km, 50km and 100km
Website: Blackall100
Blackall100 is one of the big ones this month.
Set on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk, the course works through towering forest, deep gullies and exposed ridgelines around Mapleton. The headline 100km is also a Western States Endurance Run qualifying race, giving anyone with bigger international ambitions another reason to take it seriously.
But Blackall isn’t just about the kilometres. The weekend begins on Friday evening with a Welcome and Indigenous smoking ceremony before the 100km field heads out at 6am Saturday, followed by the 50km and 21km runners.
The Blackall100 delivers big trails, big distances and one of Queensland’s established trail-running weekends.
NEW SOUTH WALES
Hume and Hovell Ultra
Date: 10 October 2026
Location: Tumbarumba, NSW
Distances: 1km, 11km, 22km, 50km and 100km
Website: https://humeandhovellultra.com/
Hume and Hovell proudly describes itself as an old-school, community-driven trail event, and that’s a pretty good indication of what you’re getting.
Based at Henry Angel Campground near Tumbarumba, the event uses the historic Hume and Hovell Walking Track, taking runners into the bush across distances from 11km through to 100km. There’s also a kids’ kilometre for those whose ultra career hasn’t quite begun yet.
No enormous event machine required here: just a longstanding community race and a lot of trail. The event has been running since 2012 and is now organised by the Tumut Trotters.
Sydney Trail Series – Spring Series Race 2
Date: 11 October 2026
Location: St Ives, NSW
Distances: 7km, 10km, 24km
Website: Sydney Trail Series
Race two of the Sydney Trail Series’ Spring Series heads back to St Ives, with three distances taking runners through the Wildflower Gardens and into the surrounding bushland. The 7km and 10km options keep things relatively short, while the 24km course ventures into Ku-ring-gai National Park, where things get considerably more serious with steep, technical sections and singletrack alongside Cowan Creek.
All three races start and finish at St Ives Showground, and there’s a free post-race brekkie waiting at the finish—including bacon and egg sandwiches off the BBQ, which is a pretty decent incentive to get yourself back there.
ACT
Dusk till Dawn 12hr Team Challenge – SOLD OUT
Date: 16–17 October 2026
Location: Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ACT
Format: 12-hour team challenge
Entry status: Sold out – waitlist available
You might have missed the boat on entering this one, but it’s too interesting to leave off the calendar completely.
Teams of four spend 12 hours overnight completing as many laps as possible around an approximately 1.5km course through the Australian War Memorial precinct and Sculpture Garden. One runner must be on course at all times, but how teams divide the night is entirely up to them. The challenge raises funds for Bravery Trust, supporting current and former Australian Defence Force personnel and their families.
Entries are currently sold out, with a waiting list in place.
VICTORIA
Beechworth Beer Run
Date: 3 October 2026
Location: Beechworth, Victoria
Distances: 5km, 15km, 30km plus kids’ event
Website: beerrun.com.au
Someone at Bridge Road Brewers likes trail running. Someone at Bridge Road Brewers also, unsurprisingly, likes beer. Thus, the Beechworth Beer Run exists.
The 30km Full Pint starts in Yackandandah and follows the Indigo Trail to Beechworth, while the 15km Half Pint heads out and back via Lake Sambell. There are shorter options too, but regardless of distance, the event has one particularly compelling finish-line inclusion: a free beer.
It’s a decidedly Beechworth take on a trail race and exactly the sort of local event we like finding buried among the ultras.
Mt Macedon Trail Runs
Date: 4 October 2026
Location: Mount Macedon, Victoria
Distances: 10–50km
Website: Macedon Trail Runs
Mount Macedon isn’t interested in giving runners an easy Sunday morning.
The Trailsplus event heads into the mountain’s forest trails for tough climbing, fast descents and technical terrain across distances ranging from 10km to 50km. The mountain is also known for being swallowed by fog, which can turn an already challenging run into something altogether moodier when visibility closes in.
If your preferred trail-running aesthetic is less blue skies and more where exactly did that mountain go?, this could be the one.
Roller Coaster Trail Run
Date: 17 October 2026
Location: Kalorama, Dandenong Ranges, Victoria
Distances: 12km, 23km, 46km and 1.23km kids
Website: Roller Coaster Trail Run
The name isn’t metaphorical.
Roller Coaster has been sending runners up and down the Dandenong Ranges since 2012, and its headline 46km ultra involves completing the 23km loop before turning around and doing the whole thing in reverse.
The 23km gets one lap, while the 12km Twilight Mad Mouse starts at 6pm and heads into the evening. Even the kids get the theme treatment with a 1.23km Kids Carousel.
Apparently simply calling them “short”, “medium” and “long” wasn’t an option, and we’re glad.
TASMANIA
Coastal Pathway Ultra
Date: 4 October 2026
Location: Latrobe, Tasmania
Distances: 10km, 21.1km, 42.2km, 64km, 100km and relay
Website: coastalpathwayultra.com
Tasmania’s Coastal Pathway Ultra swaps technical mountain singletrack for a long journey along the state’s North West Coast.
The course follows the North West Coastal Pathway from Latrobe towards Ulverstone and back, with distances stretching all the way to 100km. The pathway itself is an ongoing regional project linking coastal communities and giving runners a rather different way to cover ultra distance: sea air, coastal scenery and long stretches where keeping the legs turning becomes the challenge.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Mount Bold Trail Run
Date: 11 October 2026
Location: Mount Bold Reservoir Reserve, South Australia
Distances: Approx. 10km, 17km, 25km and 35km
Mount Bold closes out Trail Running SA’s On The Trails series with something a little more serious: the event also serves as the 2026 South Australian Trail Championships.
The reservoir reserve gives runners a mix of woodland, creeks and undulating trail, with four distances allowing everyone from shorter-course runners to those chasing the state title to get involved.
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Alice Springs Masters Games – Road & Trail
Dates: 10–16 October 2026
Location: Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Distances: Half marathon, 6km trail events, 10km run/walk and 5km walk
Website: Alice Springs Masters Games Road & Trail program
The Alice Springs Masters Games spreads its road and trail program across a week and makes very good use of its Red Centre location.
The half marathon kicks things off at Simpsons Gap on 10 October. For the dirt lovers, there’s a 6km entry-level trail run from the Telegraph Station on Monday and a 6km technical trail race on the East Side trails the following morning. Road running and walking events round out the program later in the week.
It’s not a conventional trail festival, but racing the Alice Springs trail network as part of the Masters Games earns it a spot here.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Manning Park Trail Run
Date: 18 October 2026
Location: Manning Park, Hamilton Hill, Western Australia
Distances: 5km and 10km
Website: Manning Park Trail Run
Here’s one for anyone who thinks a 5km local event can’t hurt.
Manning Park is a volunteer-run community race through the trails of the City of Cockburn. Both courses head through the park and tackle the 192 Manning Stairs, rewarding the climb with ocean views before runners descend onto bush tracks containing steep sections and loose gravel.
The 10km course, naturally, comes back for more—including another trip up the stairs.
NEW ZEALAND
Rakiura Challenge
Date: 3 October 2026
Location: Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand
Distance: 32km
Rakiura Challenge turns one of New Zealand’s Great Walks into a 32km trail race through Stewart Island’s spectacular wilderness. This isn’t really a fly-in, race, fly-out affair either: competitors are required to plan for Friday and Saturday nights on the island, with organisers specifically warning North Island travellers to allow additional time in case weather disrupts the journey south.
Race morning transport takes runners from Oban to the start, before the trail does the rest. It’s destination trail running in the truest sense.
4 Paws Marathon
Date: 4 October 2026
Location: Bottle Lake Forest, Christchurch
Distances: 2.5km, 5km, 10km, 16km, 21.1km, 32.2km and 42.2km
Website: 4 Paws Marathon
Yes, your dog can run a marathon with you. The 4 Paws Marathon is an entirely off-road event through Bottle Lake Forest and along Christchurch’s coastline, created as a celebration of exercise, dogs and the rather excellent combination of the two.
Seven distances range from the 2.5km Rascal’s Run through to a full 42.2km, with pine-needle trails, forest tracks, sand and—on the marathon course—a trip out towards where the Waimakariri River meets the sea.
And no, borrowing a dog isn’t compulsory. Humans without canine running partners are welcome too.
Trail Trilogy
Date: 11 October 2026
Location: Waihi/Coromandel, New Zealand
Distances: 9km, 21.1km, 42.2km, 55km and 100km
Website: https://trailtrilogy.com/
Five distances, five different starting points and one finish line at Waihi’s historic railway station.
Trail Trilogy makes extensive use of the Hauraki Rail Trail, with courses travelling through native bush, farmland and small towns before converging on Waihi. Marathon, 55km and 100km runners can go solo or form relay teams, while the shortest event adds a particularly good twist: the 9km is a Race the Train fun run.
Sometimes the event name writes the blurb for you.
Taupō Ultramarathon
Date: 17 October 2026
Location: Taupō, New Zealand
Distances: 24km, 50km, 70km, 100km and 100km relay
Website: Taupō Ultramarathon
Taupō Ultra makes a persuasive case that an ultramarathon doesn’t need to be brutally technical to be memorable.
The event follows the Great Lake Trail, serving up huge lake views alongside native bush, rivers, waterfalls and the mountains surrounding Taupō. Organisers describe the trail network as possibly the most runnable set of ultramarathon courses in New Zealand—which means you’ll probably want to keep moving rather than blaming every five-minute stop on “technical terrain”.
Distances start at 24km and run through to the headline 100km, with a team relay option for those who’d prefer to share the work.
Crater Rim Ultra
Date: 18 October 2026
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Distances: 6km, 12km, 22km, 30km and 53km
Website: Crater Rim Ultra
Christchurch rounds out our three weeks with a proper mountain outing.
The headline 53km Crater Rim Ultra starts at Diamond Harbour, while the remaining distances have names almost as good as the trails: Bellbird Buster (30km), Kiwi Challenge (22km), Rapaki Rumble (12km) and Valley View (6km).
It’s a full spread from shorter trail running through to ultra distance, all centred around Christchurch’s Port Hills and volcanic landscape.
That’s a wrap for October
There are plenty more start lines coming as spring gathers pace, and this is only a snapshot of what’s happening over the next few weeks. If skyrunning is more your thing, registrations have also just opened for Diverge Skyruns.
Keep an eye out for Issue #61 of Trail Run Magazine which includes our next Event Guide. It’s packed with trail races and adventures to start filling the calendar well beyond October.
For now, though, there’s clearly no shortage of excuses to get out on the dirt.
