In 2019, New Zealander ROGER LESLIE completed the formidable yet breathtaking Swiss Canyon Trail ultramarathon. He gives Trail Run Mag a recap of his remarkable adventure – packed with everything from mind-bogglingly steep ascents and descents, to stunning scenery, to helping an injured runner, to ice-cream! The 5am blast of an alp-horn released the pent-up energy of 500 runners into the brisk pre-dawn of the Val de Travers in Canton Neuchãtel, Western Switzerland. The front runners disappeared in a swirl…
SOLDIER ON
Honour the memory, the bravery and the hardship faced by our World War 2 soldiers in Kokoda by taking part in the March On with Soldier On Challenge – raise funds to help our modern-day heroes and help prevent veteran suicide. To do this, you can choose to take on the Mountain Challenge where Soldier On can offer you the ultimate experience on home soil by taking on one of Australia’s most iconic and challenging walking tracks – the ten…
Run Against Violence Virtual Team Challenge
Australia’s largest and longest virtual team challenge is about to kick off! Groups of up to 20 can walk or run 1,300km virtually from Broken Hill to Sydney with the Run Against Violence Virtual Team Challenge. From 30 August to 17 September, the route retraces the real-world 2017 StepsTogether Ultramarathon to raise awareness of family violence. Why 1,300km? It equates to 1.7 million steps – the estimated number of Australians who experience physical abuse before the age of 15. Find…
Running on a moonscape
Written by Annabelle Latz. Photos by Xavier Briel. Nothing could prepare me for it, and nothing will ever compare to it. Running on a white vastness, a cloud-whispered light-blue sky above, amongst an absence of landmarks and an abundance of flat land… Welcome to the Salt Pans Ultra Trail Marathon, Botswana’s inaugural ultramarathon stage race. For 100km, over three days, 25 of us ran across a section of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. Located in Northern Botswana, this vast expanse of…
Trail Running Series goes virtual
COVID-19 may have turned the running calendar upside down, but don’t let all your training go to waste! Rapid Ascent is launching its 2020 Trail Running Series, presented by MINI Countryman, with entries opening for two virtual races to be held on June 14 and July 12. Participants can enter either 5km, 10km or 15km races over whatever course they have access to whilst respecting social distancing rules. Then at 9am on race morning, competitors set off to complete their…
Surf Coast King Returns at Century
Ballarat’s Ash Watson reached new heights at last year’s Surf Coast Century taking home the 100km crown in record time. In the seventh edition of the race, Watson finished in 8:16:50, eclipsing the previous record time by 28 seconds. That makes him a double Surf Coast trail running record holder, as he also holds the current course record for the Surf Coast Trail Marathon held in June. With the Surf Coast Century upon on this weekend (21 September), Ash is back to have another crack at…
Run Larapinta results 2019
Run Larapinta 2019 came to a close yesterday afternoon at the famed Glen Helen Gorge, in the Northern Territory’s Red Centre. The gorge and rustic Glen Helen Lodge lies 130 kilometres west of Alice Springs on the Finke River in the West MacDonnell Ranges. Trail runners from interstate and overseas tackled everything from extreme heat, to cold weather, and howling winds across four stages of tough desert mountain running. The racing kicked off on the outskirts of Alice Springs for a relaxed…
Event review: Eiger Ultra
TRM’s Euro-correspondent heads to the mighty Eiger Ultra to review an event considered a jewel in the Ultra trail World Tour crown. According to Wikipedia (that oh-so reliable source of world knowledge): “An ogre is a legendary monster usually depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world.” It is not surprising, then, that the Eiger Ultra Trail is named after the…
Pole position at Ultra Trail Australia
7000 trail runners and their supporters descended on Katoomba’s Scenic World and the surrounding World Heritage listed Blue Mountains National Park this weekend for the 12thedition of what is now the third largest trail running festival in the world, Ultra-Trail Australia. Conditions were perfect, with 50km and 100km runners treated to stunning blue skies and sunshine for the entire day, making it one of the best race days the event has seen in years. Polish runner Marcin Swierc claimed victory in…
Ultra Trail Australia – a look back
Special trail envoy, Roger Hanney, takes a look back at how Ultra Trail Australia came to be the biggest trail running outing in the Southern Hemisphere and the second biggest on the planet. IMAGES: Kamil Sustiak Most sane people would run a mile at the thought of racing 100 kilometres on foot. But that distance is the main event at a multiday trail running festival in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, across the third weekend of May. Ultra-Trail Australia began in 2008…
