Picture: Kelly Slater The Bob Brown Foundation has launched a Supreme Court action against Sustainable Timber Tasmania after they refused a permit for the annual takayna Trail ultramarathon, scheduled for 20 March 2021. The application to the Supreme court was filed on Friday, 19 February. A directions hearing will be heard in Hobart’s Supreme Court tomorrow (Thursday, 25 February) at 11.30 am for the judge to give directions to prepare the case for hearing. The takayna Trail, a highlight of…
What if you could run to save a forest? Well, now you can! Join the “For Wild Places” crew and The Wilderness Society on 22 May for a new ultramarathon – the “Gasbag Ultra; a run to keep the Pilliga Wild”. With distances of 25km and 50km-plus, the event aims to raise awareness and funds to protect the beautiful Pilliga Forest, in north-west NSW, from coal seam gas mining. Half a million hectares of rare intact temperate eucalypt woodland are…
An iconic north-west Tasmanian tourism event is currently under threat due to refusal by the state forestry body, Sustainable Timbers Tasmania, to give permission to access public land. takayna Trail, a 51 km ultramarathon, is in its 3rd year. It is a major event for the north-west region, bringing runners from around the world to visit this incredibly beautiful place. But Sustainable Timbers Tasmania has refused access for the event to use public lands, which puts takayna Trail at risk…
Rotorua’s Michael Voss knows the trails surrounding his hometown well but is under no illusion that will make for an easy day out at this weekend’s Tarawera Ultramarathon. Voss, who took victory and a course record in the Tarawera 50km race in 2020, has stepped up to the 102km event this year and is looking forward to his first taste of the Ultra-Trail® World Tour. “I live just down the road from the forest so I’m pretty familiar with the…
REVIEWER: LAUREN SHAY Trail Brew was a godsend at the Scenic Rim Ultra 110km in 2019. If it weren’t for the ample supply of this electrolyte mix at the checkpoints on that hot (unusually hot for October in south-east Queensland) day, I’m sure the DNF rate would have been much higher. Trail Brew is an Australian-made endurance sports energy drink and all-in-one nutrition source. There are various other all-in-one electrolyte and energy drinks on the market, some of which I’ve…
inov-8 and COROS Wearables have teamed up to help people reap the rewards that running and exercise bring to mental health. The two sports brands have launched their Step Up & Play Your Part Challenge in a bid to amass 21 million steps of responsible exercise before the end of January 2021. To do this they are calling on runners, walkers and all sportspeople to log their daily number of steps on the inov-8 website here. And while both brands are promoting exercise…
Trail running is a niche sport, and a lot of trail runners like it that way. But as more people are converted to the trails, we need a collective voice and pathway for development. A group of Tasmanian trail runners is taking a bottom-up approach to this, creating a state association they hope will empower athletes and lay the foundation for national representation. Story by Lauren Shay. Tasmania’s wilderness is trail running at its best. Raw, gnarly and breathtakingly beautiful. You could even say Tassie is to Australia what Chamonix is to France in terms of pure trail–running awesomeness. More people around Australia and the…
The Surf Coast Century 100km and 50km ultra trail marathon has received the green light to proceed on 5 – 6 December 2020 in Anglesea, Victoria, with limited entries remaining for solo competitors and 90 relay teams remaining After processing the Victorian Governments COVID-19 road-map to reopening and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’s announcements on Sunday 8th November, Torquay based event organisers Rapid Ascent are very excited to announce that this year’s event can go ahead. It will now become one of the only…
Photos: Majell Backhausen Trail runner and ultra athlete Majell Backhausen explains why takayna Ultra, in north-west Tasmania, is full of heart, connection, and like no other event he has experienced in the world of trail running. I’d like to acknowledge and pay my respects to the traditional owners of the lands which this event is held, the people of takayna. And pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. As I scan the space in Marrawah Hall, it’s…
82-year-old Hubert Zohrer. Photo: Michael Werlberger Organisers and participants – including a daredevil 82-year-old runner – had to overcome more challenges than usual at the third staging of the inov-8 Descent Race on the world’s most notorious ski slope. Featuring an insanely steep gradient of 80%, the legendary Streif – on the Hahnenkamm mountain in Kitzbühel, Austria – is regarded as the toughest on the world cup ski circuit. In this innovative event format, runners raced 350m down its fearsome slope, negotiating near-vertical blind drops…
