By Abbey Cannan
The beautiful and yet largely undiscovered Noosa Trail Network came to life over the weekend for the latest addition to Australia’s trail running calendar, the Noosa Ultra-Trail.
Officially recognised as a UTMB World Series Qualifier, the event saw more than a thousand runners take on their choice of varied trails ranging from 15km to 100km.
From Wednesday 23 to 27 March, four national identities played their part as event ambassadors including Australian representative trail runner Kellie Emmerson, three time Ironman world champion Craig Crowie Alexander, international yoga and wellness practitioner Kat Harding, and celebrity chef and trail runner Matt Golinksi.
Finishing in first place in the 100km Ultra-Trail were Andrew Dey and Roxanne Shahtahmasebi, while the 80km Hinterland Traverse saw Tom Brimelow and Carol Robertson placing on top of the leader board.
Promoter of the Noosa Ultra-Trail festival, Nick Stewart said the event had quickly established itself as one of Noosa’s leading events in the calendar.
“A tremendous thank you to all the support from so many volunteers and community groups particularly from the Hinterland,“ Nick said.
“With 1100 athletes, it now ranks as one of Australia’s pre-eminent events with potential to be the nation’s second most popular in 2023.
“With global status and a staging effort of world class standard, the response had been overwhelmingly positive.
“Better still for Noosa was the fact that over 86 per cent of athletes were from outside the region.“
Kellie Emmerson took on the 15km race while pregnant with her second child.
While speaking at the Women in Sport Luncheon at View Restaurant on Friday, Kellie said it was exciting to have some new trails to explore.
“There’s so many variables in an ultra, so many things can change and that’s the joy of trail running I think. It’s very different to running on the road where you have a set pace and you sort of have a better understanding of where people are going to place.“
The 50km Out’n’Back winners were Daniel Buenen and Beth McKenzie, while Dan Newton and Alae Brand took out the 30km Pomona Sundowner.
Grant Williams and Melissa Hauschildt finished in first place in the 25km Cross Country, and for the 15km Forest Run, Lachie Gibson and Briarna Silk came out on top.
For more information on the event and the full list of results visit noosaultratrail.com.au and events.onetime.sport/event/964/leaderboard
