By Abbey Cannan
Ultramarathon runner and 2021 Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, is set to race the Noosa Ultra-Trail 2025, with entries opening on Sunday 1 September.
Returning in its fourth year from 20-23 March, the trail run event is one of the most popular in Australia with a field of 1750 runners expected to traverse the spectacular Noosa Biosphere Trails in the Noosa Hinterland.
“I love trail running and I love the warm weather, so it’s a combination of factors that enticed me to take part in the Noosa Ultra Trail,” Grace said.
The event offers runners a choice of six distances, including the Forest 15, Cross Country 25, Pomona Sundowner 30, Out’N’Back 50, Hinterland Traverse 80, and the ultimate challenge – the Ultra-Trail 100.
The diverse range in distances and terrain has seen the event attract participants from a range of disciplines, such as road runners, triathletes, hikers and trekkers, as well as traditional trail runners.
“Because of where it falls on my race calendar, I’ll probably do one of the shorter distances, either the 25km or the 30km,” Grace said.
“I’ll be racing the Kilimanjaro Marathon in Africa in February next year and the Great Ocean Road Ultra-Marathon in May.
“I did that this year and I won, so I’ll be looking to defend my title and hopefully get a better time.
“The Noosa Ultra-Trail falls smack bang in the middle of those two, so it’ll be more of a training run for me I think but I’ll give it a good crack because I have a bit of a competitive streak and can’t help it. If I get out there to race, I’m definitely going balls to the wall.”
Noosa Ultra-Trail participants have the chance to run through the stunning national parks and along quiet country roads whilst taking in the exquisite charm of towns such as Pomona and Cooran.
For Grace, the last few years have been quite the ride, so she’s looking forward to enjoying the low-key ‘cruisey’ Noosa lifestyle while she’s here.
“I’m looking forward to surfing in Noosa,” she said.
“It’s pretty similar to Hobart, everyone’s pretty laid back there and I love that.
“I won’t need my wet-suit in Noosa because it’ll be like a bath compared to Tasmanian waters.”
At 29, Grace never walks the middle ground, but as a teenager she had to find the courage to speak up after experiencing awful and ongoing child sexual abuse.
She was one of the 17 survivors in Nina Funnell’s Let Her Speak campaign.
“I did have some experiences throughout my childhood where I wasn’t able to freely speak my mind and I was repeatedly invalidated even by close caregivers of mine,” she said.
“Of course at times, where I was being sexually and psychologically abused, manipulated and tortured, there’s no way that you are able to speak your mind. You are completely dis-empowered.
“Following that I was also legally unable to speak about my own experiences, and interestingly when those laws that the Let Her Speak campaign fought hard to overturn, it meant that myself and other survivors of child sexual abuse could speak publicly under our own names about our experiences.
“When you speak to the media, you are actually seeding power and the stories that you offer are often chopped and changed according to the agenda of the person or persons who are taking control of your narrative and writing it according to what they want to say.
“So, you often find yourself in situations where the dynamic of abuse is being recreated over and over again.”
Following the release of her memoir The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner in 2022, Grace is now stepping back into the public eye and onto stages for a series of live shows.
Audiences can discover how laughter relieves and ultramarathon running fuels her relentless pursuit of change at the Powerhouse Theatre in Brisbane on Saturday 5 October 2024.
“We are proud to announce that 75 per cent of profits will be donated directly to the Grace Tame Foundation,” Grace said.
The Grace Tame Foundation (GTF) is a not-for-profit organisation established by Grace, to campaign for and help fund initiatives which work to prevent and respond to sexual abuse of children and others.
During the event she will discuss how she uses running as a moving meditation.
“When you’re running long distances, you cross a threshold beyond which you integrate with the pain,” Grace said.
“That’s my experience at least. It’s sort of transcendent. You integrate with your environment. I sometimes forget that I’m in a physical body. You push through the pain to this other state. It’s a spiritual experience. The longer, the better. The longer that you’re prepared to commit to that practice, the more benefit you receive from it.”
Grace said running is the ultimate connective experience.
“Running is such a beautiful, spiritual, communal activity that is often seen as an individual sport but I would really argue that it is a team sport that transcends every divide,” she said.
“You see it in the Olympics with any sport. You’re bringing people from all walks of life with diverse backgrounds together. You’re sharing this experience in an unspoken context and you’re bound together.”
The race precinct in Tewantin welcomes runners back to a village green atmosphere, with international food trucks and well earned beverages from Noosa Hinterland Brewing Co on offer.
The Noosa Ultra-Trail team are encouraging people to experience the challenge and enjoyment of trail running and to embrace the fantastic lifestyle activities that are part of the three day schedule which provides event participants and their family and friends the opportunity to experience the best of what Noosa has to offer.
To enter visit noosaultratrail.com.au and follow on socials at @noosaultratrail
For tickets to see ‘Lightening the load with Grace Tame’ at the Brisbane Powerhouse, visit brisbanepowerhouse.org/events/lightening-the-load-with-grace-tame/
If you or someone you know is affected by sexual assault or violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.
