WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE BRISBANE TRAIL ULTRA WILL BE LIKE?

By Kate Dzienis

If you’re looking for a new race to add to your calendar, the Brisbane Trail Ultra should be high up on your list.

Uniquely and personally designed by Shona Stephenson and David Eastman, BTU will take place amongst some of the most picturesque and challenging trails in the country through thousands of hectares of D’Aguilar National Park.

Convenient for travellers, the start of the race will sit at The Gap, an inner Brisbane suburb just eight kilometres from the city centre, but participants heading straight into the park when the horn blares will never even know how close they are to metropolitan life – with lookouts, lakes, forests, gorges, there is no better way to experience the woodlands of Queensland.

With this being the BTU’s inaugural year, Stephenson explains it was initially difficult to find a place on the race calendar.

“There were a number of factors we had to consider, one of them was making sure we picked a weekend when the Broncos or the Queensland Reds were not playing, and we found a golden weekend in the middle of the year,” she reveals.

“We also had to make sure we weren’t clashing with other trail events, but it actually happens that BTU is happening the same weekend as the Gold Coast Marathon.

“What we are finding though is that groups of runners are making the trip up here, and their plan is that half will run BTU while the other half cheer them on, and then the next day the cheering half runs in the marathon while the BTU participants do their part with support.”

With a variety of distances on offer, including a 30km, 60km, 110km and 100 miler, BTU is an attractive race for those wanting to fly in specifically for the event. With the start line just eight kilometres from the CBD, there’s an abundance of accommodation on offer as well as public transport options. Even the airport is just 20 minutes from the finish line, at South Bank.

From trail to road, the BTU features an abundance of varying race track, including cycle paths, single track, fire trails and management roads. Military grade GPS software was used to determine the final course, and pacers as well as support crews will have easy access.

“This is a dream event for support crews, with only one checkpoint for the 100 milers where we will have the Queensland 4WD Club volunteering to shuttle our pacers and crew two kilometres in to the checkpoint,” Stephenson says.

“In particular, our 110km ultra marathon will have about 5000-metres of vertical climb and descent through the hinterland’s surrounding trails; we are so lucky because there is heaps of single track and fire trail, and if you’re a classical trail runner, you want it to be as hard and technical as possible, but still do some lovely run sections to give your legs a bit of a rest.”

The Brisbane Trail Ultra will be held on July 6 and registrations are now open where $10 from every entry is donated to Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.