Over 200 runners pushed their bodies to the limit on Friday in the Ultra 70km and Marathon 42.2km distances at the Trail Run Australia Snowy Mountains event based at Lake Crackenback Resort.
Friday was the first day of three days of competition with Trail Australia Run Friday and Saturday, and the Trex offroad triathlon on Sunday. Overall more than 1200 competitors will compete across the three days in what has been ongoing growth over recent years.
Starting before sunrise at Sawpit Creek, both the 70km and 42.2km distance runners descended the Pallaibo track from Sawpit Creek to Gaden Trout Hatchery before then ascending to Lake Crackenback Resort via the lower section of the Thredbo Valley Track (TVT).
A steady stream of runners crossed the Thredbo River at the Skitube bridge, before completing a loop of Lake Crackenback Resort. Competitors in the longer event then ascended all the way to Thredbo before returning, and the shorter marathon runners venturing as far as Thredbo Diggings before returning past Bullocks Hut and along the Thredbo River to the far end turning point of the trail.
In a stunning effort, Sam Collins from Orange finished the marathon run in a time of 3:47:01 to easily win from Dani Andrews in 4:03:36. The first female in the marathon, Alice Arch completed the distance in 4:16:01.
In the 70km Ultra event George Murray finished in a cracking time of 5:41:37 in what is a gruelling undulating course testing all competitors in all distances. Daniel Stein was second in 5:58:54 and leading female was Stephanie Auston in 7:40:11. (Times were unofficial at time of story posting at 3.45pm.)
At the marathon finish line Collins said he competed in 2021 in the 50km but had issues with his stomach and was determined to return to compete. Hardly raising a puff at the end he spoke with Snowy Mountains Magazine and said he passed runners at the eight kilometre and just wanted to keep his own rhythm.
"I didn't see anyone after that, just kind off chipped away at the people doing the 70 and tried to keep moving, stay by myself," said Collins.
"I'm pretty happy with it, I thought I might be able to do a little bit faster per k (kilometre) on average but, I forgot how technical it was. I am really happy in the end. I did the 50 last year, I completely bonked, in the 20k I had stomach issues and couldn't keep fluids down, so I wanted to come back and prove to myself I could give it a good crack. I love single tracks like this, feel quite comfortable in it. It's difficult with the constant undulations, it takes it out of you but I enjoy the trails."
Saturday events are half marathon and a selection of shorter distances, plus kids races, all starting from Lake Crackenback Resort.
Visit Trail Run Australia website
Photo slideshow gallery above.
