Up to 1,300 runners and hikers will descend on Kunanyi/Mount Wellington later this month for the fifth annual Kunanyi Mountain Run, one of Tasmania’s premier trail running events.
The three-day festival runs from March 27-29, featuring distances from 5km family runs to a gruelling 66km ultra marathon across some of Australia’s most technical running terrain.
“We have always wanted to celebrate the mountain, its trails, its stories,” media and marketing manager for the event, Catherine Graue told Pulse.
“It’s got plenty of important stories, particularly for the Palawa community, and it’s right on the doorstep of the capital city.”
“We have participants coming from Croatia, Netherlands, NZ and even Hollywood.”
One of this year’s headline event is the vertical downhill, where participants are bussed to the pinnacle before racing 9km down the mountain, dropping 1,150 metres in elevation.
But there’s a twist – winners aren’t determined by fastest times, but by how closely runners predict their finishing time beforehand.
“The person who is closest to that predicted time is the overall winner … they get $1000 cash,” Graue said.
“It means … you don’t have to be a fast runner.”
“You can be a bushwalker, you can be a kid … the whole family could do it.”
The Vertical Downhill was first held last year and it saw the fastest male complete the course in 43 minutes and eight seconds, while the fastest female finished in 49 minutes and 47 seconds.
Saturday features the main events, including the 66km ultra that can be tackled solo or as a team, plus 46km and 25km options.
Graue said trail running was booming because it offered the same physical benefits as road running with added mental health benefits.
“You’re out in nature, you get to see beautiful landscapes,” she said.
“It’s very much the natural environment.”
“It’s booming in Australia and internationally as well.”
To register for the event, go to www.kunanyimountain.run.
