20 replies to this topic

[Greg_Waite]

This is a brand new event in Brisbane Forest Park, Sunday 17 June. Take your picnic for after, and run or walk the trails beside Lake Manchester. There are three options from an easy 7.5km run/walk beside the lake, a 21km run which adds in some hills and upper Cabbage Tree Creek, or the toughest at 33km including Boombana Knob and a total climb of 750m. All runs are on well-marked established trails.

The short run is out and back along the lake edge, with views back up to the dam. On the two longer runs you can expect to hear bell miners along the stream sections, but don't expect much water in them unless we get lots more rain. There is still plenty of water in the lake though, and works to the Lake Manchester dam wall are currently in progress to improve Brisbane's water supply.

Full info  http://runtrails.org/?page_id=34
Online entry  https://www.register...ter.aspx?ID=592
Postal entry  http://runtrails.org...7/05/poster.pdf

Edited by Greg_Waite, 11 May 2007 - 08:32 AM.

[Kato]

Er, Greg - the price is a bit hard to find.  It's on the poster, about halfway down the last page, so I'll reproduce it here:

EVENT                       RECEIVED BY 15 JUNE               TRAQ
7.5km walk / run          Amount: $10                           $9
21km run                    Amount: $20                           $18
33 km run                   Amount: $25                           $22.50

                                (+$5 late or on the day)            (-10% TRAQ member discount)

Sounds like a great little run, and I'll enter on the day.  Cheap insurance.

[robware]

Nice one Greg – it’s great to read of new trail events being organised in SEQ.

Count me in as a certain starter,
Rob

[undercover brother]

bump!
looking forward to this one now.
had better enter!

[GLASSMAN]

Okay you Bris-vegas people get behind this first trail run in the Brisbane Forest Park. Just be kind to Greg Waite in his virgin attempt at race directing. Unfortunately I will be missing as I will be somewhere above the Pacific on my way to San Francisco before taking part in the Western States 100 mile on 23rd June. Best of luck to all, see you at the Flinders Tour in July.

[Greg_Waite]

A few last minutes updates:
- in a first for trail runs I think, we will have a mobile coffee trailer on site!
- the nice people refurbishing the dam said they'd widen the horse trail for the first 300m with their digger;
  I'm not sure whether to expect a trail or a highway when I check it Saturday...
- seems like nobody in Brisbane has ever heard of Lake Manchester so for the record:
  - its on the western side of Brisbane Forest Park, 35min from Mt Cootha/Western Freeway start
  - take Moggil Rd then Mt Crosby Rd then right at the T-intersection into Lake Manchester Rd, all well signed
  - it provides a little water for Brisbane's supply, but not a lot
  - water is simply run down the stream into the upper Brisbane river, then picked up at the Mt Crosby weir
  - there is a bit of site works going on in the lower corner to upgrade the dam, but otherwise a nice picnic area
- I've added a scan of the Brisbane Forest Park map, linked off the info sheet

All details on www.runtrails.org under Events page
Online entry there too; we really appreciate pre-entry as it minimises congestion & money handling on the day
(cheaper too)

Hope to see you there, cheers Greg

[Kato]

I'll be there with bells on, Greg.  I got a better insurance deal - the wife said I could go a couple of weeks ago so I entered there and then.  Looking forward to the inaugural race.

[undercover brother]

oops.
think ill be entering on the day.

[Susannah HJ]

A very BIG thank you to you Greg and all those who volunteered today.  It is fantastic to run in a new local event as a result of your passion for trial running.  If it weren't for people like you, lazy runners like me who like to just arrive, run the event and leave would have no decent runs to participate in!  Thanks also for introducing me to a part of SE Qld that I didn't know exist - it was absolutely beautiful.

[Kato]

Great run today - fabulous cool weather, good company, beautiful trails, and overall a pretty successful event I'd hope.  This race is going to be pretty big, there were 24 loonies on the long one - apparrently 1902 stopped the clock in about 2 1/2 hours - over an hour quicker than yours truly and UCB.  Sensational running.  Also saw AB, Karisma and Run67, Parso, Roger G, Hanna, Susannah HJ, and a host of others out there enjoying our beautiful mild winter.

Thanks for a fantastic course, Greg.  You really have done a great job as a debut RD.

[undercover brother]

fantastic effort by greg and his TRAQ/run inn team jess, tamsin, rob, schultzy et al.
very informative website. also pleasing to see a piece on the run in saturdays courier mail.
greg and the team put a lot of work into this run!!
massive turnout for an inaugural event: about 22 in the 33km and i was told 40+ in the 21km.
some super quickies in the 33km (i heard brad smith won in late 2.20s) and christian cobbold did 1.22 in the 21km (OMG).
6 min kms over that terrain is fast enough for me!
sorry i couldnt stay longer at the end - family committments.
as always nice running with u kato certainly makes the time pass quickly.
brisbane forest park is indeed a lovely part of the world.
more hills next time please

Edited by undercover brother, 18 June 2007 - 07:56 AM.

[Chopper the Hands man]

Great first up event and well organised. Though there was no mention of that HILL (I heard the 33km guys had two massive hills to contend with) and I'm not a trail runner and suffered harshly.

[Kato]

undercover brother, on Jun 17 2007, 10:11 PM, said:

more hills next time please

Did you get a head knock on the weekend?

[Stintsy]

Big thank you to Greg and all the other volunteers who helped out to make the day a great one! My husband and I have just taken up running this year and decided to make Lake Manchester our first 21km event, and we loved it and can't speak more highly of how smoothly it was run and how nice the day turned out to be.

Hope to see some Coolrunners out on our next event.

[Chopper the Hands man]

Results are up:

http://runtrails.org...provresults.xls

[ladyjove]

It was good to see such a good turnout, and so many people having fun out on the trail. Thanks Greg for being so proactive and all the hard work he has done organising these runs, and thanks to Schultzy and John for keeping me company at the 1st checkpoint. Hopefully we will have more good trail runs like this in the future.

[robware]

I’ll join in the chorus of congratulations for a well run event.  It was a great day, and a nice surprise to see so many high-quality runners front up for the 33km.  Hopefully the event will get bigger and better in future years.

It was great to see a really positive race preview in Friday's Courier Mail.

And hats off to Pagie, who didn’t think the 33km was tough enough, so added in an extra 14km out-and-back to extend his run a bit!

Edited by robware, 20 June 2007 - 01:49 PM.

[Pagie]

robware, on Jun 19 2007, 09:38 PM, said:

And hats off to Pagie, who didn’t think the 33km was tough enough, so added in an extra 14km out-and-back to extend his run a bit!

Yup... The sharpest tool in the shed... That's me...  

...I need to improve my hill running anyway...  

[AB]

Well I could say something smart about  improving your hill running but...

I think it much more appropriate that in future trail runs you bring some mandatory equipment from some of those other races you bash around in...  

And next time we go on a training run... I choose!  

[Cirque]

I wasn't able to be there this year but this sounds like a wonderful run and the website was really informative.  Please make sure you give us another big nudge in plenty of time next year.  For us QLDers this would be a great event to add to the calendar between Warwick and Gold Coast.

[Greg_Waite]

A few bits from the race report:

The middle 21km course was the most popular choice, and may also have surprised a few. Described on the poster as scenic, it was indeed a great view from the hills at the far end of the lake - showing just how far back it was to the dam and the race start! And that was after a tough, rocky climb from upper Cabbage Tree Creek. There was plenty of positive feedback on the course though, with many runners enjoying the chance to explore a new corner of the park, the lake views on a sunny winter's day and the sound of bellbirds in the creek sections.

Times on the 22km course were fast, especially when allowance is made for the undulating course. Based on Six Foot Track pace I'd expected the first runners home in about 1 hour 45 minutes, so was pretty surprised to see Christian Cobbold finish in 1 hour 22, while we were still briefing the 7k fun run starters. Not far behind with an excellent 1.39 was first women Julia Davies. The 33km course also produced some solid times with all entrants knowing what to expect and having the fitness to match.

The day was so popular TRAQ is now looking at another race in northern Brisbane Forest Park starting from Cedar Flats, as well as a run on the Mapleton Great Walk in November, Rainbow Beach in February and a marathon on Fraser Island in 2008. For more details visit our website www.runtrail.org

And in relation to next time, a few thoughts on improving the event:
- setup on Saturday and camp overnight
- more display maps at start, generally more signage
- especially so parking is clear (& carpark entrance is larger)
- offer a "check out the course" run 2-3 weeks before the day
- start at the park gates, but finish on the flat by registration area
- try to get SES on checkpoints for radio communications
- unmissable orange course signage so no-one gets lost!
+ next year you'll be able to walk up to the dam for lake views...

Thanks everyone for supporting this new event!