A new ultramarathon trail race kicks off on Thursday, November 23, with the Grampians to take centre stage.
The race will begin at Mt Zero, and sends runners along the Grampians Peaks Trail to Halls Gap, Mount William, Redman Bluff, Mount Abrupt and Mount Sturgeon before finishing in the Southern Grampians town of Dunkeld.
The event totals about 160km (100 miles), and will see runners tackle over 7502 metres of climbing.
The full race will take place over four day, with the course broken up into four legs, however those finding the climbs of the latter days a bit daunting, are running a shorter, 50km race.
Among those running the Grampians Peaks Trail on Thursday, will be ultramarathon runner, and event ambassador, Lucy Bartholomew.
"The [GPT 100 miler] brought me to the Grampians for the first time ever, and I can't believe that I've grown up and lived in Australia my whole life hadn't touched the Grampians," Ms Bartholomew said.
Ms Bartholomew took a group of runners getting ready for the event onto the trail and was stunned by the course.
"It's got so much variety," she said.
"It's beautiful, it's brutal, it's exposed, it's Rocky, it's got everything that a trail runner would want as a playground," she said.
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Ms Bartholomew said running these distances is 'a massive undertaking', not just for the runners, but also their families and friends who will support them through the run.
"It really does take a village to do these distances," she said.
Looking ahead to the event, Ms Bartholomew said the weather is going to play a major role in how the race is run.
"It's gonna be really warm, and the Grampians is very exposed, there's not a whole lot of trees growing on the rocks out there," she said.
She also pointed at the technical nature of the course as a big challenge for this event.
"Running 100 Miles is really challenging for the body, but for the mind to be switched on for that long, there's just not really any sections where you can take some mindless steps and don't have to look where your feet are going," she said.
"So I think that the mental fatigue will be the biggest challenge for a lot of athletes."
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John Hall
John is a news and sports journalist for the Wimmera Mail-Times, Stawell Times-News and Ararat Advertiser. He is a former apprentice mechanic who earned his bachelors degree in journalism from Macleay College in Sydney.
John is a news and sports journalist for the Wimmera Mail-Times, Stawell Times-News and Ararat Advertiser. He is a former apprentice mechanic who earned his bachelors degree in journalism from Macleay College in Sydney.
