TRAIL RUN A BIG SUCCESS
Huge fields turns out for off-road running challenge
RUNNING: It was a road less travelled, but runners took to it like any other race at the weekend.
More than 150 runners from Toowoomba, the Lockyer Valley and beyond laced up their boots for the Toowoomba Road Runners Trail Challenge – competing in 7km, 14km and Half Marathon races.
Event organisers said feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive despite testing climbs faced by runners.
RUNNING: Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley’s ‘road runners’ laced up their boots for a run of a different nature at the weekend.
Setting off from the Murphys Creek Recreation Reserve, 160 competitors took part in the Toowoomba Road Runners Trail Challenge across the 7km, 14km and Half Marathon distances.
“Being our first event in some time we were hoping for about 100 nominations in total,” TRR vice president Emmanuel Vergara said.
“We ended up with 174 nominations and while unfortunately not all of those runners were able to attend for various reasons we still had 160 finishers.
“We’re extremely happy with the result considering it’s our first event as a new committee.
“I think our president Wendy (Dighton) deserves special mention for all the hard work she did co-ordinating with Lockyer Valley and Toowoomba councils, local parkrun committees and the community in general.”
The event drew inspiration from the club’s iconic King and Queen of the Range events.
“In the past Toowoomba Road Runners organised the King and Queen of the Range which ran up the original range crossing,” Vergara said.
“When running up the range highway became a concern safety wise it was moved off road to Murphys Creek.
“We drew inspiration from that off road event but made a slight change.
“Instead of this event being a point to point race when made it a loop.
“We wanted to create a race village where people could rest, relax and socialise after their event and it was very well received.
“The atmosphere was fantastic, very supportive and all the feedback we have received was very positive.”