Course description

Heading west from Queenstown, away from Mt Owen, and into dense lush bush up Raggedy creek through an old brick works, and past recent alluvial prospecting sites.

You’ll immediately feel like you’re a world away. There are ferny gullies and hills that may hide the stories of the region’s mining history. A steep single track hill gains the Howards Plains plateau where we’re following the historic road to Strahan – can you spot the King Billy cordwood?

Run or hike up to the Queenstown Airfield. It’s an operating airstrip, with views straight back up to Mt Owen. This is the wildest runway you’ll ever run. Please note, there is no access to the Airfield or cross the Mt Lyell pipeline outside of the event.

You’ll do a full lap, up and down, of the tarmac and then it’s back to the trails, back to Queenstown.

Right near the finish line, you’ll cross the Queen River again — it’s a clear reminder of the region’s mining history. It is stained the colour of rust because an estimated 100 million tonnes of sulfidic tailings were dumped into the river. You might even spot some old mining dozer blades, that are embedded in the riverbank to help stabilise it.

For those running on Saturday in the Skyruns or the trail run, you won’t want to miss running the Airfield 10km. It provides a different view, and experience, of connecting with the powerful Mt Owen.

Step away from the ordinary. Weekends are for wild things after all.

There are no aid stations on course. There is a recovery station at finish line.