Stories of Place

From the mountains beneath your feet to the arch you finish beneath, every detail of DIVERGE is rooted in the landscapes, history and people of the West Coast.

An Arch with a Story

The DIVERGE finish arch is a piece of art. Quite literally.

It was always intended to be more than a finish line. It’s a physical expression of the West Coast, its landscapes, its history and the people who make this place what it is.

Built from reclaimed timber and corrugated iron, the arch carries the marks and stories of Queenstown. These materials, with their own histories, were given a new life. They have become part of the moment where every DIVERGE participant completes their journey.

At its heart is the silhouette of Mt Lyell; one of the defining mountains of the West Coast and a powerful presence above Queenstown. It is a mountain that has shaped this place, with its rich mining history and its own tragedies.

Like our DIVERGE medals, the arch was deliberately made from the West Coast itself. It is imperfect, weathered and distinctive. Just like the place it represents.

And it wouldn’t exist without the generosity and creativity of a few local legends:

Ian Bradshaw, of Pioneer Timber Traders, donated the specialty timber used in the arch, as well as timber for the DIVERGE medals and trophies, and generously provided the space in which the arch was built.

Brian Tisdall, local artist and all-round legend, brought his creativity, craftsmanship and countless hours of volunteer work to the project.

Brett Klyszejko was responsible for the creative design of the arch and brought the vision to life through his carpentry.

Lincoln Quilliam, the arch’s project manager and builder, brought the whole thing together. Coordinating the project and putting in the hard yards to build it.

Together, they created something that belongs to the West Coast. A finish line, yes. But also a piece of art, a gathering place, and a little piece of Queenstown that is a party of not just the DIVERGE story, but also that of the West Coast.

(You can even visit it year-round at the Queenstown Station, thanks to the West Coast Wilderness Railway).

A Piece of the West Coast

DIVERGE is about stepping away from the ordinary. It is also about stepping away from the ordinary race medals and trophies.

Every DIVERGE medal tells a story. And carries a piece of the West Coast with it.

The Lynchford Express 5km
~ part of a sleeper from the West Coast Wilderness Railway

Mt Lyell Skyrun 50km
~ King Billy pine. Their skeletons are prevalent across Mt Lyell. We’ve yet to see any living King Billys on the mountain. These pines are a living relic of Gondwana. But on the West Coast, they’ve been lost to loggers, fires and mining.

Mt Owen Skyrun 25km
~ Owen conglomerate. This striking dark purple sandstone has veins of quartzite. This rock forms the exposed backbone to some of Tasmania’s major mountain ranges. As it does on the West Coast Range.

Little Owen Trail 15km
~ Striking white quartzite. Sourced from the foot of Little Owen spur.

Airfield 5km and 10km
~ Silt stone from Howard’s Plains. Right next to the Queenstown Airfield.

Those who ran at DIVERGE in 2026 literally took a piece of the West Coast home with them. We hope it will stay with them. Just as the DIVERGE experience will have.

The Mountain Watched

Those who stepped away from the ordinary at DIVERGE in 2026 carried their stories home. In tired legs. In a broken foot. In scarred knees. In photographs. In memories.

And some stories might have been carried in a pocket – one of the Mountain Watched cards.

These were a small fragment of Mount Owen’s story, created by artist and mountain enthusiast, Lucy Hawthorne.

This is the story of The Mountain Watched.

By Lucy Hawthorne

At the inaugural DIVERGE this year, each runner (registered for a Saturday event) received a randomly-allocated Mountain Card, telling a sliver of the story of Mt Owen’s long history.

Commissioned by DIVERGE, these cards stem from an artist book I made at Queenstown’s printmaking studio, Press West, in 2025. I’m quite obsessed with Mt Owen and Queenstown (and Tasmanian mountains in general), and this is just one of many artworks I’ve created with Owen as the subject.

The original artist book, The Mountain Watched, is a deep time ode to Mount Owen.

The same underlying lino print is used for each page, but each page is hand coloured to reflect the changes in history and the environment, from the period where sea lapped at Owen’s feet, to today’s festivals that celebrate the peak.

A beautiful mistake

Ahead of the book’s display in last year’s Unconformity Art Trail, I made a massive error in the initial printing of the underlying black and white images, which I only discovered after hand colouring all 20 copies.

Instead of throwing out the mis-printed books, I chopped them into individual panels and gave them out to people as ‘mountain cards’ throughout Queenstown’s Unconformity festival.

I love sweeping KMR every year and was keen to help with the sweeping at DIVERGE, so when I saw DIVERGE/KMR Run Director Lincoln hitting up the dance floor at the Unconformity, I dropped him a card as a conversation starter.

The mountain endures

In addition to being an artist, arts writer and mountain enthusiast, my ‘day job’ is managing Tasmania’s geoscience library, so The Mountain Watched story draws on both research and anecdotes from local geologists.

I have a lot of empathy for Mt Owen. It has been through so much: shaped by ancient geological forces, burnt by early European explorers, denuded by mining, and stabbed by telephone towers.

And yet the mountain endures, and will outlast all of us.

I was thrilled when so many runners commented on the mountain cards on the weekend of DIVERGE. A few people swapped cards, drawn to different aspects of the mountain’s past.

I hope the dialogue about our relationship to the mountain continues. Art and sport are often seen as mutually exclusive. But DIVERGE has shown that bringing together adventure sports, art, storytelling, and community engagement really strengthens an event.

Want more? You can visit Lucy’s website or follow her on Insta @stealthpooch.