As an addition to my previous article on low and no cost runs in South Australia, I thought I’d do a few reviews of these runs for you. This one’s of The Federation Ultra Trail which also includes a 12.5km, 25km, and 50km distance. This review is of the 50km event, although the second half of this course is exactly the same as the 25km course – and I’m almost certain the 12.5km course is the last quarter of it.
(It’s planned there’ll be a 62.5km next year, and possibly a 75km and 100km in the coming years that may only be available to those who have ‘qualified’ by running the ultra the previous year.)
Location
Murray Bridge, is about 74kms east of Adelaide. 2018 was the first running of this event, with all distances finishing at The Bunyip on the foreshore of the Murray River. The 25 and 50km events start at the Monarto Sporting Complex about 15kms west of Murray Bridge. The 12.5km starts on the edge of Kinchina Conservation Park .
Race choices
The race has a 12.5km ($20), 25km ($35), and 50km ($55).
Elevation
As you can see from the elevation chart, this is essentially a downhill course… with a few little bumps in it. The elevation that is there, is nothing serious, and if you’re feeling enthusiastic, is probably all runnable. It’s quite unusual for an ultra to be as flat as this, giving people like me the chance to run an ultra without dying which is nice.
The surface
It’s mostly a combination of gravel roads and single trail. The course is effectively two conservation parks, with some connecting roads. The trails in both conservation parks double as MTB trails so there’s nothing crazy technical as it’s all designed to roll over. The first park is almost all dirt and flowing, the second park has some rockier technical sections.
Support
There were a lot of support stations – they were at the 4.8km, 8km, 15km and 20.5km, 25km, 33km, 38km, 43km, 46.5km – a couple with water and lollies only, most had a mix of water, electrolytes, lollies, chips, pretzels, bananas etc. Drop bags were available at the 25km mark (when you run back past the starting line) or can be sent to the 38km mark. There were no cups so it was strictly bring your own cup/bottle/thing.
Start/Finish line
The 25 and 50km both start at Monarto Sporting Complex, and there were public toilets available – but not many, so if there’s a crowd, you’ll need to cross your legs. In 2018 there were two start times based on your expected finish time. There was a 7am start for those expecting to run between 6.5 and 9 hours, and 8am for those planning on running sub 6 hours. The 25km starts at 10am so if you run fast enough you roll through before they take off. The 12.5km starts at 11am. I wasn’t fast enough to get there before they started!
The finish line for all events is on the Murray River foreshore in Murray Bridge, a nice grassy area. Fruit and water was available. There are also public toilets there.
Notes
These days I struggle with too much upness, so this race definitely plays to my strengths – or more to the point, doesn’t exploit my weaknesses. It’s a nice, easy trail for most of the way, with a few technical bits thrown in to keep things interesting.
Also worth noting is if you hear someone shooting at you just after you pass the Monarto Zoo (possibly around the 30-35km mark?) don’t panic too much… there’s a shooting club nearby and they’re probably not shooting at you. And if they are, I can assure you they’re not very good cause I heard a shit tonne of gunfire and wasn’t going fast enough to be a difficult target and escaped unscathed. It is a little off putting though.
2018 Bling/Prices/Entrants
50km ($55): 52 finishers
25km ($35): 42 finishers
12.5km ($20): TBC
Nice little race bling and race number.
My verdict
I know some serious ultra runners found this event a bit soft, but fuck them. 50kms is 50kms. If you want a mountain run, go run in the mountains. For the rest of us, there’s this. I really liked it and loved the fact there was no real elevation to worry about. As for the trail itself, this was very much a road/trail hybrid – the trails were lovely, but I have to admit there was quite a bit of unsealed road connecting the sections. It’s basically a couple of KMs of unsealed road before you hit to the trail for about 6kms and onto the first 7km trail loop, then about 3kms of gravel road back to the trail that takes you back to the start line. Then there was about 8kms of basic trails and gravel roads before you get to Kinchina trails at around the 33km mark and another 7km loop of the sexiest but of the course. From there it was about a 6km trot on fire trails/gravel paths again and through the wetlands to the finish line. If you’re looking for something extreme, this probably isn’t for you. But I personally loved it and will definitely have it on my list next year.
GPS
Gallery
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