Large contingent of Bathurst runners tackle Ultra-Trail Australia events

Arnold was one of a host of Bathurst runners who tackled the 2021 Ultra-Trail Australia event last week in the Blue Mountains.

Ultra-Trail Australian is the largest trail run in the Southern Hemisphere and third largest globally, seeing competitors race along cliff tops, through valleys, up ridges and tackling the 998 steps that are the renowned Furber Steps.

Arnold and partner Steve Jackson did the Ultra-Trail 11 kilometre event (477 metres elevation gain) on Thursday, backed up and did the 22km on Friday (910m gain) then decided to do the leg-burning 5km Lawson parkrun on Saturday.

"It's always a good idea at the time," Arnold laughed.

"The courses were changed because of the landslides and everything that had happened through the area ... it was easily the most technical trail course we'd ever run on.

"Lucy Bartholomew, who is an incredible ultra trail runner, she ran the 11 on Thursday and was interviewed and said 'Give me the 100 any day, I'd rather run 100 than do that 11 kay race again'.

"There's a section of the track that's full of landslides and it's just massive boulders of rocks and you can't actually see where the path goes other than watching for the pink ribbons tied to trees.

"Crazy, oh yeah, it's the biggest compliment that you can give a trail runner, that you're crazy."

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Both Jackson and Arnold has previously competed in the UTA50, and are already thinking about tackling the UTA100 next year.

"What's the attraction? I don't know. It's to do something that 99 percent of the population can't do or hasn't done or doesn't want to do, to challenge yourself and see what your body is physically capable of," Arnold said.

Jackson placed first in his grand masters men's category for the UTA11, crossing the finish line in a time of one hour, 18 minutes and 23 seconds. Arnold (1:25.5) was sixth in the masters women division.

In the UTA22 Jackson and Arnold both clocked a 3:16.18, while in Saturday's parkrun Jackson placed 12^th overall in 23:58.

They were not the only members of the Bathurst contingent to impress either. In the gruelling UTA100 (4,460m elevation gain) Blair Hurst was one of the best from the city as he finished in 13:25.53.

The UTA11 featured three Bathurst teens doing their first trail race - Josh Jackson (1:18.20), Lily Broughton (2:03.10) and Jasmine Sargeant (2:15.05).

"To see three teenagers doing their first big trail race like that on Thursday was great. It has often been little eyes watching their parents and now they're taking after them," Arnold said.

"They all acquitted themselves with absolute finesse, they were smiling from ear-to-ear, there was enthusiasm and a couple of them were keen to do the 22 instead, but they were just not old enough. Definitely they are little mountain goats in the making."

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