GOING LONG
A GENETIC DISPOSITION?
BY STEPHEN JACKSON
I
f we truly are a product of our environment, that would go a
long way to explaining the preference of father and son duo Ian
and Steve Cornelius who respectively run trail and ocean swim
events on the Gold Coast; both of which lean toward the LONG
end of the scale!
Gold Coast Ultras, under the ownership of Ian Cornelius as Ultra
Trail Gold Coast, has just announced a 500 km trail race to be held
in the Nerang National Park in September 2019. It follows on from
the very successful 200 miler (Australia’s first 200 miler) held in
September 2018.
Race Organiser Ian Cornelius, a veteran of 4 x 330 km
stage races and a contestant in the 1994 World 1,000 mile
championships, says “This will be the longest and perhaps most
extreme trail race ever conducted in Australia and likely the
longest off-road race in the world”.
The event will be conducted on a 25 km looped course hubbing
out of the Gold Coast cycling velodrome in Nerang. The benefit
of the looped course is that it provides ideal facilities for crew
support, fluid and energy replacement, running repairs and
encouragement with access to friendly faces, food, showers, toilets
and camping at the conclusion of each loop across the 6 days of
the event.
Timing checkpoints every 5 km will facilitate tracking and
optimise the safety of runners. Real time progress will be available
for viewing online by family, friends and other interested parties.
With 895 metres of elevation gain per lap, totalling some 17,900
metres for the entire race, this is not an ‘easy’ 500; the event is
tough and the hills unrelenting.
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There will be supporting ‘short’ events of 100 km, 175 km (108
miles) and 325 km (202 miles). The races have been certified by
the International Trail Running Association and will form part
of the Asia Trail Master series and are the only races in Australia
awarded such recognition. Entries for the 2019 event are now
open at www.ultratrailgoldcoast.com and well, if you start
training now...
Given this is the environment he grew up in, it’s no surprise
that the ocean swim event son Steve Cornelius organises is on the
lengthy side also! Steve heads up the Burleigh to Surfers Paradise
Ocean Swim; a 10km point to point swim on Queensland’s
Gold Coast.
This year, he’s driven a rebranding of the event; ‘The Gold Coast
Festival of Swimming’ which will be a weeklong celebration of
swimming with the traditional 10km event bolstered by clinics
and workshops, 3k & 5k events, the Queensland leg of the Banana
Boat SWIMKIDS Series, BBQ’s, dinners and of course the obligatory
party to finish! Held around the Easter period each year, the event,
like its offering, continues to evolve and grow.
For full details, click here
If you like your events looooong; the Cornelius clan have got you
covered!