We had a nice cool afternoon blow in, making for a very pleasant afternoon’s run. This event is run informally, as a come-and-try-it opportunity for trail running, since Bunyaville State Forest is so accessible. We had a good turn-out, with 44 in total, and a high number of locals, including family groups of all ages.

There were also some good times at the fast end, with Wayne Heath first home in 27.52 which is under 4 minute k’s on a 7.1km course with a good few ups and downs. First woman Melanie Kaasinen wasn’t far behind either, in 30.12. Others were happy just to have a marked route to follow and try a new location, taking their time. But it seems you just can’t hold back those kids when they see a finish line…

With Bunyaville such an accessible short run, we plan to offer another three runs at the end of 2010, one each month through October to December as a “summer series”, as a reminder to keep us training through the silly season.

Non-runners often ask me how I keep running through the Queensland summer - believe me, its much harder to run through a freezing New Zealand winter. Early mornings and forest shade make summer runs in Queensland a breeze…

Results: here

Thanks as always to the helpers: Grant, Grant, Kelly, Dan, Ian and Greg.

Below here is the earlier information about the event, including a downloadable map of Bunyaville. Note that you may prefer to use the eastern carpark when you come for a training run. Its too small for an event, but does offer some nice single-track trails up the creeks.

This is a short come-and-try-it trails event, so bring along a road running friend. Its free to TRAQ members and $5 otherwise, paid on the day (no need to pre-enter). Bunyaville State Forest is the closest decent trails to Brisbane, so if you haven’t been there yet, come and have a look.

The 4.30pm start on Saturday is ideal for summer -  you can still do your long run in the morning and come along to loosen up. There are good cheap meals on offer too at the Bunya Sports Club afterwards, if you want to bring along a towel and a change of shirt - Don, Greg and Grant are members, so we can sign you in.

Here is Saturday’s course: bunyaville_dec09
Here is the whole Bunyaville map for future reference: all_bunyaville

Here is how to get there: