The Starting Gun Podcast

Noosa Ultra Trail: Race Director Nick Stewart on Hinterland Trails, Distances & Building a Destination Event | Starting Gun Podcast Ep. 5

Find out more at:

Noosaultratrail.com.au

https://www.facebook.com/noosaultratrail

https://www.instagram.com/noosaultratrail

In episode five of the Starting Gun Podcast, host James Maile stays in Noosa to interview Nick Stewart, race director of the Noosa Ultra Trail, focusing on “great people, great places, and great races.” Nick shares his 40-year sports marketing and events background (IMG, Channel Seven motorsport, Sydney Olympic Stadium, golf management, and Ironman) and his progression from triathlon to trail ultras, including multiple 100K runs. They discuss trail running’s growth in Australia, citing COVID, urbanization, and younger runners pushing longer distances. Nick explains the Noosa Ultra Trail’s origins (pitched to council in 2021; first held in 2022) and its six distances from 15K to 100K, including point-to-point and an afternoon option, plus a new 45K mountain marathon. He covers popularity of the 25K and 50K, shares stories including wheelchair athletes completing a modified 10K in 2023, highlights hinterland spots like Pomona, Cooran, lookouts, and Lake Macdonald, and directs listeners to noosaultratrail.com.au and social channels, noting early bird pricing ends 31 October.

00:03 Introduction

01:22 Great People: Nick's Background

08:52 Great Races: The Noosa Ultra Trail

13:54 The Scorecard

23:00 Stories from the Trail

30:27 Great Places: Noosa Hinterland

36:09 How to Enter

Wild Women Adventure Race: Triadventure’s All-Women Navigation Endurance Event in Noosa | Starting Gun Ep. 4

Host James Maile welcomes Jan and Kim, founders of Triadventure, to Starting Gun episode four from Australia’s Noosa Hinterland to discuss their all-women adventure racing events. They explain how decades in triathlon led them to adventure racing for its navigation element, and why they created women-only races to upskill women in map-and-compass skills rather than treating them as mandatory team members in mixed categories. They outline two events: the six-hour Wild Women Adventure Race (teams of two trekking, mountain biking and paddling with mystery disciplines) and the three-day, all-daylight Amazons Australia stage race in North Queensland with comfortable evenings. The episode highlights Sunshine Coast scenery and attractions, discusses gear requirements, course changes each year, a zero-waste policy, and how to find Triadventure online.

00:00 Origins of Wild Women

00:21 Host Thanks and Subscribe

01:19 Meet Jan and Kim

03:02 From Triathlon to Adventure Racing

06:07 Amazons Stage Race

07:18 Why Women Only Events

11:27 Noosa Hinterland Setting

13:57 Must See Sunshine Coast Spots

17:25 Wild Women Race Basics

17:49 Navigation and Disciplines

20:24 Distances and Getting Lost

23:08 Who Races and Categories

25:58 Gear and Course Changes

29:42 Starting Gun Scorecard

37:35 Sustainability and No Medals

39:18 Why You Should Enter

40:22 Where to Learn More

41:13 Final Thanks and Wrap

Find out more at:

https://triadventure.com.au

https://www.amazonsaustralia.com

https://www.facebook.com/triadventurenoosa

Host James Maile returns to the UK for Episode 3, focusing on the Thames Trail Ultra, a 47–48 mile race along the River Thames from Oxford (Iffley/Church Lock) to Henley-on-Thames and James’s first ultramarathon in 2014. He interviews Simon Hollis, founder of Go Beyond Events, who shares how he got into race directing after buying an events company 10 years ago, outlines Go Beyond’s calendar (including Country’s Capital, Shires and Spires, Roses of the Shires, a Circle Line selfie race, and a Nepal multi-stage ultra), and explains the Thames Trail course, They discuss scenery, urban sections in Reading, common wrong turns, aid-station food, and race ratings for hills, support, snacks, merch, and medals.

00:00 47 Miles on the Thames

00:29 Personal Shout Outs

01:28 Episode Setup and Guest

02:44 Simon’s Founder Story

04:33 Go Beyond Race Calendar

08:05 Fun Formats and Ultra Mindset

10:49 How to Tackle an Ultra

12:34 Oxford Highlights and Start Line

14:39 Following the River to Henley

18:51 Checkpoints and Getting Lost

25:32 Event Growth and First Timers

29:06 Race Scorecard Ratings

35:23 Where to Enter and Wrap Up

36:22 Closing Thanks and Sign Off

https://www.gobeyondchallenge.com

https://www.gobeyondchallenge.com/e/capital-to-country-a-multi-day-ultra-through-nepal-11934

https://www.instagram.com/go_beyond_sport/

Great People, Great Places, Great Races

Episode 2: Ride the Wilderness, Racing New Zealand's West Coast

This episode, The Starting Gun has moved 2,843 kilometers (1,767 miles) from the finish point of our previous episode in Broken Hill, NSW, all the way to Ross, New Zealand, for Ride the Wilderness, one of New Zealand's most scenic mountain bike races. Run along the West Coast Wilderness Trail, the event strings together old goldmining water races, packhorse tracks, and flowing singletrack through rainforest, wetlands, and past historic bridges on its way to Greymouth.

We break down the four distances on offer, from the short 21km dash out of Kumara to the full 126km epic starting in Ross, and talk about what makes this Grade 2 trail approachable for first timers while still delivering a proper challenge for the elite field. Expect chat on race day logistics, the best sections of trail to watch for, why the West Coast's unpredictable weather is always part of the story, and tips for anyone thinking about lining up themselves.

Whether you're racing it, riding it as a weekend adventure, or just love hearing about the world's great cycling events, this one's for you.

⁠www.ridethewilderness.co.nz⁠

⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@run_nz_run⁠

⁠https://www.facebook.com/CJMSEvents/ ⁠

⁠https://www.instagram.com/ridethewilderness/⁠

Starting Gun Podcast Ep. 1: Mad Max Marathon Founder Story with Brian Haddy (OAM - Order of Australia Medal)

For more info visit:

madmaxmarathon.com.au and https://www.facebook.com/share/19RcKSpJmf/

Host James Maile launches the first episode of the Starting Gun podcast, which profiles scenic endurance events worldwide by interviewing event founders rather than participants, starting in Australia.

He introduces guest Brian Haddy, OAM, founder of the BrokenHill Mad Max Marathon Festival and organiser of other boutique marathon festivals in Mildura, Horsham and Dimboola.

Brian shares his running and race-directing background, including banditing the 1980Boston Marathon and the Rosie Ruiz cheating controversy, then explains how Mad Max began through local parkrun and council support and has grown from about 80 runners to roughly 500 with international visitors. He highlights Broken Hill attractions and details the July event’s 9am start, distances (marathon, half, 10K, 5K, 2K kids dash),red-dirt course, racecourse sand finish.

00:00 Podcast Launch

02:53 Meet Brian Haddy

03:31 Brian’s Running Roots

04:06 Building Race Events

05:37 Fab Four Marathons

06:49 Boston Bandit Tale

11:26 Mad Max Origins

14:51 Broken Hill Highlights

17:36 Race Distances Course

22:46 Getting Lost Story

23:33 Course Chaos Stories

24:52 Rapid Fire Questions

26:03 Finish Line Highlights

28:49 Volunteers and Mishaps

29:48 Top Trumps Ratings

37:19 Finish Line Advice