Welcome to Rapid Ascent
Regarded as Australia’s leading Adventure Sports Event Management company, Rapid Ascent organises off-road, adventure and niche sports events across Australia ranging from mass participation adventure races (the world’s largest!) to boutique mountain bike festivals.
There’s no greater equaliser than an ultra marathon…
As a fly on the wall at today’s Margaret River Ultra, it’s been astounding to see how people from all walks of life have come together to conquer sand, sun and self… and achieve the unthinkable: 80km, on foot, in a single day!
From young, ripped alpha males… to elite women who can run at mind-bending speed for days on end… to middle aged men who’ve traded the work loafers for trail shoes… and 60+ year old women who have taken up ultra running post retirement…
Everyone is equal.
Everyone is welcomed with open arms.
And everyone is bloody AWESOME (just sayin’).
THANK YOU all for making this a day to remember. And congratulations - not just on your running ability, but also for being too-notch human beings.
There’s something about the running community that feels like one big happy family. It really is special. (Or maybe it just feels that way because we’re all a little bit insane!).
Anyway…
As always there’ll be plenty of photos, results and debriefs to come. But here’s a little sample of pics (many courtesy of Astrid Volzke photography).
Remember, there’s still over 2 hours of finish line action to come. So grab a wine and settle in and cheer your head off for those still to come.
Recover well legends. Can’t wait to do it tomorrow with the 42km!
The early bird gets the Aurora Australis...
The Margaret River Ultra Marathon is underway! And as the 80km solo competitors lined up on the start line in the "wee hours" of this morning, the otherworldly red haze of the Australis lit up the starting arch at Hamelin Bay.
Does it get any more special than that??
Since then, the teams in the 80km have also charged onto the course, leaving Hamelin Bay at 8am (there were some FAST looking teams – like, seriously fast... maybe even RECORD BREAKING fast??).
Now, the competitors...
How do we describe the competitors?
Here are a few words that leap to mind (feel free to put into your own sentences 😂):
Supportive, fit AF, high-on-life, fun-loving, TOUGH, the-kind-of-legends-you'd-happily-have-a-beer-with. Now lets see how they can run...
If you want to follow along, here are some useful links:
👉 LIVE RACE RESULTS: bluechipresults.com.au/live.aspx?CId=11&RId=1736
👉 PREDICTIVE TRACKING: Thanks to some nifty tech you can see an estimated position of all runners throughout the race based on their average speed across previous sections of the course. Last year these times were spookily accurate. Follow along here: bluechipresults.com.au/Track.aspx?CId=11&RId=1736&EId=1
👉 COURSE FLYOVERS: The 80km flyover is here: www.facebook.com/groups/498869351661004/posts/813271810220755/ and the 42km flyover is here: www.facebook.com/groups/498869351661004/posts/813983096816293/
Stay tuned. This is going to a goodin.
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Hamelin, not Hamlin. I’m sorry I don’t know the Wardandi name, but that would be an appropriate inclusion too 🙏
What an event more incredible startline 🥰
Rapid Ascent can someone please DM me?
Stoked to have elite cyclist, Ella Bloor, joining us in the Red Centre for the upcoming Shimano Gravel Muster this August.
Ella is a seasoned bike racer who's been at the pointy end of the National and International bike scene for several years now (including placing 13th in the prestigious Sea Otter classic last year!).
Even better, she seems to have a knack for adventure...
In fact, there's an entire article on Velo.outsideonline.com about her time travelling around the USA (during Lifetime Grand Prix) in her "really crappy Jeep" (worth a read).
Annnnyway...
Here's what Ella has to say about the Muster:
"𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑏𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑜 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑠 𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒: 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑇𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦.
𝐼𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟-𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑐𝐷𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐶𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠.
𝐼 𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑇𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑡 𝑅𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑑 𝐴𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡."
Couldn't have said it better ourselves Ella!
Camaraderie, campfires and unique landscapes is what it's all about.
Looking forward to hearing a few tales from your adventures around the campfire.
Keen to join Ella at the Muster?
Get all the info here: bit.ly/3waZ3h4
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Jeff Tippett campfires, camaraderie and unique landscapes ….. excited for our next adventure 😊😊
Great pic Ella!
How good was the inaugural Aussie stop on the XTERRA Trail Run Series?!
Last weekend, we had hundreds of runners storming the trails & beaches in XTERRA Dunsborough Trail Runs (10km and 21km). Vibes were through the roof and the weather couldn't have been nicer.
Check out the awesome video highlights thanks to XTERRA Asia-Pacific and @noeko.film 🤩
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If you'd like to share your feedback on XTERRA Dunsborough, please complete our online survey here... www.surveymonkey.com/r/QFNQF8L
Nick Howe you made the cut 😆
Thankyou to all involved, it was a great weekend.
Take us back!
XTERRA Dunsborough was something truly special this year.
Re-live the triathlon action with these video highlights (and keep your eyes peeled for a seperate post with the Trail Run highlights package).
Thanks again to all who participated. And big thanks to XTERRA Asia-Pacific and noéko for the epic videos!
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