Grampians Peaks Trail

Gariwerd/Grampians is the first location, fittingly: sandstone cliffs, Mount Duwul, and a national park described as resembling “another planet.” The Grampians Peaks Trail follows a hiking line constructed to honor the land rather than to favor runners, passing through country connected to First Nations custodianship and creation stories extending back over 30,000 years. With the “highest concentration of rock art in all of southeastern Australia,” it is the kind of place where your headlamp and gels can feel insignificant. The route uses a “hiking trail that wasn’t built for a race,” so anticipate the rhythm of a true crossing instead of a refined ultra course. Under sandstone, through rugged mountain terrain, and across Grampians National Park, the run possesses that large, exposed, outdoors-first character. The organizers’ custom of pairing the names Gariwerd/Grampians is a small but meaningful tradition, and the wildlife imposes its own rules: “Australian wildlife has no concept of a ‘marked zone.’”