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Kunanyi Mountain Run | Trail Running, Community & Connection with Lincoln Quilliam & Jack Saward
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In this episode of Peak Pursuits, we dive deep into the story of the Kunanyi Mountain Run (KMR) with race director Lincoln Quilliam and scholarship athlete Jack Saward. Lincoln shares his journey from adventure sports to trail running and the inspiration behind creating KMR—an event that challenges runners and fosters community, cultural connection, and environmental stewardship.
Jack opens up about her transition from Olympic weightlifting to trail running, how the KMR scholarship program has been a transformative experience, and the mental shift that has fuelled his love for the sport.
We also discuss the event’s commitment to inclusivity, from cultural walks led by the Tasmanian Aboriginal community to initiatives supporting women's participation, trail maintenance efforts, and the introduction of the Golden Trail National Series.
If you love trail running, community-driven events, and the power of the outdoors to transform lives, this is an episode you don’t want to miss!
***Don’t forget, use code PPP at https://bix-hydration.myshopify.com/en-au for 20% off Bix products, exclusive to PPP listeners!***
Thanks for tuning in to Peak Pursuits! Connect with us on Instagram @peakpursuits.pod to share your thoughts, questions, and trail stories. Until next time, keep hitting the trails and chasing those peak pursuits!
Follow KMR: Instagram | Website | Scholarship
Follow Lincoln: Instagram | Strava
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Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/mood-maze/trendsetter License code: K08PMQ3RATCE215R
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Backgrounds
00:00:00
Peak Pursuits
Today we are joined by Lincoln, Quilliam and Jack Sayward on the podcast. Guys, welcome. Thanks for coming on.
00:00:08
Jack
Thank you.
00:00:08
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, cheers.
00:00:08
Lincoln Quilliam
Great to be with you.
00:00:10
Peak Pursuits
ah It's brilliant to to get to know more about your event, which having looked into it is really quite impressive and I'm excited to learn more having been to the area but having not done it.
00:00:20
Peak Pursuits
It's a conversation I'm very excited about. So appreciate your time this evening to come on. Lincoln, we'll start with yourself. If you can just give our listeners a bit of a background to the Kananyu Mountain Run, when it started, how it's evolved, and also yourself as ah your involvement and how it that has evolved as well over time.
00:00:45
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, cool. Well,
Lincoln's Trail Running Journey Begins
00:00:46
Lincoln Quilliam
and let's just start with my story because that's kind of the foundation story of KMR as well. um So I grew up in the foothills of the mountain and loved playing, building dams, falling out of trees, mountain biking on my road bike. um Didn't really run much in those days, but then lived and worked and adventured across the world. My adventure passions were mainly snowboarding, then alpine climbing, um but then ended up in PNG.
00:01:19
Lincoln Quilliam
And yeah, there's mountains, but there's no real developed climbing, very little people to do it with and no snow. So, um, just sort of ended up falling into trail running, um, uh, ended up running the, the Kokoda track, which is 96 K 6,000 meters.
00:01:38
Peak Pursuits
Mm-hmm.
00:01:41
Lincoln Quilliam
Had no idea i was running it at the time. It was just, we were doing it single push and, um, uh, we're way off missing our, um,
00:01:48
Jack
Thank you.
00:01:49
Lincoln Quilliam
our timing target halfway through. And so I just had to start sort of, you know, jogging the flats, bombing the downs, hiking the hills and
Starting the Tarkina Ultra Marathon
00:01:58
Lincoln Quilliam
got to the end. And I was actually doing it with a Las Pativas athlete, Tom Brazier at the time. and And he said, mate, now you're a trail runner.
00:02:05
Lincoln Quilliam
I'm like, what? What's that? It's like, that's exactly what we've just done. um And wow, light bulb moment, you know, then all these epic, um you know, multi-day bushwalks back home in Tassie that I've never seemed to have time or, or um you know, people at the right time to go and do them with. I can now just go run them all in a day.
00:02:26
Lincoln Quilliam
So then that was 2017, come to full time, when i moved home full time um I'd actually created the Tarkina Ultra um Marathon in the northwest of Tassie
00:02:41
Peak Pursuits
Thank you.
00:02:41
Lincoln Quilliam
in 2019. and And yeah, moved home full time 2020 and was like, whoa, rediscovered this epic mountain as a trail runner. It's on the doorstep of Hobart.
00:02:54
Lincoln Quilliam
It watches protectively over Hobart. the The mountain influences every Hobartian's day-to-day life in in more ways than they and they ever know. Every photo of Salamanca Market, the biggest tourist attraction in in Tassie,
00:03:09
Lincoln Quilliam
has the mountain in the background. Every iconic shot of Hobart's waterfront has the mountain in the background. Like it's it's, it's just omnipresent.
Overcoming Challenges in Mountain Ultra Events
00:03:19
Lincoln Quilliam
Um, and it's also got a, um, uh, an awesome network of tracks and trails on it. So, uh, I was like, right, well, you know, I've got this little bug in me of event organizing. Uh, let's, let's have a crack at doing, um, you know, um it's showcasing how amazing this mountain is and and doing an ultra on it and quickly found that a few and event organizers had tried to get one up for you know the last 10, 20 years and hit a few obstacles. I found those obstacles pretty quickly, but life gave me some time and and space to to have ah have a crack and and you know work down those obstacles to actually deliver
00:04:04
Lincoln Quilliam
um an event and we just we just really wanted to you know i've got advice from lots of people i do like a year zero you know like a little concept tester and this sort of thing it's like no you know i know the demand is there everyone i spoke to across australia um was like yeah yeah yeah we've been waiting for this you know go do it and um you know knew we had the epic courses and all that sort of thing. So just just wanted to you know deliver an amazing event year one. And um seems to have it seems to have captured you know a few trail runners and and non-trail runners imagination. and And here we are just about to deliver the fourth year and um it's, wow, what a wild ride. and And yeah, it's just amazing seeing
00:04:53
Lincoln Quilliam
so many people so much so many smiles and so much achievement and and a couple of tears and across the finish
00:04:59
Jack
Thank you.
Diverse and Inclusive Events
00:05:01
Peak Pursuits
Yeah. Well, that's trail running, isn't it? You've got to have a couple of tears in there. So the events, first year 2021, that's correct?
00:05:10
Lincoln Quilliam
amazing yeah uh 2022 yeah it took a solid couple of years to to get it up yeah
00:05:13
Peak Pursuits
Sorry, yes. That was just bad, bad quick maths in my head. That first year, what did the event look like? like What events did you have running then?
00:05:24
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, so um we had our pretty much our signature events that we currently have, the 25K mountain run, which is by far the most popular. um And that's ah it's a big loop up and then back down um to the the run hub um through, you know, there's there's so much diversity in the mountain and and all of our courses have been designed to really try and capture those there amazing diverse landscapes, really jam packed, like nowhere else in the world that I've run.
00:05:55
Lincoln Quilliam
um And I was lucky enough to actually get a Churchill Fellowship to explore the key features and benefits of epic trail running destinations. So, you know, got to go to UTMB and hard rock and you know
00:06:07
Peak Pursuits
Oh,
00:06:07
Lincoln Quilliam
throughout Europe a bit further and UK and fell running. But nowhere else have I ever seen the diversity jam packed into such a small area.
00:06:18
Lincoln Quilliam
So anyway, that's um back to what events do we have? So twenty the the mountain run, 25K. um The ultra, it was 68K at that point, which was solo or a relay, five legs.
00:06:31
Lincoln Quilliam
And a vertical K. so We're, you know, there there are a few, a couple of mountains, definitely two in Tassie and maybe some more on the mainland. I'm not really sure um that can actually host a VK that actually has the terrain, 1,000 metres vertical in 5K.
00:06:49
Peak Pursuits
yeah
00:06:49
Lincoln Quilliam
So yeah, Skyrunning was super keen to have that. So yeah, we've had the had the VK. So it was always, oh no, that was ah that was a two-day journey. event Yeah, year one and and year two, we added the foothills on the Sunday.
00:07:05
Lincoln Quilliam
It's a nice little celebration, round it out and do a bit of a multi-day.
00:07:09
Peak Pursuits
And you also have a couple of walk events now. When did they first feature?
00:07:14
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, so cultural walks is is something we've we've always done in in various forms, actually, since year one.
00:07:22
Jack
Thank you.
00:07:23
Lincoln Quilliam
Very small group, very intimate, and for the last couple of years, led by Tasmanian Aboriginal community members sharing story and culture of of the mountain in their words, in their stories. So, yeah, so stoked and and and proud that we're able to, well, that the yeah Aboriginal community trusts us to share culture with us and our audience, really. That's that's amazing.
00:07:50
Lincoln Quilliam
And this year we've also introduced the Mountain Walk, which is the same course as the Mountain Run, but just full support to walk it at ah a bit more of a leisurely pace.
00:08:03
Lincoln Quilliam
Same aid stations and supports.
00:08:03
Peak Pursuits
That's incredible.
00:08:05
Peak Pursuits
How long do people have to do the walk? I'm assuming you still have to have some cutoff for that.
00:08:10
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it is designed to for everyone to get back before darkness so they don't have to take a head torch. So now you put me on the on the spot.
00:08:21
Lincoln Quilliam
of
00:08:21
Peak Pursuits
ah
00:08:22
Lincoln Quilliam
yeah So every it's something ah of of...
00:08:23
Peak Pursuits
It's a good amount of time.
00:08:26
Lincoln Quilliam
We just did the training runs recently and and people... I was getting peppered with all sorts of questions about numbers and data and, and you know, My way too regular answer was it's on the website.
00:08:40
Peak Pursuits
yep no that is that is very justified
00:08:40
Lincoln Quilliam
I can't keep all those numbers in my head. But yeah, no, but the the mountain run, the mountain walk starts at 9.15 and cut off is, you know, 7 p.m.
00:08:52
Lincoln Quilliam
ish. So that's 10 hours.
00:08:53
Peak Pursuits
yeah 10 hours yeah no i love that i think that's
00:08:55
Lincoln Quilliam
So five hours up, five hours back. It's plenty time.
00:09:00
Peak Pursuits
We think about trail running as trying to create this inclusive community that gives people access to these incredible environments. And one of the biggest issues is often the cutoffs and that in itself is exclusionary.
00:09:12
Peak Pursuits
Obviously there are always reasons for that, but I love the fact that you've gone, yeah, we get that, but you can walk it and here's 10 hours to do it in. So you can actually experience it with the safety of it being supported.
Community Engagement and Land Conservation
00:09:24
Peak Pursuits
think that's amazing.
00:09:24
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah.
00:09:25
Peak Pursuits
So yeah, cool.
00:09:25
Lincoln Quilliam
and And another thing here on the mountain is we've got so many amazing trails. It's actually a bit complex from a route finding perspective. If you've never been here or or even as locals, it's like, oh, i want to try something new. And it's like, well, if and unless you're pretty conversant with, you know, plotting what ah with an actual hard project,
00:09:46
Lincoln Quilliam
copy map or or plotting a map on Strava and and following it or whatever it might be it it can get a bit daunting so yeah here's just an epic route that we've fully curated and a fully marked and a great experience I do have to say we introduced kids runs um Steve year before last and they they keep growing and that's something i'm so excited about the kids just they froth they run so hard and.
00:10:16
Lincoln Quilliam
Steve McLaughlin, You know that's that's always a good time seeing the parents for all their kids frothing and introduced an alpine marathon this year it's more of a 50 K than a marathon, to be honest, but and certainly.
00:10:16
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:10:29
Lincoln Quilliam
ah much more of an ultra effort being probably somewhere between six and eight hours for most people. It's on some pretty technical um ah you know sections of the mountain and and one of the most remote single tracks we've got up there. But yeah, that's that's sold out like so quick.
00:10:48
Lincoln Quilliam
We've limited it to 100 runners in our first year just to you know make it a bit of a special thing, certainly in the first year. that's Yeah, I reckon that might even be more popular than the ultra longer term.
00:11:02
Peak Pursuits
Yeah. Well, as it's, it says something for the demand that you've got the ultra at 66 and then the marathon at 46 and sold out. And it's, that's brilliant for the, to the area.
00:11:15
Peak Pursuits
but What's the response been like now from the wider community, you're going into your fourth year, both people that live, live in Hobart and see the mountain, but also from the parks perspective, is it being encouraged now?
00:11:27
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, the, the land managers had always seen value in the low impact and really authentic connection with the landscape and, and, you know, on the mountains terms, um they were cautious on numbers early on and rightfully so, you know, there's, there, there are, um, potential impacts with anything, but, um,
00:11:52
Lincoln Quilliam
we were very aware of those potential impacts from a social perspective and and make a really strong point of of our community engagement. And, you know, we've we've, you know, communicate with any bushwalking clubs and all the all the Facebook groups and, you know, mountain bikers and everyone, you multiple times throughout the year.
00:12:14
Lincoln Quilliam
And, and oh you know, all the locals um seem to know that KMR ah is on and when it's on and,
00:12:14
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:12:22
Lincoln Quilliam
You know, we've only and the ever had, you know, heaps of support really from from all all sectors of the community.
00:12:28
Peak Pursuits
yeah
00:12:32
Lincoln Quilliam
So, no, it's been an amazing journey and and more and more locals, non-runners, keep turning up now to the run hub. It's like, oh, wow, well you know, what's this? I've heard of all these, you know, runners running up all the way up and down the mountain.
00:12:46
Lincoln Quilliam
Like, what's it all about? And, yeah, come on in and, you know, go. grab grab something to eat and and a drink and talk to some of these runners. it's um So yeah, trying to, I think we we're achieving our objective slowly, connecting the wider population to trail running and and the benefits that it can provide.
00:13:07
Peak Pursuits
Yeah. And that definitely stands out with some of the initiatives that you guys run. The community driven ones that are around the land conservation and the trail maintenance. I think that's something that really stood out to me that I'd love to see a lot more of around the country from event organizers. Can you speak to their introduction and how that all works?
00:13:32
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, um well the Tasmanian Land Conservancy is and our environmental partner organisation where we, um you know, runners and and we also contribute to their work on on their reserves.
00:13:48
Lincoln Quilliam
They're a a yeah non-for-profit that that owns and and also has a revolving fund for buying higher conservation value land and then on selling it to or putting a private covenant on it and then on selling it. So they do a heap of monitoring work in biodiversity and you know and and and all
Cultural Connections and Trail Maintenance
00:14:12
Lincoln Quilliam
that sort of stuff.
00:14:13
Lincoln Quilliam
And so anyone who wishes to contribute to their carbon footprint and hey, travel's a big one. um Yeah, they can contribute directly to the Tasmanian Land Conservancy.
00:14:25
Lincoln Quilliam
um On the trail maintenance, well, on the eastern face of the mountain, that is council managed lands and they do an awesome job, like really, really well class, the the the care that they put into the trails.
00:14:41
Lincoln Quilliam
because they they understand the value it has for locals and tourists alike. um Out the back is parks managed land, and that was not maintained much at all.
00:14:57
Lincoln Quilliam
and That took a bit of effort to ah commit. so we actually did all the work to clear all those trails. And it wasn't only the plan,
00:15:08
Lincoln Quilliam
A routes or the routes that are on the website. But of course, if we get some pretty nasty weather, then we're going to try and avoid the Alpine areas. So there's a whole raft of like plan B routes that we had to clear and we, we keep clear, um, year on year.
00:15:22
Lincoln Quilliam
So it was actually 75 or 80 person days of work that, that we did,
00:15:29
Peak Pursuits
wow
00:15:30
Lincoln Quilliam
um and we as in, so Trail Ventures is is my um micro-sized family business that owns and operates KMR and also our our um smaller series, the Kanani Trail series.
00:15:48
Lincoln Quilliam
We actually started, well, when COVID happened, there was a heap of work required for, well, parks needed a heap of work done to recover from some big bushfires down here and a heap of wilderness guides were out of work. So I just had time and um put two and two together and became a trail maintenance contractor um or clearing contractor really. And so, you know, those skills and tools and systems just flowed through into self-performing the trail maintenance required for our events.
00:16:21
Lincoln Quilliam
And we deliver a high value model whereby we have all those professional tools and systems and safety and quality and training and provide opportunity for the community to come and learn some skills and give back to the trails.
00:16:37
Lincoln Quilliam
And and so you know, it still costs money to maintain those troops tools and, you know, pay some wages and all that sort of thing. um But amazingly, our running community is is keen to contribute a bit there. And we've also had a couple of corporate donors um that that contribute to the trail maintenance.
00:16:55
Lincoln Quilliam
And yeah, we we still do all the work mainly out in the parks managed area. So it's it's not easy in Australia to just have the trust and confidence and get permits to go and maintain trails.
00:17:05
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:17:13
Lincoln Quilliam
Australian authorities are um much different to places like the US or or in Europe where it's actively encouraged. The US particularly, they they passed a ah national bit of legislation with you know millions and millions of dollars behind it, recognising that their agencies couldn't actually keep up with the workload.
00:17:35
Lincoln Quilliam
and that there was heaps of awesome NGOs in in America that had capacity and passion um and skills and and you know resources to actually go out and do a heap of the um the trail work for them.
Cultural Integration in Events
00:17:50
Lincoln Quilliam
um So yeah, I found out some of that stuff in the Churchill and I've been trying to share that a bit throughout Australia.
00:17:53
Peak Pursuits
Interesting.
00:17:58
Lincoln Quilliam
but Culture takes a little bit to change. So, yeah, we we hope our example of yeah doing this trail maintenance as an event organiser is is something that other event organisers and land managers can and sort of pick up on.
00:18:02
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:18:14
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah.
00:18:15
Peak Pursuits
No, I think that's, that's wonderful. Um, are there any other,
00:18:19
Peak Pursuits
initiatives or connections to country specifically that you include?
00:18:27
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, well working it's, it's Aboriginal land, right. And I ah grew up in the foothills and playing on the mountain, but didn't learn anything really about its stories and culture and, and history, apart from, you know, seeing some colonial stone structures around ah beautiful that they are.
00:18:32
Peak Pursuits
Hmm.
00:18:49
Lincoln Quilliam
So, and trail runners using myself and as as an example, but, generally I think like to learn a bit about the lands on which they run and say, okay, I've got got a platform and an audience here.
00:19:04
Lincoln Quilliam
Why don't we try and you know bring as much culture and share as much culture as we can through KMR? And hence we've got a little bit of ah a mountain culture side to side to our event.
00:19:19
Lincoln Quilliam
So the cultural walks with them Tasmanian every Aboriginal community is one of them. um And of course, you know, some pretty powerful smoking ceremonies at the start before every run.
00:19:32
Lincoln Quilliam
It's like, and we we get amazing feedback about that. You know, it's it it is a it's a ceremony of of, you know, blessing and welcome or,
Vision for a Mountain Culture Festival?
00:19:43
Lincoln Quilliam
you know, all of the above, a moment of contemplation to consider what has been and what what could be.
00:19:43
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:19:51
Lincoln Quilliam
um just before you set off on a run and get a whole heap of time to think about it. So yeah, that's been beautiful. And it is always quite a powerful moment as you can see how much it actually impacts people at the time.
00:20:07
Lincoln Quilliam
And then in the hub itself, like during during the day as as people are crossing the line and and, you know, with family around and everything, got a bunch of kids activities happening there and damper on the fire, yarns and all that sort of thing.
00:20:21
Lincoln Quilliam
So yeah, that's that's always a really good time and that kind of draws parents in a little bit as well. So yeah, that's that's pretty much what we're what we're doing um this year and there's there's whole heap of crazy plans for for or ideas for the future, but yeah, we'll we'll we'll see we'll see where that goes, but there's there's definitely opportunity for a really powerful impactful sort of mountain culture festival whether that's part of kmr or not you know hey the name says it all where we are a mountain run we're not a mountain culture festival um although we do you know recognize we've really grounded in that culture and try and bring it out but um yeah that's where we're at at the moment it's been yeah and a beautiful journey
00:21:11
Peak Pursuits
I think just bringing that culture to the forefront through the smoking ceremonies, through your messaging, even just people listening to this conversation will hear that passion in your voice.
00:21:23
Peak Pursuits
I think I'd say in, in that I can definitely see there being a mountain mountain culture element innately built into the event, which is, allows people to feel that extra level, that depth to connection when they're on the trails.
00:21:38
Peak Pursuits
Having not done the event, but being in the area, i can say even without understanding the history of mountain, it already felt
00:21:47
Peak Pursuits
I don't want to say ah potentially it is spiritual, but this it felt more than just being on a normal trail. Um, and feel like what you're talking about now is, is, is why it felt like that to me.
00:21:56
Peak Pursuits
So it sounds wonderful. Makes me really want to come down. Hmm.
00:22:00
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, you got it.
00:22:00
Peak Pursuits
Hmm.
00:22:01
Lincoln Quilliam
Well, I just have to share a little bit more about that. We we have um one of our mottos is run with Kanani. So run with the mountain. We're not why not conquering the mountain. We're not running to the top.
00:22:16
Lincoln Quilliam
It's about, yeah, running with.
Scholarship Program and Participant Stories
00:22:20
Lincoln Quilliam
So what that means is to observe and connect and understand
00:22:20
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:22:28
Lincoln Quilliam
the course, particularly the you know the the technical nature or how rough it is and how steep it is, it's pretty gnarly. And it you know the ultra can eat people up a bit if they have a conquering sort of mindset. I mean, of course you can still do it, but um certainly I think from a a safety and can it you know, enjoyment perspective.
00:22:54
Lincoln Quilliam
The more connect and observe and and allow yourself to sort run with, the more fun gonna have and the the more positive feedback and the smoother, you know, like entering,
00:23:04
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:23:09
Lincoln Quilliam
um you know anyone who's really focused on developing their technical, um, running will know when they've hit the flow and suddenly you just flying and it feels so agile and easy and, and epic. It's like, you know, wow.
00:23:29
Lincoln Quilliam
So yeah, imagine, you know, trying to fight with it. It just doesn't, doesn't really work.
00:23:35
Peak Pursuits
yeah
00:23:35
Lincoln Quilliam
Um, so yeah, we really, really love you know providing that opportunity for people to to consider it in that way and particularly just before they run off and the smoke and everything. It's yeah it's pretty cool.
00:23:48
Peak Pursuits
Sounds like it. It definitely does. um so Talking about the participants, one of seemingly your biggest initiatives is the scholarship program.
00:23:58
Peak Pursuits
And looking at the details of it, last year was the first year, I'm correct in saying?
00:24:04
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, we we actually always had a scholarships available, but for the first couple of years, it was it was limited to um registration.
00:24:10
Peak Pursuits
Okay.
00:24:14
Lincoln Quilliam
So for Tasmanian Aboriginal community and and people who would otherwise not be able to participate for whatever reason.
00:24:20
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:24:22
Lincoln Quilliam
But then we saw, and you know, that that's nice, but was it having much of an impact? And we certainly saw an opportunity to have a much deeper impact and for a scholarships team and for those, you know, six people.
00:24:40
Lincoln Quilliam
And then, and it's a very deep impact and I'm sure Jack and can yeah um talk more to that.
00:24:43
Peak Pursuits
yes
00:24:46
Lincoln Quilliam
It's actually quite deep for me, I must say, and can share more about that in a bit, but then also sharing their story, sharing that journey. then provides a a broader benefit to, you know, a whole bunch of people who might be watching at home thinking, oh, i could never run up the mountain.
00:25:05
Lincoln Quilliam
Well, guess what? Everyone, almost everyone actually can.
00:25:09
Jack
Thank you.
00:25:10
Peak Pursuits
Nice caveat there.
00:25:11
Lincoln Quilliam
So, yeah.
00:25:13
Peak Pursuits
No, it's, and this is where Jack, we we will bring you in, but it, I said on the call before we started the recording that it, reading the stories of the people that are on the website, and I really do encourage everybody listening to go and read those stories. It is honestly quite moving. They're very powerful.
00:25:30
Peak Pursuits
People are very open, very vulnerable and very real. Like that's what we're all going through in our own forms. And I think that it's what we try to do with this podcast. It's sharing those stories to help everyone see that they're capable of probably a lot more than they are and that there's a place for them in trail running.
00:25:48
Peak Pursuits
So yeah, I commend you guys. And like said, the the value of the scholarship and in what it's included is impressive in its own right. So very interested to learn more about that.
00:25:59
Peak Pursuits
First, Jack, as one of this year's scholarship participants,
00:26:05
Peak Pursuits
Might have lost a word.
00:26:05
Lincoln Quilliam
team members.
00:26:06
Jack
respond Yeah.
00:26:07
Peak Pursuits
Team members, thank you.
00:26:07
Lincoln Quilliam
Yep. ye
00:26:08
Peak Pursuits
yeah um Can you please just give us introduction to yourself, how you found out about the scholarship and what it's been like on that process?
00:26:17
Jack
Yeah, yeah, sure. um so it's been an interesting journey into the trails for me. um ah come from a weightlifting background, so I was an Olympic weightlifter for a few years and and really enjoyed and excelled at that but I was I was suffering from a lot of chronic back pain that I just I just wasn't able to rehab I think the weightlifting helped with it to develop some strength but over time I ended up giving it up and um life changed a lot i I became pretty sedentary and and put on a bit of weight and and it got to a point in in 2023 where
00:27:01
Jack
where I just decided that it was time to start moving again. And for me, that just meant I could jog about seven minutes in one direction and and seven minutes back again. And um over the course of 12 months, there was just this progressive overload of movement increasing and and tracking my eating and nutrition. um And months later, I found myself winning the foothills event at KMR, which was a bit of a shock.
00:27:36
Peak Pursuits
Oh,
00:27:38
Jack
So, um yeah I ended up breaking the course record by four minutes and had completely, um yeah, completely surprised myself, I guess, at where I had been and and where I'd gotten to So that was my first ever trail event, my first introduction to to KMR, to link um to the trail community.
00:27:59
Jack
um And it was and was really epic.
00:28:03
Peak Pursuits
Yeah. like um and a so you you're a local to Hobart?
00:28:06
Jack
Yeah, so I'm from the northwest of Tasmania, from Burnie, Paddleway country.
00:28:11
Peak Pursuits
Okay.
00:28:12
Jack
and But I've lived in Hobart for almost 10 years, I think. And so definitely agree with Link on the the the looming mountain watching over us all down here in Hobart.
00:28:17
Peak Pursuits
ah Amazing.
00:28:23
Peak Pursuits
Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:25
Jack
Yeah.
00:28:26
Peak Pursuits
I'm definitely I'm curious now then as speaking as somebody is part of the community, did you know much about the event in 2022 when it first started and in what ways did had did the event being there sort of attract you towards it?
00:28:42
Jack
yeah So I didn't see it pop up for me until late 2023 when I'd been and running a bit and losing a bit of weight.
00:28:49
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:28:51
Jack
And I think I just saw it pop up on the socials and thought, this looks really cool. um The kind of events that I have a lot of shared values with.
00:29:02
Jack
So when we're talking about, you know, celebrating what we have down here in Tassie, the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, all the values of of KMR and the community. It just felt like a really cool ah event to be a part of.
00:29:17
Jack
And so I signed up myself and and my partner Snowy for the the Foothills event just as a fun run. I thought, well, we could just do this together and and and that's how we signed up. That's how we got involved.
00:29:18
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:29:32
Peak Pursuits
did Did you end up doing it with your partner?
00:29:35
Jack
We did, yeah. Yep. So he did it as well on the same day and I think he was maybe about five minutes behind me.
00:29:42
Peak Pursuits
Hey, love that. That's great.
00:29:45
Jack
Yeah.
00:29:46
Peak Pursuits
Brilliant. and And so you've done the first year. When did you hear about the scholarship program and
00:29:53
Jack
Yeah, I had seen the scholarship program the year before when I was signing up to to the foothills, but we were heading overseas that year and And although I was keen, i I didn't think it would be a good fit.
Impact of Trail Running on Personal Growth?
00:30:06
Jack
So in 2024, I had actually kept my eye on it for months. I don't think i've I've mentioned this to Link before, but I reckon I went back to the website and refreshed every few days in 2024.
00:30:15
Lincoln Quilliam
Thank you.
00:30:27
Jack
um So i was I was definitely keeping an eye on it.
00:30:29
Peak Pursuits
Yeah. Okay. Well, it sounds like you've made a good choice then, Lincoln, in the and choosing Jack for for the scholarship. Definitely. um And guessing going through the application process, getting on to the program, what did that mean to you? And and and just I guess just why why were you so invested into trying to get onto it?
00:30:52
Jack
Yeah, it's, again, I think circling back to just the kind of event that Kunanyu Mountain Run is, the the shared values, the type of community that we have down here in Tassie, it's something i think a lot of people are drawn to be a part of um Also for me, I think all the things that the scholarship offered, so like you say, jump on the website and have a look. It's it's an incredible package of of support from, from gear and, and nutrition to coaching training sessions.
00:31:28
Jack
Um, it really is an incredible package. I honestly didn't think I would be successful. Um, so it was, it was definitely, yeah, really awesome thing to to found out it's quite a ah process as well. So, um a pretty, pretty involved written application. Um, and then we did a training run and some group interviews before people were selected.
00:31:53
Jack
So there's a bit of a process to go through with.
00:31:57
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:31:59
Jack
2024 for me, after the Foothills event, um I had a bit of a but just a shitty year is probably the way to put it. There was a lot of stuff going on with studying a master's degree, um working with clients in a psychology setting and and working with a lot of people with complex trauma.
00:32:21
Jack
um I've had a ah chronic health condition diagnosed for about 10 years and it's something that I i haven't managed well myself. and And also working with people with complex trauma last year,
00:32:37
Jack
it it sort of made me face some of my own difficulties with with a bit of a mirror. And so all these things got stacked on top of each other um and I had an injury, I was nursing as well. So was sort of not running, studying, really bogged down with with a master's degree and and feeling a lot of heavy sort of things from the past.
00:33:00
Jack
When the scholarship came up, just the idea of having something that was so structured and supportive, but I knew it would be something that would be so good for me, you know, for my my wellbeing to to learn about the trowel community to get coaching and support. I mean, when I did the foothills and when I was training for that, I i did that mostly on my own.
00:33:24
Jack
ah had no idea, you know, I was ah was probably maxing out every run um too much and and also not enough and just all the wrong things that I know now it's so different.
00:33:33
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:33:37
Jack
So to be able to actually learn in a structured way with support, with some great gear, in a great community and To have that thing that's special just for myself while I went and faced some of the things I should have been working on ah long time ago to do with two to do with my health and to do with my childhood, it was give us time. So I've been really determined to do that alongside the scholarship and it's it's been ah really a perfect setting for it.
00:34:08
Jack
We know the magic of the trails in getting us through some tricky times.
00:34:11
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:34:13
Peak Pursuits
Definitely. ah Jack, that's beautiful. Thank you for sharing. I really appreciate you being open there. And Lincoln, it sounds like what I'm guessing and from reading the descriptions from the other participants and in the program that...
00:34:28
Peak Pursuits
Jack's story is what you're kind of looking to help people find the trails more and to connect deeper and to just be given further opportunities. Like really, as Jack said, there is a lot of gear, there are strength, run coaching, there's race entries, there's a whole bunch of other recovery products and merch packs and everything that you could possibly need but somebody that's applying for the scholarship because they want the value of that product is by the sounds of it not going to get past the first stage and so it's really about finding the the jacks that this is about so if you yeah if you can talk to how the scholarship has got to the point that it is now and that process and yeah who who you are looking for in that
00:35:00
Lincoln Quilliam
Thank you.
00:35:12
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, well, I mean, the the program is, it' it's a big deal for for everyone um and all the the partners as well. I mean, you know they've they've all stumped up a ah fair bit, as you can see on the website and and they they care as well.
00:35:22
Jack
Thank you.
00:35:28
Lincoln Quilliam
um it's We're aiming to provide you know this opportunity to people who it will be the most, the greatest potential the most powerfully transformative experience so yeah every we are so honored um with each of the scholarship participants you know there's hugely powerful stories and um we've you know we we feel so honored that they've shared those those stories so openly and and the the challenges and it's i guess a positive reflection of how
00:36:09
Lincoln Quilliam
we are achieving our objective of providing a safe and welcoming environment for for people to be themselves, to share, to empty out onto the trails and to then be open.
00:36:21
Lincoln Quilliam
When you're that open and sharing, you're then a ah beautifully open sponge to soak up all the goodness that the trails can can give and and the community around it. So I'm so blown away.
00:36:35
Lincoln Quilliam
um and truly humbled by each of the scholarship participants and the and the team itself, you know, as ah as a whole, it's it's much more, were what what are these what do you say? The sum of the parts is much greater than the each individual, I don't know, whatever that is.
00:36:51
Lincoln Quilliam
um
00:36:52
Peak Pursuits
I know what you're trying to think of well.
00:36:53
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, yeah.
00:36:54
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:36:54
Lincoln Quilliam
and And of course, it's, you know, so it's six team members. I'm the um mindset slash adventure coach. because don't ask me a thing about any kind of science or actually how to train or anything like that.
00:37:07
Lincoln Quilliam
um But then we've got one of Tassie's star trail runners around the 20 to 50 K distance, Dave Bailey, as the run coach.
00:37:16
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:37:17
Lincoln Quilliam
He does know a thing or two about training and going fast and all that sort of stuff, strides, whatever they are. And um and and also a previous year, um scholarships team member colleen who's peer support as well so it's it's a nine person team plus a a coordinator to help with with admin and the like and yeah it's i don't know i the only thing i can say is i'm just humbled and honored and that we can provide something that has been pretty transformational for um for people and it it
00:37:32
Peak Pursuits
yeah.
00:37:46
Peak Pursuits
yeah
00:37:53
Lincoln Quilliam
it doesn't just stop here either. So our scholarships film, short film from 2024 was selected to tour internationally with the Run Nation Film Festival and also the World Trails International Film Festival or whatever it's called.
00:38:07
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:38:12
Lincoln Quilliam
um And so sharing that story more broadly is it's yeah amazing. And to see to see that on the big screen and be in a theater with with You people reacting to those ah stories and that experience is just amazing.
00:38:29
Lincoln Quilliam
And we do actually have pretty special thing. I can't really say too much about it, but so something around the music of that of last year's film that'll come out in in the months to come.
00:38:43
Lincoln Quilliam
um But, yeah, that's that's just a distraction from this conversation. Yeah.
00:38:48
Peak Pursuits
I like that.
00:38:48
Lincoln Quilliam
ah
00:38:48
Peak Pursuits
Just leave leave a little teaser for us.
00:38:50
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah.
00:38:50
Peak Pursuits
Something that I can't ask about, but it's all right.
00:38:52
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah. No, but it's like, you know, it's been so fun to get to know, like me personally, to get to know each of the scholarship team members and, you know, share a couple of tips and tricks that that I've learned along the way. You know, I haven't been running for that long, to be honest, but I love throwing myself out deep and and just being so open to the learning that it can provide. And 100%,
00:39:15
Lincoln Quilliam
hundred percent Everyone says this, every single meeting I have with with any trail runners and, you know, our partners or anyone, and and whenever we ask the why, why do we trail run?
00:39:30
Lincoln Quilliam
It all comes back to the same reason. And that's health. And it's like trail running keeps me sane. I'd be a complete basket case without, you know, that outlet.
00:39:41
Lincoln Quilliam
And yeah, everyone uses different words to say basically the same thing that yeah, trail running is is the self care that allows us to be the best version of ourselves.
Mindset and Inclusivity in Trail Running
00:39:53
Peak Pursuits
Jack would you echo that that is that how you feel towards it
00:39:55
Jack
I would, I would. the Yeah, yeah. though There was something even recently that clicked with me and on our our training camp. So every year there's a three-day training camp with KMR um doing all the the legs of the the mountain run and the ultra.
00:40:15
Jack
And I joined a few of those legs this year with with Sim, our flying brick, and Link.
00:40:22
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:40:22
Jack
And lincoln after... that weekend I've just been feeling this incredible drive every day like an itch to just get back out on the trails get back out in the bush it's gotten under my skin like I I already loved it loved hiking mountains bushwalking but something's changed and I just can't wait to get out there every day next time and it it is that I like to call it it's It's like a sense of forced mindfulness on the trails. It's a kind of activity where you you need to be present, and but you can also let go, and there's something really therapeutic about that.
00:41:03
Jack
Yeah.
00:41:03
Peak Pursuits
Yeah, that's wonderful.
00:41:04
Peak Pursuits
And I think, yeah, I completely agree. I think everyone's everyone's why mostly will come down to to a version of that same that same story.
00:41:14
Peak Pursuits
It's that connection to nature, that adventure. But at the end of the day, it's ah physical and mental health, whether we really realize it or not, the social health as well. um And you're doing the 25K mountain run this year, that's correct, Jack?
00:41:26
Jack
I am, yep.
00:41:27
Peak Pursuits
Yeah. Yeah. Have you, is this, so you said obviously last year you were injured for a bit. Will this be your biggest run to date from a race perspective?
00:41:37
Jack
Yeah, absolutely. So i haven't, I still haven't done a lot of events. um I did the foothills last year and and thanks to ah the KMR team, I did the triple top mountain run in Tassie late last year, which was so so epic, such a cool experience.
00:41:51
Peak Pursuits
Hmm.
00:41:56
Jack
um I'll be doing Gone Nuts this weekend up on the northwest coast of Tassie and that one's a 25 kilometre as well but um actually joining up with one of our other awesome scholarship team members will be a team for the 50 kilometre race which is really cool so again that community coming together and and making those connections has has just been really great and then KMR yeah will be at the 25 kilometres as well so
00:42:14
Peak Pursuits
That's really cool.
00:42:21
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:42:26
Jack
It's all been loaded up into this scholarship experience for sure.
00:42:30
Peak Pursuits
Yeah, that's brilliant. and Are you excited for it, nervous, both?
00:42:34
Jack
I am excited. i i Yeah, both. I've been talking with Link a lot about mindset as our um mindset coach. And, yeah, for for me, I think managing my mindset around performance expectation has been something for a long time in sports that ends up even ruining the experience of participation in sport sometimes where that that worry and that expectation of performance takes away all the positive things about why we're there and what we're doing and how much we actually enjoy engaging in that sport.
00:43:11
Jack
And so with trail running, up I've tried really hard to keep that that nice mindset. I'm i'm just going through running the bush, just going to have a crack, going to enjoy it. Yeah.
00:43:24
Jack
And just see what happens. And I think working on that has been kind of magic in and in a different way. So I'm trying not to feel too anxious or nervous, just excited, just going for running the bush and going to have an epic day.
00:43:38
Peak Pursuits
I like that. as a That's ah a tricky mindset to get into as well, especially with your background competition. It's about results and performances and time, but I'm sure Lincoln, you'd agree that our best results don't happen when we have that mindset.
00:43:53
Peak Pursuits
um So...
00:43:54
Lincoln Quilliam
yeah 100% more the thing is in in school right running is all about going as fast as you can and right it hands up who has fun when you just run as hard as you can all the time yeah nah right so um and that's that's a big part of you know what I'm and I'm doing um you know
00:44:08
Peak Pursuits
No. no
00:44:17
Lincoln Quilliam
spending some time with with social run clubs. You know, a lot of people who are new to running or have only run on roads or or whatever. and um yeah, they run fast. it It hurts ah for me when I go running with them, to be honest. um Trail running is the beautiful distraction of the nature and the crunch of the feet and the technical and and connecting with the roughness of the trail, having an amazing, or, ah you know, going at a speed where conversation is comfortable.
00:44:48
Lincoln Quilliam
So you can, yeah, have like an amazing chat with um new and old mates. um And, you know, what we try and one of our mentors actually is the only expectation of performance is your own.
00:45:03
Peak Pursuits
Hmm.
00:45:04
Lincoln Quilliam
That's nice. What does it mean? We don't have time now to delve deeply into that, but but just just to say we have the power to make a conscious decision over the expectations we set ourselves.
00:45:19
Lincoln Quilliam
That's not easy. It takes a lot of time and work to and unravel some things to to allow that to actually happen, and it's a bit of a journey. But, you know, one when when it unlocks, gee, you know, like,
00:45:34
Lincoln Quilliam
Everything's just a good time. You know, everything's just a ah beautiful play.
00:45:36
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:45:39
Lincoln Quilliam
um You know, playing with your mates in the mountains. I mean, how good is that?
Encouraging Women's Participation
00:45:45
Lincoln Quilliam
So that's that's how I i treat every run and a big part of what what I'm trying to pass on to the scholarships team in and the world.
00:45:54
Peak Pursuits
Yeah, I love it. That's great. um one ah We were talking earlier about the initiatives that you have. And one the we didn't touch on is around women's participation in the sport. And I wanted to wait until we had Jack sort of formally introduced to do this because I would like your input here. and feel like it's obviously very relevant.
00:46:13
Peak Pursuits
There are a couple couple of things that stand out on the website. Your pregnancy deferral is one of them. especially I love the fact that you also have the partner can defer for one year as well. Speaking to that that policy and any other initiatives you have around the women's participation, can you kind of go into why that's important for you and how you're introducing that into the event?
00:46:33
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, um it was just a ah fundamental no-brainer for me personally. And i I didn't need any any nudging. it It was just like, you know, i mean I'm in a very, very lucky position to be able to make decisions um almost on ah on a whim. And this certainly wasn't a whim, but um a pregnancy deferral, I mean, 100%.
00:47:01
Lincoln Quilliam
and And it was made a lot easier for me to have that view, to actually see what that's all about, because we've just we've got a couple of young kids ourselves. so
00:47:11
Peak Pursuits
Sure.
00:47:11
Lincoln Quilliam
So that was easy. and And a bunch of mates and you know and great runners. you know Maggie Lennox just won the Golden Trail National Series. Kel obviously, Kelly um Emerson or Angel ran the VK a couple years ago, you know quite pregnant.
00:47:29
Lincoln Quilliam
um and and You know, we we had an intent and we consulted with um ah female runners, regulars through to elites and and quite new to to the sport and asked, well, what you what what are the things you really want to see us do? How can we be better?
00:47:49
Lincoln Quilliam
um And, you know, opening the conversation on menstruation, for for instance, having products. having female dedicated toilets where there's you know adequate disposal and and you know menstruation products available.
00:48:07
Lincoln Quilliam
Having products available, right? Yeah, that's one thing, but having an open conversation about it and feeling and and providing a welcoming space to um to you know talk about it as well as a completely normal thing. That was important to us.
00:48:24
Lincoln Quilliam
um Different qualifying paces. for men and women. um That was another thing we have. Applying different actual cutoffs, we've what we've actually done there, rather than doing two different sets of cutoffs, which then become quite logistically or operationally challenging and then can cause a bit of angst for some of the tail, we just catered it all for for the slowest female finishes. say
00:48:57
Lincoln Quilliam
just
00:48:58
Peak Pursuits
okay
00:48:58
Lincoln Quilliam
the slowest any gender finishes that we've had can get through our cutoffs and that's how we've designed them. Equal space at the start line.
00:49:09
Lincoln Quilliam
So for for the pointy part of the field, you know we we actively say, and the MC is physically almost nudging the you know the aggressive blokes out of the way to make space for the women at the front.
00:49:10
Peak Pursuits
so
00:49:25
Lincoln Quilliam
and got to recognise there that, hey, it's it's still an intimidating place at the front and not all um fast women want to come up to the front and and that's okay.
00:49:37
Lincoln Quilliam
Of course, it's completely an individual choice as to where you do want to start, but it's important for us to say that women are just as welcome at the front of the start line as as men are and and you know it'll take time for men to learn to keep their elbows a bit more tucked in and provide a bit more space, not only for women, but for, for everyone else.
00:50:01
Lincoln Quilliam
And, um, yeah, so they're just some of things I'm sure there's, there's other things, um, we do and certainly are planning to, we would like to have some more conversations around menopause and just, you know, and any, anything that we should be doing.
00:50:12
Jack
I can...
00:50:19
Lincoln Quilliam
If anyone listening or, um yeah anyone at all, just just let us know and we'll we'll have a look into it,
00:50:27
Peak Pursuits
Jack, you were going to say?
00:50:28
Jack
Yeah, just that i can I can vouch for that story of um of the MC getting women to the front of the events. I remember at the... Kunani Trail Series late last year for the Knock Lofty event.
00:50:43
Jack
um There was a a nudge of, you know, 20 men or so at the start of the line and they said all right you know girls to the front and there was this sudden parting down the middle of the the start line where all the men stepped aside and and opened up for the women to make their way to the front so yeah it's it's it's not just um it's not just talk there's there's action you see it happening and see it happening within the community
00:51:10
Peak Pursuits
That's brilliant. And Jack, hearing what Lincoln's saying, all of the the policies or just general actions and the communication that he's trying to open up, ah how important is that for you as a female in the sport?
00:51:24
Jack
I think it's really important. but It's probably been traditionally a sport that um women maybe have stayed away from it. It might be a ah lack of confidence sometimes in getting out on the trails alone um or being perceived as it's more of a men's sport, being out in the bush. Of course, that doesn't apply to everyone.
00:51:46
Jack
But when I talk to people who aren't involved in the trail community about what I've been up to and it's always – It's always the women who sort of say, oh, I don't think icri it i don't think I could do it. You know, i don't think I could go out on the trails. or um So fostering this sort of environment where this there's active work being done to demonstrate that this is a welcoming environment for everyone.
00:52:12
Jack
I think a lot of the events that we've been at recently, the the training camps, there have been a lot more women than men there. I wonder if if that's been a change that we've seen in the last few years um on the trails more generally as well. it's It's fantastic to see more and more women getting involved.
Recognition for Inclusivity Efforts
00:52:30
Peak Pursuits
That's brilliant. And I think it's what you said there about the active nature of what you're doing, Lincoln, is that The way I see it, we men in the sport are the ones that need to create this space and create the environment. It's on us to step up and not to wait for the women to say, hey, we need hape help. Hey, we need this. It's yeah it's really on us to say, there's why why haven't these things existed for so long?
00:52:59
Peak Pursuits
Why isn't this a priority? We want equal. 50-50 men and women on the start line. So let's do what we can to do that. So yeah, I commend <unk>d you. And I hope that... I know there are other race organizers that are definitely following suit and starting to implement it, but I hope this just becomes...
00:53:15
Peak Pursuits
the norm to the point where where we're talking about this, at least in the providing sanitary products, for providing ah male, female toilets, like those sort of things are just common practice.
00:53:26
Peak Pursuits
It's not not even a discussion point. so But for now, definitely, thank you for putting that in. think it's brilliant.
00:53:33
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, no worries.
00:53:33
Peak Pursuits
Lovely.
00:53:34
Lincoln Quilliam
No, it's super stoked to be able to, um, um, have the opportunity and, and yet do something that, that again is actually making a difference. And yeah, it's a multi-pronged approach.
00:53:44
Lincoln Quilliam
You know, it's can be easy for an event organizer to do something, hang their hat on it and, and think they're done. Yeah, nah, it's multi-pronged and it's, and it's ongoing and, um,
00:53:53
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:53:58
Lincoln Quilliam
yeah, just stoked we're actually making a difference. And to be honest, we have been recognised even you know internationally for the work we're doing in in this space. um and not even not only in the trail run industry, but in in other you know sort of sister industries as such as well.
00:54:20
Lincoln Quilliam
So um that's, yeah, I think it was at a tourism conference recently and someone said, um who was presenting to the whole conference said oh yeah and those guys are doing such amazing like include inclusivity and sustainability stuff and i'm like what what's that that's that's just ah that's our bread and butter that's our core that's fundamental that stuff and you know and you i think you can tell when it when it is and isn't but
00:54:46
Peak Pursuits
Definitely.
00:54:52
Lincoln Quilliam
Anyway, um I'm just humbled by the response we get from Jack and the whole community on some of these things we're doing.
00:54:52
Peak Pursuits
definitely
00:55:00
Peak Pursuits
Yeah, that's brilliant. I think I agree. You can tell when it's a ah talking point to help sell entries versus a genuine commitment to inclusivity or sustainability or whatever the practice that you're targeting is. So I think your actions speak a lot louder than words in this in this area and they need to consistently continue to do so.
Introducing the Golden Trail Series
00:55:22
Peak Pursuits
Yeah. yeah I'd be remiss if I don't quickly touch on the introduction of Golden Trail for the last couple of years. feel like we're very much changing the the the feeling right now, the conversation. But how how did that come about? What's that in input of Golden Trail been like for you as a race director?
00:55:41
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, well, um there's this amazing human and awesome trail runner, Simone Brick, and um she was just sort of popped up one day, reached out and was like, hey, so look, we're going to come down and check out your event. We've heard all these amazing things. And and of course, you know, the mountain...
00:56:04
Lincoln Quilliam
right on the doorstep of Hobart with Epic Trails is of course a you know a mountain running type Mecca. So um the Salomon team came down in 2023 to participate and hang out and and have have a couple of chats.
00:56:23
Lincoln Quilliam
And um you know a couple of months later, it was like, hey, so Salomon is going to do is going to invest in the Australian trail running community with golden trail.
00:56:37
Lincoln Quilliam
Um, uh, we'd love KMR to be a part of it And, and that was, that was it. Um, basically. And we were just like, yeah, awesome.
00:56:47
Lincoln Quilliam
But it's, to be honest, it's always been a bit of a tussle with, in my head, about the championships and golden trail and stuff versus, you know, 90, 95% of our participants and and every everything else we're all about with the connection to people, place and and and each other.
00:57:09
Lincoln Quilliam
But it's not... mutually exclusive exclusive it's not like you know it's completely false to say oh if you're championships you can't have this sort of stuff or if there's golden it's it's it's beautifully symbiotic with um because hey you know like like sim and a whole bunch of the um the elites that go super fast on trails they they're also out there for similar reasons to the rest of us in terms of connecting with it. And, you know, they certainly know how to flow through it pretty damn fast.
00:57:43
Lincoln Quilliam
And so you don't you don't get that kind of flow without the connection.
00:57:43
Peak Pursuits
Yep.
00:57:48
Lincoln Quilliam
um So Golden Trail has been amazing. Salomon has been amazing. And it's also given us opportunity to showcase our epic mountain to the rest of Australia promoted through the series and also our epic some of our epic Tasmanian athletes um to yeah step onto the world stage so Maggie Lennox is a new mum and and pregnant again so she won't be running KMR ah this year to defend her title but yeah she won the mountain run last year so Jack you're ripe to step up
00:58:26
Lincoln Quilliam
like
00:58:26
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:58:27
Jack
Perfect timing. Thank you.
00:58:29
Lincoln Quilliam
yeah no and maggie went on to win the series and represent australia at the golden trail world world final so golden trail national series as far as i know is the the first and only actually fully supported pathway to compete on the world stage in australia for trail which You know, hey, that's pretty epic. you Of course, we've had, you know, you can apply to um be selected for the team to compete in the world championships.
00:59:02
Lincoln Quilliam
You know, that's all the world athletics and International Trail Running Association, all that.
00:59:05
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:59:08
Lincoln Quilliam
but it's fully athlete funded and not only, you know, you're getting yourself over there and accommodated and everything, you then got to help pays pay for, or pay for your uniforms and the team manager and all that sort of stuff.
00:59:19
Lincoln Quilliam
And it's like, hang on, how is that supporting the sport?
00:59:20
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:59:23
Peak Pursuits
Yeah.
00:59:24
Lincoln Quilliam
So there's, you know, and that that will change, right? ah Australian Ultra, the Trail Runners Association now, know atra having the tea in there, I'm sure they are going to be working hard to try and change that. But now Golden Trail has been amazing. Salomon's been amazing. The investment that they put into um the community and you know they're not out there spruiking Salomon.
00:59:48
Lincoln Quilliam
they're They're out there saying Golden Trail is about athletes. Get out there, have a crack. and And then you know if you win, off you go to into Europe.
00:59:58
Peak Pursuits
Yeah, I think i it's good to hear the behind the scenes a little bit for that, because I think even just being from my perspective, you see the golden trail coming over here.
00:59:59
Lincoln Quilliam
It's amazing.
01:00:09
Peak Pursuits
Brilliant, more recognition for the sport, but more recognition for the front end of the sport. and you don't really necessarily think about how that can impact all the way through. So it's really good to hear that from a race director's mouth.
01:00:22
Peak Pursuits
No, thank you. Brilliant.
01:00:23
Lincoln Quilliam
and And what I can also share about that really quickly is the demographic has shifted in the mountain run. It has gotten younger. It is inspiring more people to to step out on the trail. So people who, you know, and the field has gotten faster, of course, since since we had Golden Trail. So, you know, maybe that's road runners, even track runners, like Leos from a track background, for instance, and and some others are too.
01:00:53
Lincoln Quilliam
So it it is drawing more people onto trail. So it's, yeah, it's awesome.
01:01:00
Peak Pursuits
Perfect. That's what what we want.
Final Thoughts and Future Plans
01:01:03
Peak Pursuits
Guys, thank you so much for the time. I'm just going to ask each of you a quick question to leave us with. if Jack, if you were talking to the version of yourself a year ago, ah say 18 months ago, before you're looking at signing up to the foothills, say that person's listening right now, what would you say to help give them the confidence to just step into that unknown and sign up to that first race?
01:01:26
Jack
that's ah That's a great question. um i think i think I would just say just get out there. Get out there in the trails, in the bush. Be present. Be mindful.
01:01:36
Jack
Enjoy it. Enjoy it for what it is. Connect with it. um And it will change it would change your life.
01:01:44
Peak Pursuits
think that works. I like that. That's very, very, very good answer. So I've given these guys absolutely no heads up on these. So that's, that's, that's beautiful. Thank you. um And Lincoln, what, what excites you about the event trail running in Australia going forward as much as you want us to talk about what you've got in plan for 2026 and beyond, but yeah, what's exciting you in general?
01:02:05
Lincoln Quilliam
jack saying it will change your life that that is just blowing my world right now
01:02:11
Peak Pursuits
Yeah, it's it's I'll be honest, it kind of left little bit speechless there for sec.
01:02:15
Lincoln Quilliam
well and it's stories like that you know it's people coming into trail and finding themselves finding that connection and yeah changing their lives so that's really that is what my fundamental driver in you know Because event organising is not a business of making money. it's a It is a business of of helping change lives. And I'm just so stoked to have been provided that opportunity and to continue to to share share the stoke that I find in Trail with a bunch of other legends who want to come and have a crack. So what I'm more excited about is to is yeah connect people
01:02:55
Lincoln Quilliam
with more people. um Something I've always wanted to do is get into some some challenging socio-demographics,
01:03:05
Lincoln Quilliam
in you know get into some schools and take some kids out for some runs and what whatever that might look like. It's a challenging space and I'm not in there yet, but um yeah, the trails it can change lives and and um the the more impact we can have and uh um you know Tasmanians don't know how lucky we've got it with the epic backyard we have and um so yeah I'm keen to to show them
01:03:37
Peak Pursuits
That's perfect. think that's a great way to end it. Jack, thanks so much for time. Um, it's been a pleasure getting to know you both and learning more about the history of KMR and where it's going to go and, um, good luck Jack for the race or for both your races.
01:03:51
Jack
Thank you. It's been great to chat.
01:03:54
Lincoln Quilliam
Yeah, thanks, ga James.
01:03:54
Peak Pursuits
Awesome.
01:03:55
Lincoln Quilliam
Awesome awesome questions of that that certainly stretch me tonight. So it's it's always love a good conversation, but particularly when there's good questions.
01:04:01
Peak Pursuits
Good, good. I'm glad.
01:04:06
Lincoln Quilliam
Thank you.
01:04:07
Peak Pursuits
Brilliant. No, I appreciate it. Well, thanks so much, guys. ya.
01:04:11
Lincoln Quilliam
Cheers.