A new trail running event planned for the Canobolas State Forest this October is now drawing interest from runners across Australia.

Event marketing coordinator, Sue Klose, has been busy planning for the inaugural “Lonely Mountain Ultra”  which takes place between October 15-16. In her role, she’s been getting insight and tips from fellow running groups including Orange Running Festival — where she also serves as a committee member.

“It’s a new idea. It started with some of the local trail runners with lots of experience with the trail and mountain. They thought it was a real shame we don’t use these amazing trails for an event, and they saw the gap in the market,” Sue said.

“The trails have the right variety for us to create six different distances for all levels, plus in Orange, we’ve got incredible scenery and a destination that makes for a fabulous race weekend.”

The Mount Canobolas-hosted Lonely Mountain Ultra will be a great addition to the existing calendar of local running events, she believes.

“At an event like this, typically at least half (of the participants) are out-of-towners… this absolutely makes Orange a (running) destination.

“We’ve been on Facebook for two months and we have 800 followers – a third are local… a third are from Greater Sydney, and the rest are from across NSW.

“We can tell from the comments, many of them are planning on coming in a group.”

Ms Klose expects between 500–1000 participants to attend what she hopes will become a new annual event.

Lonely Mountain Ultra will have divisions for every skill level including ultra-marathons of 100km, 50-mile, and 50km, as well as 30km, 22km, 11km, and children’s runs.

“We have some shorter distances like the 11km and 22km because, with new events, some runners might not want to try the longer distances and, once they try the shorter ones, they will… step up to the longer races in future years,” Ms Klose said.

The running trail will lead through the heart of the Canobolas State Forest passing fire trails, woodlands, and open pasture, with the track then ascending to the mountain summit at nearly 1400 metres above sea level.

Races are filling up fast with more than a quarter of available places in the 11-kilometre event already booked.

“We’ve estimated… the economic benefits for the region could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in local economies across accommodation, hospitality, and other activities,” Sue said.

Lonely Mountain Ultra will also partner with a range of local tourism providers and businesses to provide a well-rounded experience for participants.

Seven local businesses have already signed on as sponsors for the event.

Participants can register at: www.lonelymountainultra.com.au with “early bird” registration finishing on Tuesday, June 30.

More information is also available on the event website and Facebook and Instagram pages.