Surf Coast Century

Surf Coast Century Full Steam Ahead This Weekend

Press Release / 30.11.2020

The Surf Coast Century 100km and 50km ultra trail marathon is ON this weekend, 5-6 December, as runners get their first taste of racing post-COVID.

The 9th edition of the Surf Coast Century presented by MINI will start and finish in Anglesea Victoria, with restricted field limits just shy of capacity. Runners will tackle the challenging and scenic 100km or 50km courses either as a solo runner or in a relay team of between two and four runners.

The event has become one of the only ultra-marathon event opportunities in Australia for 2020, which is now accessible to more than just Victorians.

After receiving guidance and reassurance from State Government last week for the events’ COVID-Event Plan, local-event organisers Rapid Ascent were able to march forward with a positive event format.

Rapid Ascent Event Directors Sam Maffett and John Jacoby are more than thrilled with the reassuring news.

“We are stoked to see our event go ahead; to see competitors dreams, training and sacrifices be rewarded will make this one of the most memorable races to-date.” Maffett said.

“In many ways the year 2020 has been a bit like an ultra marathon - we’ve had to overcome challenge after challenge without giving up. Things haven’t always gone our way but we’ve kept our eye on the goal and never given up hope that we can still make it to the end, one step at a time,” added Maffett.

Whilst the event may be conducted in a slightly different format to previous years in order to fulfill COVID-Safe restrictions, keeping runners and the broader community safe remains a high priority.

The water-tight event format was communicated directly to competitors and supporters, with finalised changes now including the State Governments approval.

Some of these positive changes allow for a bigger event atmosphere than originally planned. These include;

• 100km and 50km solo runners can now have 1 support person attend.
• Wave starts of 50 runners every 2 minutes.
• Runners can now celebrate at the Finish Line with some supporters, ensuring they adhere to the general COVID-Safe guidelines.
• A limited field across all races remains (400 solo runners and 120 relay teams).

Full details of the Surf Coast Century COVID-Event plan are available on the event website HERE.

Rapid Ascent’s approach has always been to pursue every opportunity their events to be conducted and for the competitors to be able to achieve their goals in what has been a roller coaster year.

Confirmation of the event’s go-ahead came just over four-weeks prior to race day, after it was originally postponed from the 19th September. Many months of planning and replanning the delivery of the event followed suit.

“We stayed positive that the Century would go ahead this year, and we believe our determination and willingness to adapt to the ever changing COVID situation has put us in a position where we can deliver the event at short notice,” said Jacoby.

“The best part of an ultra marathon is the finish (let’s be honest!), but the tougher the journey, the bigger the reward when you make it to the end,” added Jacoby.

The much-adored ultra-run has built a reputation as one of Australia's ‘bucket-list’ trail running events due to it being one of the more unique 100km ultra courses in the world.

The course takes competitors from Anglesea to Torquay along the beach and then along the cliff top tracks and hinterland trails to Moggs Creek and Aireys Inlet, before returning back in Anglesea on the Surf Coast Walk. 

Limited relay team entries remain. More event information at www.SurfCoastCentury.com.au