Mindy Durdin talks about Springsure's Mountain Challenge trail run

Mindy responds that when you're training to run 100 miles - yes, miles - in the Blue Mountains in June - you may as well put some of your training to good use.

The 49-year-old wasn't one of the competitors in the Springsure Mountain Challenge last Sunday but that's because she was busy helping make it happen.

Rather than sitting up enjoying breakfast in bed, around 200 people between the ages of nine and 82, plenty of mothers among them, were panting their way around the internal road and firebreak system of the Minerva Hills National Park beside the central Queensland township.

They had the option of 17km or 27km trail runs, competing either as individuals or teams of three, all in the name of promoting good health and wellbeing among rural communities.

Mindy became an organiser of the event in 2016, saying she and fellow athlete Alex Whitehead were both just keen runners who wanted to get the town involved in something that would make them feel good.

"We've got this amazing national park in the middle of flat farmland - it's perfect for trail running," she said.

Running of all descriptions has taken off in a big way since COVID - there are a plethora of events around Australia to choose from most winter weekends, each offering a different experience utilising the renowned natural landscapes of rural and coastal Australia.

That was the case at Springsure last Sunday, with entrants from as far away as Brisbane, Mackay, Capricorn Coast, Roma, Biloela and all places in between.

If they tackled the 27km course they got to run out to what Mindy said were Minerva Hill NP's two best lookouts - Eclipse Gap and Skyline Lookout.

"The course has a 500m elevation - it's a fantastic, challenging track," she said.

"It's steep at the start and then rolling hills.

"Half the people today walked the course - they had the satisfaction of having a go."

And that's what she wants to achieve.

Each year, as well as raising money for either the Royal Flying Doctor Service or Capricorn Helicopter Rescue, funds from the run go toward causes that directly benefit the Springsure community.

This year Livin, a mental health support group from Sydney was chosen to send a facilitator up to talk to schoolchildren at Emerald and Springsure, motivated by the recent sad loss of the son of a friend of Mindy's.

"It's too common, but Livin tries to give you tools to help," Mindy said. "It's about prioritising self-care, looking after your mates, and staying active."

Mindy discovered years ago while running 12 to 15km regularly to keep fit that it made her feel good and helped her keep up her work rate on the property.

"I got keen to do bigger stuff, set myself goals," she said.

Those have so far included the 100km course at the Simpson Desert Ultra at Birdsville last year, the Blackall 100 on the Sunshine Coast hinterland, and at the beginning of April, another 100km at the Buffalo Stampede in Victoria, complete with a 5000m elevation.

For all those running aficionados out there, she did it in a time of 18 hours, 21 minutes, 28 seconds.

Mindy said she'd loved the encouragement competitors offered each other.

"A lot of running is about mental strength," she said. "I've 100 per cent grown and it's helped me in so many areas."

Blackwater's Sharnti Woodham, who first ran in and won the event as a 10-year-old when it was a 15km run, was named the Queen of the Mountain last Sunday, crushing the 27km in a time of 2.37.21.

She said afterwards that she mostly did track events such as 800m, and the longer distance was "really hard".

However it wasn't as arduous as the 27km event on Great Keppel Island undertaken last year, which took her three hours.

Expect to see a lot more of Sharnti - she says running is what she's good at and what she likes.

Teams

17km men

17km women

27km men

27km women

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