THE 15th running of the Washpool World Heritage Trails was held on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 March by Coffs Trail Runners.

The event featured a 9km, 25km and 50km course through the Washpool World Heritage Area west of Grafton.

A total of 230 runners took part.

“The new two day event format was really popular with lots of people cheering on other runners finishing, volunteering and camping at Mulligans Hut,” said Race Director Keelan Birch.

“Saturday brought warmer weather but there were plenty of creeks to cool off in.

“We had a much larger field than previous years and it was great to see the final finishers cheered on just as much as the front runners.

“Sunday was overcast and almost perfect conditions for running.

“The courses were a bit muddy but that didn’t stop course records being broken by Kayden Elliott from Glen Innes in the men’s 25km and Trent Irwin from Armidale in the men’s 9km.

“The community feel at the event was really strong and it is great to see the local trail running community continue to grow.

“Coffs Harbour runners featured strongly across all distances with over 50 runners travelling from Coffs Harbour for the event.”

Some of the top performing runners from Coffs Harbour include Benjamin Lambert (1st male 50km), Daniel Stein (2nd male 25km) Laura Burke (2nd female 25km), Leah Doman (3rd female 25km), Keelan Birch (2nd male 9km), Annabelle Swainston (3rd female 9km) and Harriet Brickhill (3rd female 9km).