THE thirteenth running of the Washpool World Heritage Trails was held on Sunday 26 March by Coffs Trail Runners.

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

A total of 150 runners took part in a fantastic celebration of community centred trail running.

Race Director Keelan Birch spoke about the success of the event

“The weather was fantastic for running and people as far as Brisbane, Sydney and west to Narrabri enjoyed the run.

“We slightly modified the 25km course to be a loop which was well received.

“Coffs Harbour featured strongly across all distances with over 50 runners travelling from Coffs Harbour for the event.
“It is great to see the Coffs Trail Runners community grow from strength to strength.”

Some of the top performing runners from Coffs Harbour include Tait Hearps (1st male 50km and new course record), Will Davies (3rd male 50km), Annabelle Swainston (3rd female 25km) and Keelan Birch (1st male 9km).

The event organiser extended a special thankyou to the National Parks and Wildlife Service. They continue to be a great supporter of this event and Coffs Trail Runners.

Big thanks to volunteers John Mawhinney, Peter Birch, Sam Birch, Coffs Hikers Yvonne and Alan and Graham Glover.

The Coffs Trail Runners next event is the Rumble in the Jungle on Sunday 6 August 2023 at Ulong

More information on Coffs Trail Runners can be found at https://coffstrailrunners.com/.