Seeing South Australia one run at a time
Seeing South Australia on foot takes you to interesting places, writes Cameron England
I’ve been running around the state for years now. Not metaphorically. No, I’ve been ruining perfectly good weekends away with half marathons, trail runs and one day, in the not too distant future, an ultra-marathon. Maybe.
It’s not a weekend away which will suit everyone, but for a family-friendly, healthy getaway, with the added attraction of rewarding yourself with an amazing meal you’ve truly earned after the fact, you can’t beat it in my book.
Most recently, I found myself tucking into a Vine Pruner’s Lunch – rum-glazed ham, local cheddar, pickles, chutney, crusty bread and salad, at the Skillogalee restaurant in the Clare Valley, having just finished the Clare Valley Half Marathon.
The Clare run is among the more beautiful half marathon courses in South Australia, following The Riesling Trail which wends from winery to winery in the Clare Valley.
The track is a reasonably narrow riding path, which runs between vineyards and through an ethereal section where the tree canopies meet overhead and it feels like something out of Lord of the Rings. You’ll almost forget you paid good money to put yourself through 90 minutes to two hours of discomfort along with hundreds of other poor, deluded souls. But they give you a medal at the end, and your lunch never tasted so good, believe me.
At the other end of the running season, the McLaren Vale Half Marathon, in October this year, has a similar attraction. Leaving from Hardy’s Tintara Winery on Main Rd, you run a course through the vines, before finishing back at the winery.
Most running events held around SA have an option for children of most ages, with some of them, such as Clare, providing medals for all participants, which helps everyone feel involved.
We stayed at the Discovery Parks caravan park in Clare, which catered well for the kids, with a modular pump track for scooter and bike riders, and the now-ubiquitous jumping pillow. The park was filled to the brim with compression-clad people who went to bed conspicuously early on the Saturday night.
Both of these events are run by the SA Road Runners Club, who also put on the Adelaide Marathon Festival at Adelaide Oval, the Barossa Marathon and the Yurrebilla Ultramarathon for the intrepid.
Further afield there are some runs in SA which range from the iconic, to the quirky.
The Kangaroo Island Marathon, which will be run for the last time this September, has gained a following as a destination run for those wanting something a bit different to your usual capital city outing. Runners must contend with potentially inclement weather and winds off the Southern Ocean as they run the route through the remote southwest corner of Flinders Chase National Park. The run takes in landmarks such as Cape du Couedic Lighthouse and Admirals Arch, and a zigzag boardwalk to Remarkable Rocks, and accepts a limited number of runners.
At the quirky end, the Pichi Richi Marathon, run by the Rotary Club of Port Augusta, runs pretty much up-hill to Quorn. The Great Kanku-Breakaways Marathon, fun run and ride is Coober Pedy’s contribution to the running calendar.
“The marathon, starting at the Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park main lookout, travels from the escarpment, through the spectacular coloured hills of the breakaway country, onto the moon plain and alongside the dingo fence,” the website says.
Not your average course description there. The event is also one of the few races in Australia where you can take your dog along for the run. If you’re after a shorter run or walk, or maybe you like your runs to be actual fun, parkrun – the global 5k running phenomenon – now has runs across the state, from Emu Bay on KI to Mt Gambier and Port Lincoln. It’s free and has a great community feel.
And that’s what I really love about these events. Everyone is there to participate as a community in a healthy, fun activity and, apart from those aiming for a top 10 finish, we’re all just competing against ourselves. And there are medals!
LOCATION There are running events all over the state, from Coober Pedy to Mt Gambier. There are also free parkruns held every Saturday at too many locations to list.
DETAILS Check out the SA Road Runners Club, Trail Running SA, and parkrun websites
PRICE From free up to about the mid-$100 range for marathons and ultras.
RATING 5/5 for achievement, 1/5 for comfort.
