Wherein lies the appeal of trail running?
We love to be immersed in Nature: to be in Nature is to be soothed, refreshed, rejuvenated, motivated and inspired. And we love to run, for running is our most ‘natural’ of all sports, indeed of all pastimes, calling into motion the urge of our body, mind and soul to move, to move forward, to move forward with purpose, with a goal, a higher and further goal.
And here comes the allure of the trail itself. For running alone is somehow insufficient. We always feel we have a further destination, a higher purpose, some elusive mission we are supposed to fulfil in this life. Consciously or unconsciously we feel our life itself as a quest. A pathway, a map, a road, a track or a trail is a promise, a promise which appeals to something deep inside us all, a promise of a way to somewhere better. And so our first urge is to follow each trail, to heed its call, pursue its contours and embrace its challenges.
If that trail leads us into Nature, so much the better. If we can run that trail, that is the very best, like being dealt all the aces.
And so we love trail running, and will continue to love trail running.
When will our trail running be done?
When each trail is finally run…
Being the first time the Sri Chinmoy “Aranda Meander” has been staged, the winners of each age group in each distance of this inaugural event are now officially course record holders – at least until next year! Congratulations to all our new record holders:
20km
Female Under 50: Brittany Harriden, 1:33:41
Female 50-59: Narelle Smyth, 1:48:31
Female 60-69: Pam Muston, 2:08:17
Female 70 and Over: Clare Wall, 2:36:26
Male Under 50: Andrew Gatenby, 1:17:36
Male 50-59: David Sitsky, 1:34:10
Male 60-69: Darren Blackhurst, 1:49:53
Male 70 and Over: Trevor Jacobs, 2:41:45
10km
Female Under 50: Prue Davies, 46:40
Female 50-59: Natalie Wood, 55:53
Female 60-69: Nik Christen, 1:03:41
Female 70 and Over: Judy Murray, 1:30:48
Male Under 50: Levi Davies, 40:48
Male 50-59: Aston Duncan, 46:09
Male 60-69: Richard Honey, 55:05
Male 70 and Over: Tony Beasley, 1:14:00
3.6km
Girls Under 13: Aya Rattray, 20:58
Girls Under 17: Olivia Maher, 18:34
Female 17 and Over: Emily Frain, 20:37
Boys Under 13: Jordan Halliday, 19:21
Boys Under 17: Ashton Murray, 16:43
Male 17 and Over: Anthony Moore, 20:00
As the “Aranda Meander” was the Finale of the Sri Chinmoy Canberra Trail Series for 2026, trophies were presented to the top 3 place getters in each age category for the Series Pointscore. The Series witnessed some phenomenal performances over the 5 events, with the following runners scoring a perfect 50 points for winning all 5 races:
* Brittany Harriden (Female Under 50)
* Narelle Smyth (Female 50-59)
* David Sitsky (Male 50-59)
* Richard Honey (Male 60-69)
Pam Muston was ever-so-close to a perfect score, with 49 points in the Female 60-69 category.
There is perfection, and then there is perfect Perfection: to attain to this even higher level, both Narelle Smyth (Female 50-59) and Brittany Harriden (Female Under 50) not only won all 5 races, they each set a new age group course record every time they raced in 2026 – truly stratospheric achievements. David Sitsky (Male 50-59) was not far behind, collecting 4 course records out of 5 race starts.
