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Posted: 2017-02-25 05:14:09

Posted February 25, 2017 16:14:09

A race through backyards, beaches and wilderness on Tasmania's north-west coast has lured more than 650 runners.

The inaugural Gone Nuts 101 Adventure Run offered entrants courses of 25, 50 and 101 kilometres between the Nut at Stanley and Table Cape at Wynyard.

Gene Graham from Margate was first across the finish line in the men's 25-kilometre race and said the scenery was spectacular.

"There was bush, there was coastline, paddocks, roads, driveways, you ran right past a few people's houses," he said.

"Quite a few people were calling out their windows and cheering, or standing in the driveways and you know cheering everyone on, which was great."

"You could feel the support of the region."

Women's 25-kilometre race winner Rebecca de Groot said it was unlike any course she had run before.

"Usually I'm either on the road or on marked trails, so this was just through people's farms and amazing scenery you don't get to see from the road, so we were really lucky," she said.

Chris Druett travelled from Wollongong to compete and expected future races to draw trail runners from around Australia.

"I can't believe there's not more actually," he said.

"Six hundred people's a lot of people but I thought when the people on the mainland hear about this [there will be more], it's such a wonderful course."

One of the race organisers, Kent Wyllie from Tasmanian Multi-sport Adventures, said the course highlighted the region's natural environment in a unique way.

"They're seeing brand new scenery, it's all private property, small property owners and they're getting views of Table Cape, they're getting views of the Rocky Cape National Park that you just don't get unless you're in a boat," he said.

He expected the event would help lure athletic tourists to the region.

"Adventure running is a fast growing sport, and they're destination tourists, they tend to come and stay and spend a bit of time in the region and that's what we want."

Waratah-Wynyard Mayor Robbie Walsh was impressed by what he saw.

He said accommodation in the Stanley area would have been "chockers".

"So it's going to be a major event for the area," he said.

Men's 50 kilometre race winner Damon Whish-Wilson was already planning to return.

"It's definitely one to put on the bucket list for anyone else."

Topics: human-interest, sport, community-and-society, stanley-7331

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