Surf Coast Century event rescheduled due to lockdown

TORQUAY-BASED events company Rapid Ascent has once again been forced to reschedule the Surf Coast Century which was to be held on September 11 in Anglesea.

The new date will be Saturday, October 23 this year.

This is the second year in a row the event has been rescheduled due to COVID-19 and the subsequent restrictions set in place by the Victorian Government.

Event directors Sam Maffett and John Jacoby were left with no choice but to consequently change plans accordingly and are feeling every bit of the disappointment.

“We really hoped the event could go ahead in September because that is what the runners have trained towards and put their heart and soul into – as have we – and whilst we are all feeling considerable frustration, we’re confident about the new race date in October,” Maffett said.

The continuing lockdown in Victoria and around the country has meant that the fall-back date has now come in to play with all competitors automatically transferred to October, or are eligible for a refund if they cannot make it.

It has been a challenging 18 months in the events industry, with event companies such as Rapid Ascent putting in considerable work towards an event date only to have to change plans at the last minute.

Rapid Ascent has had to change plans for four events over the last three weeks, undoing weeks and weeks of work and costing many thousands of dollars in refunds and lost productivity.

To help competitors navigate the date change Rapid Ascent prepared an exclusive care package for participants to provide guidance on how to reset their mindset for the race, what to do with their training and how they can train effectively in lockdown.

“As ultra runners ourselves, we understand the major disruption changing a race date causes, so as some level of compensation for postponement we wanted to help runners keep a positive mindset, and adjust their training as we navigate this goal-post change,” Maffett said.

The event is due to celebrate 10 years with competitors able to participate either as a solo runner in the 50km or 100km courses, or in a relay team of between two and four runners over the 100km course covering approximately 25km each.

The course takes competitors from Anglesea to Torquay along the beach and then along the clifftop tracks and hinterland trails to Moggs Creek and Aireys Inlet, before returning back in Anglesea on the Surf Coast Walk, via Point Roadknight.

“Even though we have pushed the race back by five weeks, we can’t wait to see competitors dreams and training be rewarded at the 10th edition of the event; it will surely make this one of the most memorable races to-date,” Maffett said.

In 2019, the event attracted 1,400 runners and almost 3,000 spectators from all over Australia and contributed $4 million dollars to the Surf Coast economy with even greater numbers originally forecast for 2021.

The much-adored ultra-run has built a reputation as one of Australia’s ‘bucket-list’ trail running events due to it being one of the more unique 100km ultra courses in the world.

Find more event information at SurfCoastCentury.com.au.