Local runners competed in races over distances between 11km and 100km at the Ultra Trail Australia event in Katoomba alongside over 6000 other competitors. The group trained themselves over many months in preparation for the tough event with competitors finishing by climbing the formidable Furber Stairs - a 951 step climb to end each event.

Merimbula's Andy Gibbs tackled the 100km ultra, heading off in the first wave of runners at 6.20am on the Saturday. Support crew were able to follow his progress online and meet up at various check points to offer support throughout the day. Gibbs was able to reap the rewards of a consistent preparation by finishing with a time of 12rs 40mins and 15secs cracking the top 20 in his age group.

Saturday also saw the largest group of local runners take on the 50km race, an event which contains over 8500 stairs over a hilly course. Most runners were taking this on for their very first time with all achieving their goals on a perfect autumn day in the mountains.

Other runners hit the 22km course on Friday where Merimbula's Steph Auston led the pack to take line honours and a new women's record in one hour, 49 minutes and 12 seconds.

She backed up in Sunday's Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon on the road in the city, finishing 4th female in a time of one hour, 17mins and 6 seconds. Auston will now finalise her preparations before travelling to Portugal to represent Australia in the World Trail Championships on June 8 over a 44km course.