Hundreds of runners raced through the Sunshine Coast hinterland’s trails at the weekend for the seventh running of The Blackall 100.

They ran, walked, fell over, and were even sick but most of the 850 crossed the finish line to celebrate a massive achievement.

The Blackall 100 is believed to be the largest ultramarathon held in Australia this year, with COVID forcing the cancellation of most events.

The iconic event included distances of 50km and 100km, with self-sufficient runners testing their endurance on rugged and hilly terrain on the Blackall Range.

This year a 21km was introduced from Lake Baroon to Kondalilla Falls which proved more brutal than entrants had anticipated.

RQ director Brett Standring said the hot weather tested many entrants, making for another tough and memorable day out in the bush. 

“We had so many people thanking us for putting on a well-organised race and especially in this year of COVID, people were desperate for an event,” he said.

“We had runners smash it over the line to take out the trophies and others who took all day and night to reach the end.

“But every single entrant is a winner for having a go and getting past the physical and mental barriers to achieve the seemingly impossible.”

The men’s 100km was won by retired triathlete and iron man Casey Munro who started training just five weeks ago.

The female 100km winner was defending champion Jessica Schluter, a nurse from Brisbane.

Peachester man Brian Wilding smashed the men’s 50km in an amazing 4 hours 14 minutes at the age of 49.

And Sunshine Coast woman Reesha Lewis claimed first female in the 50km after transitioning to the sport from boxing.

But the crowd favourite was Dave Elms who lunged over the finish line 24 hours later for his seventh Blackall 100.