Why The Takayna Trail Run Should Be On Your Bucket List

Released on YouTube last year, takayna asks the question as to whether trail running can really make a difference in big environmental matters, using a threatened backdrop that should be close to home for many Aussies as its focal point. The area is takayna/Tarkine in northwestern Tasmania: home to one of the last tracts of old-growth rainforest in the world and Australia's largest temperate rainforest, and an area that's under constant threat from the pressures of mining. Patagonia's movie puts into focus the efforts of rural doctor Nicole Anderson, who runs through the forest every day and has become a campaigner for an under-threat natural gem we should all be working to save.

But if that's not inspiration enough, the beauty of takayna is that it's somewhere that you too can visit, run, and help to make a difference. Anderson runs to aid the Bob Brown Foundation, set up by one of the first campaigners who worked to protect the rainforest when mining companies turned their attention to beginning projects there. The foundation has been maintaining a frontline blockade in takayna/Tarkine’s ancient forests since late 2020. 

Each year, the foundation also organises one of Australia's greatest trail running events, offering runners the choice of either a 25km trail run or a 70km ultramarathon that traverses eucalypt forests, unique grassland plains with spectacular mountain views, and of course a stretch of the rainforest itself. Few places offer a better chance to run in near-untouched natural environments while educating yourself about a worthy cause.

Either way, whether you want to head down for a week walking among the trees, to push yourself in an ultramarathon or join the blockade yourself, takayna should be on your to-do list. To help you prep, our friends from The 440 Run Club have shared some very helpful tips for marathon training and we’ve rounded up our top Patagonia picks for enjoying the great outdoors.