Great People, Great Places, Great Races

Episode 2: Ride the Wilderness, Racing New Zealand's West Coast

This episode, The Starting Gun has moved 2,843 kilometers (1,767 miles) from the finish point of our previous episode in Broken Hill, NSW, all the way to Ross, New Zealand, for Ride the Wilderness, one of New Zealand's most scenic mountain bike races. Run along the West Coast Wilderness Trail, the event strings together old goldmining water races, packhorse tracks, and flowing singletrack through rainforest, wetlands, and past historic bridges on its way to Greymouth.

We break down the four distances on offer, from the short 21km dash out of Kumara to the full 126km epic starting in Ross, and talk about what makes this Grade 2 trail approachable for first timers while still delivering a proper challenge for the elite field. Expect chat on race day logistics, the best sections of trail to watch for, why the West Coast's unpredictable weather is always part of the story, and tips for anyone thinking about lining up themselves.

Whether you're racing it, riding it as a weekend adventure, or just love hearing about the world's great cycling events, this one's for you.

⁠www.ridethewilderness.co.nz⁠

⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@run_nz_run⁠

⁠https://www.facebook.com/CJMSEvents/ ⁠

⁠https://www.instagram.com/ridethewilderness/⁠

Starting Gun Podcast Ep. 1: Mad Max Marathon Founder Story with Brian Haddy (OAM - Order of Australia Medal)

Host James Maile launches the first episode of the Starting Gun podcast, which profiles scenic endurance events worldwide by interviewing event founders rather than participants, starting in Australia.

He introduces guest Brian Haddy, OAM, founder of the BrokenHill Mad Max Marathon Festival and organiser of other boutique marathon festivals in Mildura, Horsham and Dimboola.

Brian shares his running and race-directing background, including banditing the 1980Boston Marathon and the Rosie Ruiz cheating controversy, then explains how Mad Max began through local parkrun and council support and has grown from about 80 runners to roughly 500 with international visitors. He highlights Broken Hill attractions and details the July event’s 9am start, distances (marathon, half, 10K, 5K, 2K kids dash),red-dirt course, racecourse sand finish.

00:00 Podcast Launch

02:53 Meet Brian Haddy

03:31 Brian’s Running Roots

04:06 Building Race Events

05:37 Fab Four Marathons

06:49 Boston Bandit Tale

11:26 Mad Max Origins

14:51 Broken Hill Highlights

17:36 Race Distances Course

22:46 Getting Lost Story

23:33 Course Chaos Stories

24:52 Rapid Fire Questions

26:03 Finish Line Highlights

28:49 Volunteers and Mishaps

29:48 Top Trumps Ratings

37:19 Finish Line Advice

For more info visit: madmaxmarathon.com.au and https://www.facebook.com/share/19RcKSpJmf/