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As we tick down towards the end of 2025, it’s natural to start thinking about all the big decisions we’ll face in the new year - like what races we’re going to line up for.

While there are some who will take a que sera sera attitude to this, my experience in 2025 suggests taking a more strategic approach would be wiser. And it’s as easy as ABC.

But first, more about how I’ve come to learn it’s good to have a plan. This year the New York Marathon was my number one priority. I knew it was taking place on the first weekend in November and, allowing for four months of training, that would put me in marathon mode from the start of July.

No problem, I thought, I can fit whatever races take my fancy around that which would allow me plenty of time on the trails, my first love. Then Sydney was confirmed as a World Marathon Major and they opened the ballot for the race. After a few beers one night I thought, ‘What the hell, may as well apply. I probably won’t get in.’

And of course I did get in and it was a no turning back kind of ballot that automatically takes the entry fee from your credit card once your number comes up. So all of a sudden I was committed to a second marathon, this one at the end of August.

So now I’m on the roads from May, and I need to peak for a marathon in late August, recover and then peak again in early November. Not ideal, but clearly doable. But really problematic in terms of fitting long trail races around the marathons. Especially since I ran my first 100k race in 2024 and I was keen to run my second this year.

So there’s my first piece of advice - don’t commit to any race, however tenuously, after a few beers late one night.

Race plan

There is a better way, and it’s all about targeting an “A” race for the year, and then identifying “B” and “C” races that are timed to support it. I had the first part of this right this year - the New York Marathon was my A race - but from there things went awry.

Once you have determined your A race, you need to look for B races in the lead-up that will form part of your training for the big event. This is good practice because let’s face it, a race is more fun than a long training run.

But more importantly it gives you a chance to rehearse a number of important aspects of race day - nutrition, hydration and even the outfit you’ve chosen to wear. In an ideal world, you’d be looking for two B races, one about 10 weeks out from the main event and the other six weeks out.

Both should be less demanding than the A race, but difficult enough to be challenging. Unlike your A race, there won’t be much of a taper going into these races, nor a rest afterwards. They are training runs, but at race-day intensity.

These B races give you a chance to fine-tune your approach to the A race. So for example, you might carry the A race mandatory gear at both B races in order to tweak how and where you might store and carry it.

You should treat your hydration and nutrition plans for the B races as dry runs for the A race, giving you two opportunities to figure out what works for you, and what doesn’t.

That leaves C races. These can be sprinkled into your calendar to keep things interesting. It may be there is a shorter race that’s on the same or similar terrain to your A race that you could enter. Or you may just want to enter a few shorter races to run with friends.

These races will typically be less demanding, in terms of distance, elevation or both, than your B races so they can be easily incorporated into your training plan.

And, of course, if your A race is early enough in the year, you may be able to target a second A race late in the year.

So what does this mean for me?

For 2026 I’ve identified Dead Cow Gully, due to be run on 30 May, as my A race. There is a bit of an unknown here in that it’s a backyard ultra format (you can read more about that here), which means it’s not run over a specific distance.

I’ve never run a backyard before, and to be honest, I’ve got no idea how far I’m going to manage. And the prep for it is different, because it’s a case of repeating a 6.7k loop over and over and over again.

There are three other backyard ultras (that I know of) in Queensland prior to Dead Cow that could serve as B races - Glasshouse Standing on new year’s eve, the inaugural Gold Coast Backyard Ultra in mid-March and Gil’s Galavant in mid-April.

Given both the nature of Dead Cow and the fact it’s in the first half of the year, I think there’s room for a second A race towards the end of the year and I’d love for that to be another 100k race.

There are plenty of options. Scenic Rim Ultra in South-East Queensland in August, Surf Coast Century in Anglesea in September, the Blackall 100 in South-East Queensland in October and Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko all stand out as potentials.

That leaves room for a B race between Dead Cow and my second A race of the year. Then I just need to add a sprinkling of C races and my calendar will be full, but beautifully proportioned.

And no road marathons in 2026 because I’ve really missed the trails this year, and life’s too short. (I will be running the Sunshine Coast half marathon with my daughter and the rest of my Fat Cannon Run Club mates though - it’s her first crack at a race longer than 5k. So that’s a special case.)

So at this stage, barring any other health dramas (and I think I’ve had my fair share this year so fingers crossed I’ll be in the clear), that’s the rough plan for 2026. A much more methodical approach than the beer-fuelled sign-up strategy of 2025.

Upcoming Events

There are way too many events for me to list everything that’s happening around the country, but here is a selection of upcoming races (with a bias towards South East Queensland).

The Running Calendar website is a great source if you want a comprehensive understanding of what’s available around Australia.