If you’re invited for dinner at Brett Standring’s house in the next month or so you can be sure of one thing - there’ll be boiled potato on the menu.

Standring, the Events and Marketing Director at Run Queensland, made the decision to postpone the Yandina Five ‘0’ event just a few days before it was due to take place on the Sunshine Coast. Days of torrential rain had rendered the creeks on the course impassable.

Such a decision has a plethora of knock-on effects for race organisers - one such being Standring’s found himself with more than 20 kilograms of carb-rich boiled potato that was originally being prepped as checkpoint fodder for runners.

The decision to postpone a race like Yandina Five ‘0’ is never taken lightly. Standring and Run Queensland have been in the trail running game for more than a decade, and this is the first race he can remember postponing.

And while it’s a pain for the 800 runners due to take part, many of whom were planning to travel to the race or who have organised entire training blocks around it, for event organisers it’s a whole different level of frustration.

Especially when the decision is made so late. South East Queensland has copped weeks of flooding rain over the summer. Days of heavy rain in the lead-up to the race topped up already swollen waterways, meaning in the end Standring and his team had no choice.

“We were hanging in there as long as we could … we called it late Thursday once we realised those creeks weren't coming down,” he said.

The race has been postponed until 14 June. “The thing for us is that you basically set up a full race and you’ve got to pack it down, but no-one's done it. So you're literally going to do two races but only one lot of people are going to get to run it,” he said.

The course was marked, the marquees at the start/finish line at Terella Brewing were all set up. All that remained to be done was the course signage.

“Apart from people putting their feet over the course, we were ready to go,” Standring said. ”The wife had already boiled 20 something kilos of bloody potatoes. I've got a freezer full of potatoes.”

No busses = no event

There’s a lot more to running an event than picking out a challenging course and throwing up a few course markings. The logistical lift involved in deploying 800 runners and 40 volunteers at an event is significant. For that reason, Standring said there were a number of factors he and the team considered before pulling the pin.

Safety was the number one concern. “The course experience for the runner - that came into play,” Standring said.

But there were other logistical challenges. Portaloos had to be delivered. The field allocated for car parking was flooded - so there were real doubts about whether cars that got in would be able to get out again.

The car park is 2km from the event. Given the conditions, how feasible would it have been for the coach to run all day ferrying people back and forth? “If we can’t have the buses, we can’t have the event,” Standring said.

As the weather deteriorated, on Thursday afternoon the team decided to postpone. And the rain didn’t let up. “Friday confirmed Thursday’s decision and then Saturday just cemented it,” he said. In fact the rain had been so heavy in the area on Friday that Standring ended up flood-bound at home.

He said it wasn’t a decision that was taken lightly. “We knew people were flying from interstate and from Far North Queensland.” But he has no regrets.

”The minute I made that decision, I had a sense of relief to be honest because I was up at 2:30 on Thursday morning looking at alternative tracks. One of the other guys in our team that does the logistics … he was the same. He's up at 3 o'clock in the morning. We're all looking at how we can make this happen.”

The team did identify one alternative route, but as the creeks rose it also became impossible. Even so, Standring was dubious about how desirable a cut-down event might be. “Say everyone came and we had 800 people… We had a 10k loop that we were going to look at. So okay, 800 people on course. You’ve only got to do the maths on that, it’s one person every 10 metres basically,” he said.

”I just want the runners to know that we're disappointed that we didn't get to do the run with them. You know - we enjoy it. That's why we do it,” he said. “We didn’t want to put on something that was sub-standard… we just didn't want to put a crappy event on for the sake of having an event - that's not what we do.”

He said the majority of runners and other stakeholders have been very understanding of the decision.

“Everyone's pretty good… You always get [some] people that might be upset. I just sat back and thought I kinda know where they're coming from. I get it. I've had that happen to me in a race in Japan. So yeah, it’s just one of those things. You try to manage it as best you can to get the best outcome,” he said.

Financial hit

In this case, the best outcome is a postponement until 14 June. This will please some as it shifts the race into the cooler winter months in SEQ.

This meant reaching out to key stakeholders - the landholders, the brewery, Queensland Parks and Forests and suppliers like the bus company, the rent a portaloo team and so on to find a viable date.

Standring said this had proved straightforward because he’s forged good relationships with contractors over a long period of time.

With the trail running calendar becoming increasingly crowded, Standring was also keen not to choose a date that clashes with an already scheduled event.

Standring said the team had been processing refunds for those who’ve chosen that option. Although there is a $40 fee that’s not refundable, Run Queensland will still take a financial hit because of the postponement. Registrations are available for the rescheduled event on 14 June.

There are also financial implications for Terella Brewing. The independent brewery had hired in extra chairs and tables for what has become one of the biggest weekends of the year for it, and will have to do it all again in June.

But despite the cost, at the end of the day, Standring said it came down to doing what felt right.

“There's a kind of relief in actually doing something that has integrity,” he said. “We could've put something on and done something dodge and just kept everyone's money or we could do something in another two-and-a half months that's going to be awesome.”

And there’s every chance it will be awesome. I ran the event in 2023 in conditions that were very hot - quite the contrast to this year and 2024, which was a mudfest. That meant it was perfect beer-drinking weather, so what better place to start and finish a trail running event than an independent brewery?

There was a carnival atmosphere, with food trucks and coffee vans on site. Terella’s beer is excellent and the Run Queensland team have come up with novel finishers’ mementos - steins, growlers and squealers. Ideal for sampling the brewery’s product as part of your rehydration strategy.

Oh, and the course was also great. I ran the 21km version and it felt like a bit of flat to start, then 10km straight up and 10km straight down again, with the same flat to finish. It was pretty brutal. Which is why I loved it.

So if you are at a loose end in mid-June and fancy a challenge, you could do a lot worse than Yandina Five ‘0’. And a beer afterwards to support the independent brewing industry!

There are 12km, 21km, 36km and 50km races on offer and all start and finish at Terella Brewing in North Arm, just outside Yandina on the Sunshine Coast.

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).

And a quick plug for the event at the top of the list - another race that’s been weather-affected. This is the rescheduled final round of the SEQ Trail Series, which was to be held at Daisy Hill in Brisbane but has moved to the Sunshine Coast hinterland. As I write, it’s on - and it would be a good one to support if you are in SEQ. But also as I write, I look out the window and all I see is rain, rain and more rain …

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

Road to UTA

The UTA 50 in Katoomba in mid-May is my main focus at the moment. It’s less than seven weeks away, which is making me a little nervous. I have been trying to increase my mileage, but it’s been hard going. I’m still struggling with some small, niggly injuries and the awful rainy, super-humid weather has not helped. Still, I’m ever the optimist. I’m sure it will be a great event!