The Buffalo Stampede has become one of the events to do on the Australian running calendar and this year serves as the Australasian skyrunning championships. The preview is probably not as comprehensive as we’d like owing to some severe time shortages on our side from both editor (Dan) and writer (David), but we wanted to make sure we got something out. Apologies if anyone has been missed at all, but hopefully you’ll understand that we try to do out best with the time we have.

The Buffalo Stampede includes several distances including a 20k, 42k and 75k (and the grand slam for those who cannot decide), however for the purposes of this preview the main focus will be on the 75k event. The 75k event starts and finishes in the town of Bright in Victoria and takes in a whopping 4600 meters of elevation gain.

We will kick the preview off with the females and it looks to be a battle between Jessica Collins, Christine Hopkins and Amy Lamprecht. Jessia was third at Cradle Mountain Run and fourth at in the Buffalo Stampede 75k last year, so far this year she has been 9th at Cradle Mountain Run. Christine is the returning female winner from last year, and her results over the past several years include 4th at Two Bays 56k and 3rd at Surf Coast Century 100k in 2016, plus 5th at Surf Coast Century 100k last year.

Although Amy Lamprecht is entered in the grand slam event, it is possible she will also run a strong race in the 75k event as well, her results over the last few years include second at the Buffalo Stampede 75k and fourth at Ultra Trail Australia 100k in 2016, plus most recently a second in the Cradle Mountain Run. It’s likely that Lucy Bartholomew will be running the ultra too in preparation for Western States.

The men’s’ race is headlined by Martin Kern, Joel Fitzgerald and Ross Hopkins along with several other male contenders. Martin had an absolutely cracking 2017 that included wins at both the Hounslow Classic and Great Southern Endurance Run demonstrating a knack for technical mountainous courses, so far this year he has been seventh at the Tarawera 100k and third at the Old Ghost Ultra.

Joel was fifth in the Buffalo Stampede 75k in 2016, and his results over the past several years include sixth at Surf Coast Century in 2014, 17th at Ultra Trail Mount Fuji in 2015 and fourth at Bogong to Hotham in 2017.

Ross has been incredibly consistent at this race and in his last three attempts he has been sixth, sixth and eighth respectively, and he will be looking to capitalise on that experience to go for a podium position this year. His other recent results include consecutive podium finishes at the Surf Coast Century 100k over the last three years including a win in 2017, plus a third at the Great Ocean Walk 100k in 2015.

Other male contenders:

• Ryan Lowe – 2nd Great North Walk 100k 2017, 1st Oscars Hut2Hut 100k 2018
• Blake Turner – 6th Racing the Planet – Patagonia 2017, 1st Ultra Easy 100k 2018
• Thierry Lamarque – 3rd Bogong to Hotham 2018, 6th Ultra Easy 100k 2018

42k Contenders

As a quick heads up on some of the marathon contenders:

Female:

• Katherine Macmillan – 3rd Bogong to Hotham 2018, 4th Oscars Hut2Hut 100k 2018
• Stephanie Auston – 1st Surf Coast 50k 2017, 1st Six Foot Track Marathon 2018
• Sarah Jayne Miller

Male:

• Clarke McClymont – 7th Buffalo Stampede 75k 2015, 2nd Buffalo Stampede 75k 2017
• Dominic Perry – 1st Great North Walk 100k 2016, 8th Six Foot Track Marathon 2018

Best of luck to everyone running.

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David Longo

David is a Canberra-based ultra runner who has also lived in Hong Kong. He races regularly both on the HK and Australian ultra scene.