Ikara-Flinders Ranges, South Australia
at Wilpena Pound, Ikara-Flinders Ranges. An outback journey through ancient landscapes of deep cultural significance, on the Heysen Trail, from a 50K through to the 100 Mile.
Starts at Trezona Campground and travels the Heysen Trail past Yanyanna, Bunyeroo Lookout and Wilcolo, finishing with the Tanderra Saddle loop into Wilpena Pound.
Race day 1 May 2027Point to point north to south from Parachilna Trailhead to Ikara via the Aroona, Trezona, Yanyanna and Wilcolo aid stations, finishing with the Tanderra Saddle loop.
Race day 1 May 2027Starts and finishes at Wilpena Pound Visitor Centre, heads north via Tanderra Saddle to the Aroona aid station area, then returns along the same corridor.
Race day 1 May 2027Day one runs Mt Little Station to Wilpena Pound via Red Range and Bridle Gap. Day two runs Trezona Campground to Wilpena Pound on the standard 50km course and the Tanderra Saddle loop.
Race day 30 April 2027Mt Little Station to Ikara, north to Aroona via Wilcolo, Yanyanna and Trezona, then the same corridor back to finish at Wilpena Pound.
Race day 30 April 2027Why Her Trails
Her Trails brings together event-specific programming, weekly coaching, female-focused education and a community preparing for the same race weekend.
A progressive program for the 50K, 50 Mile, 100K, NorthSouth 50+50 or 100 Mile, built around the Flinders Ranges terrain, climbing, likely conditions and the demands of your distance.
Bring your training, injury, pacing, fuelling, recovery and race day questions to a live group coaching call each week. Ask live or submit your question beforehand, with replays available afterwards.
Practical education woven throughout the program on menstrual cycles, perimenopause, menopause, pelvic health, fuelling, energy availability, recovery and injury risk.
Strength, mobility and recovery practices sit inside the training program. They are not treated as optional extras or referred to another product.
Prepare alongside women taking on the same event. Share the uncertain weeks, long run lessons, questions, progress and race week anticipation with people who understand the goal.
Practise pacing, fuelling, hydration, heat management, equipment, terrain, run walk strategy and race day logistics during the training block, before those decisions carry consequences.
A plan on its own is just numbers on a page. Her Trails turns those numbers into training you understand, support you can lean on, and a community that gets you to the start line ready.
How Do I Join
50K through to 100 Mile, priced by distance.
Best value if you are training year round.
Ikara is a Her Trails Pinnacle Event. Race weekend support in the Flinders Ranges sits on top of your program or membership.
Her Trails · Race Weekend Support
Training gets you to the start line ready. Race weekend at Wilpena Pound is where the training becomes a shared experience.
This is where the magic of a Her Trails pinnacle event shows up. It is Surf Coast Century crews swapping start line nerves the night before, Buffalo Stampede women already locking in next year because they loved this one so much, and UTA members trading tips and cheering each other on in the lead up to race week. You can arrive alone. You will not race alone.
Ikara Through the Her Trails Lens
What the course demands
Ikara is remote, rocky and exposed. The Heysen Trail through the Flinders Ranges mixes red dirt singletrack, dry creek beds, loose rock and long climbs, with big gaps between aid stations and weather that can swing from cold pre-dawn starts to hot afternoons.
Footing and self-sufficiency matter as much as fitness. The ground punishes rushed steps and the distance punishes early enthusiasm.
Late April in the ranges means carrying what you need, managing heat in the middle of the day and keeping your head when the next aid station is a long way off.
How this program prepares you
Aerobic strength built deliberately, and race specific long runs that mirror the demands of your distance, from the 50K to the full 100 Mile.
Technical footwork, power hiking, pack and mandatory gear practice, fuelling discipline and heat readiness built into your training, not left to race week.
A program that respects real life while it prepares a steady mind for a long day on your feet.
Ikara Training
Her Trails builds dedicated, race specific coaching for all five Ikara Ultra distances. Every program is 20 weeks and begins 14 December 2026.
20 Week Program
Begins 14 December 2026
A full outback 50km on red dirt, creek beds and rocky singletrack. Builds the climbing strength, footwork and heat readiness the Flinders asks for, with sessions that scale to your expected finish time.
$450 AUD
View Program20 Week Program
Begins 14 December 2026
Eighty kilometres of remote trail with sustained climbing and long exposed sections. Builds deep aerobic durability, self-sufficiency and the pacing discipline a long outback day rewards.
$475 AUD
View Program20 Week Program
Begins 14 December 2026
Officially around 110km. Builds the endurance, night readiness and decision making under fatigue that a long out and back through the ranges demands.
$450 AUD
View Program20 Week Program
Begins 14 December 2026
Back to back 50km days. Builds recovery between efforts, fuelling across a two day block and the durability to start day two on tired legs.
$499 AUD
View Program20 Week Program
Begins 14 December 2026
The full Ikara journey. Builds the night running, crew and kit logistics, fuelling systems and mental steadiness that 170km in the Flinders requires.
4×$189 AUD
View ProgramThinking Through Your Distance?
Practical coaching insight to help you understand the challenge before you choose.
From The Trail
Out here the ground sets the pace. Your job is to arrive at the back half with legs and judgement intact.
Ikara mixes long runnable stretches with rock, creek beds and exposure. The runnable sections invite you to spend energy you will need later. How you pace the first hours decides your day.
Choosing Your Distance
Choosing Your First Ultra
Not sure whether the 50K or the 50 Mile is the right first step up. A practical look at what separates the distances and how to choose with confidence.
Read the Trail Note →Choosing Your Distance
Stepping Up to the 100km
Considering the 100K, the NorthSouth or the 100 Mile. What the step up actually demands, and how to know if you are ready to build toward it.
Read the Trail Note →Race specific coaching for every Ikara distance, or full access as an All-In member.
Ikara Through the Her Trails Lens
Ikara rewards more than fitness. It rewards athletes who can look after themselves between aid stations, move well on rock and loose ground, fuel consistently and keep making useful decisions as the kilometres accumulate.
What the Courses Demand
The Ikara 50K, 50 Mile, 100K, NorthSouth 50+50 and 100 Mile all run the Heysen Trail through the Ikara-Flinders Ranges. Red dirt singletrack, creek beds, rocky climbs and long exposed sections, with aid stations spaced for a remote race.
The challenge changes with the distance. The 50K rewards controlled effort and sure footing. The 50 Mile and 100K add sustained pacing, fuelling and self-sufficiency. The NorthSouth asks you to back up on day two. The 100 Mile requires long-day management, strong feet, night readiness and sound decisions under fatigue.
Across all five distances, the goal is not simply to start well. It is to preserve enough capacity to keep moving well through the later kilometres.
How Her Trails Prepares You
Each distance has its own progressive program, building aerobic fitness, trail strength and race-specific endurance without asking you to reproduce the full race in training.
Pacing, fuelling, hydration, heat management, mandatory gear, pack practice and power-hiking strategy are practised within your training, so they are familiar before race day.
The programming goes beyond the sessions themselves, with in-depth guidance on pacing, fuelling, recovery, menstrual cycles, perimenopause and menopause, injury risk and adapting training around real life. Weekly live coaching calls give you a place to bring your own context, ask questions and work through when to maintain the plan, modify a session or step back.
Evidence-informed trail running guidance for women, written by the Her Trails coaching team.
