G’day! My name’s Mark and welcome to my blog for Alpha Trail Events. My goal for this series is to document the journey of building my trail running event business. I started Alpha Trail Events back in 2022 after completing a cycle ride from Sydney to Melbourne raising money for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency.
Since then I’ve been on a bit of a journey trying to establish a way that I can turn my passion for endurance sports into a viable business, as well as continue to support and raise awareness for Alpha-1. This blog is a bit of a way to keep me accountable and to also acknowledge the progress that I am (slowly) making whilst juggling a full time job.
It took me the best part of 2023 to realise what I wanted to do with Alpha Trail Events. I went down a few different paths until I landed on the idea of creating a trail running event business. I was really inspired by a company from the UK who are now a well-oiled and established trail running events company, putting on several different events throughout the year.
The Market
Trail running has been around for many years and the market is competitive. However I still feel there is an opportunity to offer something a bit different.
Our events are designed for beginner to intermediate runners, offering distances from 5km to 50km. I focus on events that offer that perfect transition into trail running, but can also act as great training events for any lofty personal goals.
In January 2024, I organized my first informal trail running event at Manly Dam, with the support of Joshua Coldray—an experienced endurance athlete who has competed in Ironman events and 100-mile ultramarathons.
Building on that momentum, I hosted my first ticketed event in June 2024, selling over 60 tickets at Manly Dam. After taking a short break to get married, I’m now gearing up for three major events in 2025—and I couldn’t be more excited!
Stay tuned as I share the journey.
Thanks for reading – onto the next
Mark
Single day trail running events in stunning locations around Sydney.
Our mission is getting people off their office chairs and outside in the amazing Australian bush, to help improve personal well-being and raise a bit of cash for charity in the process.