Rapid Ascent

Rapid Ascent Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Rapid Ascent, Suite 2, 1-3 Gilbert Street, Torquay.

Rapid Ascent is Australia’s leading adventure sports event management company, organising off-road & adventure sports events across Australia including mountain-biking, trail running, ultra marathons, adventure races and off-road triathlons.

Aaand that's a wrap!The final stage of the Shimano Gravel Muster was all hoots, hollahs and “yeehas” in a feel-good endi...
24/08/2025

Aaand that's a wrap!

The final stage of the Shimano Gravel Muster was all hoots, hollahs and “yeehas” in a feel-good ending worthy of a Hollywood sports drama.

After a 22km cruise out of Ross River Homestead, tale winds pushed riders down freshly graded “almost-champagne-grave-but-not-quite” for one last 42km racing segment (the average speed was ~40km/h at the front of the bunch).

Then it was a final roll home on the bitumen into Alice Springs Brewing Co for high fives, pints and pizzas.

Huge congratulations to all riders. It was no walk in the park out there yet 82 finished from 82 starters – so you've all proven yourself desert-hardened!

THANK YOU to each and every one of you for going out on a limb and supporting this hair-brained idea of ours. You each added your own personality and flavour to the group and we couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of desert companions.

But who won?!

Glad you asked.

Here are the results from Stage 4…

Female:

1st Nathalie LAURENDEAU (1:21:35)
2nd Jenny PETTENON (1:22:07)
3rd Bizzy BUTTERWORTH (1:22:08)

Male:

1st: Tasman NANKERVIS (1:03:05)
2nd: Sam FOX (1:03:48)
3rd: Ross EDWARDS (1:12:09)
And here are the final GC STANDINGS:

Female:

1st: Jenny PETTENON (06:34:03)
2nd: Sophie BYRNE (06:35:08)
3rd: Sarah PARK (06:40:30)

Male:

1st Sam FOX (05:29:02)
2nd Tasman NANKERVIS (05:33:53)
3rd Scott GUYTON (06:02:27)
FULL RESULTS HERE:
https://gravelmuster.rapidascent.com.au/2025-results

Thanks again everyone. We can’t wait to do it all again next year!

The (sad it’s over) Rapid Ascent Team

P.S. A special shout out to “the fox in the henhouse” (Sam Fox) for riding a good chunk of the final cruising section in an inflatable chicken suit! Sweat box.

P.P.S. Thanks James Tudor from Forktail for another batch of poppin’ shots.

Shimano-Road NT Major Events Company Skratch Labs Alice Springs Town Council Schwalbe Australia The Pedla

OMG this scenery!After a gruelling Stage 2, Stage 3 of the Shimano Gravel Muster today felt more like a celebration of c...
23/08/2025

OMG this scenery!

After a gruelling Stage 2, Stage 3 of the Shimano Gravel Muster today felt more like a celebration of cycling.

It all kicked off with a timed, 17km race segment, through twisty gum forests and the occasional sandy river bed to keep riders on their toes.

After a short cruising segment, a gaggle of “musterers” found themselves at the Arltunga Bush Pub for espresso coffees and a refeed.

After that, it was a further cruise for ~11km before they hit the timing mat and the racing ramped up again.

In this segment, riders were flying with a tale breeze and slightly downhill blast into Trephina Gorge (~34km of racing).

Then, it was time for a stroll through the gorge, picnic lunch and then a ~20km bitumen roll to Ross River Homestead (where the beers on tap are almost as refreshing as the swimming pool!).

This stage had it all:

Scenery to die for…

“Hand of god” tale winds…

Camaraderie (“mate, have the rest of my sealant, I don’t need it”)…

Hard racing (especially in the pointy end of the female field)…

No wonder everyone is sitting around camp with big smiles and friendly chatter.

BIG CONGRATS to overall stage winners:

Female:
1st: Jenny PETTENON (1:33:43)

Male:
1st: Sam FOX (1:23:33)

Here are the GC STANDINGS with one day to go:

Female:
1st: Jenny PETTENON (5:12:06)
2nd: Sophie BYRNE (5:12:59)
3rd: Sarah PARK (5:18:16)

Male:
1st: Sam FOX (4:25:23)
2nd: Tasman NANKERVIS (4:31:08)
3rd: Scott GUYTON (4:43:06)

FULL RESULTS HERE:
https://gravelmuster.rapidascent.com.au/2025-results

Soon, we will dine under the studded sky once more.

Rumour has it there might even be some guest speakers jumping on the mic…

Fuel up riders. Tomorrow is the final push back to Alice.

Oh and…

Photos, as always, thanks to James Tudor from Forktail.

Yeeeeha!

The (jealous they’re not riding) Rapid Ascent Team

Oof. What an epic!The 82 “musterers”, set off for Stage 2 of the Shimano Gravel Muster this morning, from Telegraph Stat...
22/08/2025

Oof. What an epic!

The 82 “musterers”, set off for Stage 2 of the Shimano Gravel Muster this morning, from Telegraph Station.

The mission?

Pedal, roll and/or grind through 150 kilometres of the most quintessentially Australian gravel you’ll ever find.

The destination?

An “oasis in the outback”, AKA Hale River Homestead (100km North East of Alice Springs).

The riding began with a 50km cruise, heading North up the Stuart Hwy.

After a social pre-dawn amble on the bitumen…

The peloton turned right onto Garden Rd and the racing began.

2 race segments punching through wind, sand, corrugations and sun for 100km due East (with riders amazed that “it’s a lot greener and more undulating than I would have imagined”)

The prize?

Swims, beers and dining under the stars with new friends.

Huge congratulations to all riders. It was tough out there. And you were all still grinning and thumbs-upping from behind dusty faces.

Here are "the pointy end" results:

STAGE 2:

1st Female: Sophie BYRNE (3:02:00)
1st Male: Tasman NANKERVIS (2:29:37)

GC:

1st Female: Jenny PETTENON (03:38:42)
1st Male: Sam FOX (03:02:09)

FULL RESULTS HERE:
https://gravelmuster.rapidascent.com.au/2025-results/

Bring on tomorrow! (The “scenic” one).

The (dusty) Rapid Ascent Team

Shimano-Road
Alice Springs Town Council Schwalbe Australia NT Major Events Company Skratch Labs

𝙔𝙚𝙚𝙚𝙚𝙝𝙖 – *𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨* – 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣’ 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣! The 2025 Shimano Gravel Muster unleashed on the outback this afte...
21/08/2025

𝙔𝙚𝙚𝙚𝙚𝙝𝙖 – *𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨* – 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣’ 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣!

The 2025 Shimano Gravel Muster unleashed on the outback this afternoon, as 82 intrepid gravellers gathered on the outskirts of Alice Springs for a 2.6km Individual Time Trial around Blatherskite Park.

The short, CX-style “form-tester” (complete with zig zag through a cattle yard!), got the lungs burning and sorted out the starting order for Stage 1 proper.

Once the dust had settled on the prologue…

Riders were set off in groups of 5, separated by 15 seconds. They then enjoyed an “adventure gravel” cruise out to Simpsons Gap, followed by a full gas race back to town on the Simpson Gap bike path – finishing at a pop-up bar on Flaggon Hill!

Vibes?

Through the roof.

With temperatures in the high 20s and a cracking bunch of riders, we have a feeling this is going to be 4 days to remember.

CONGRATULATIONS to all riders. We certainly threw you some challenges in stage one, but you conquered them all with a smile on your faces, and only a few minor mechanicals.

It’s a nervous wait to see what kind of participants turn up to these races, but we’d thrilled to say, we’ve fallen on our feet with you lot!

Special congrats to the overall winners of Day 1:

PROLOGUE:

Women: Sophie BYRNE (00:04:39)

Men: Sam FOX (00:03:59)

STAGE 1:

Women: Jenny PETTENON (32:07:38)

Men: Tasman NANKERVIS (28:07:93)

Full results here: https://gravelmuster.rapidascent.com.au/2025-results

Fuel up and recover riders...

Tomorrow we go 150km 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑟 into the desert.

Can’t wait!

The (high on gravel) Rapid Ascent Team

“𝑂ℎ 𝑚𝑦 𝑔𝑎𝑎𝑤𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒”“𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑢𝑛”“𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑆𝑂 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑢𝑛” “𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑢𝑦𝑠 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟...
17/08/2025

“𝑂ℎ 𝑚𝑦 𝑔𝑎𝑎𝑤𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒”

“𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑢𝑛”

“𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑆𝑂 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑢𝑛”

“𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑢𝑦𝑠 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦”
(said by Female Long Course winner, Chahira, to her new trail buddies).

They 👆 are just a few soundbites from the finish line at Stage 3 of Run Larapinta today, where the atmosphere could only be described as “pure elation”.

And while we’re tempted to try to get poetic about raw beauty of this place...

Wax lyrical about how you runners have united with positivity and pig-headedness to conquer the wild terrain…

And bang on about how grateful we are to be able to hang out with you amazing people and call it “work”...

We won’t.

(Well, we might have mentioned it once, but think we got away with it 😂)

Instead, let us just say THANK YOU.

Ok. Business:

Congratulations to today’s LONG COURSE winners:

FEMALE: Chahira MOUSSA (4:07:52)
MALE: Matt ROBERTS (3:35:40)

A big bravo to the SHORT COURSE winners:

FEMALE: Victoria COLE (2:32:12)
MALE: William BARRETT (2:41:29)

And a “heck yeah, you legends” to the current Top 3 in the overall standings:

LONG COURSE FEMALE:

🥇 Beatriz OGILVIE (11:18:24)
🥈 Chahira MOUSSA (12:28:21)
🥉 Gill FULLEN (12:51:26)

LONG COURSE MALE:

🥇 Matt ROBERTS (10:20:47)
🥈 Ryan CLARK (10:26:25)
🥉 Laurent GROOM (10:27:38)

SHORT COURSE FEMALE

🥇 Victoria COLE (6:43:22)
🥈 Nicole WEYANDT (7:02:56)
🥉 Annie KNIGHT (7:22:35)

SHORT COURSE MALE:

🥇 Shaun SAMUELSON (7:24:11)
🥈 Julian STRUDWICK (7:33:53)
🥉 William LUCAS (7:43:17)

FULL RESULTS HERE: https://runlarapinta.rapidascent.com.au/2025-results/

Now…

If you’re racing – go and smash some more food.
If you’re watching from home – start planning your trip for next year!

Tomorrow is celebration day…

The (sad it’s ending) Rapid Ascent Team

𝐏.𝐒. Special shout out to the young runner who bravely completed the long course today (31.8km) with a badly injured leg. While we don’t want to glamourise running through injury, the level of grit, determination and courage you displayed is rarer than rain in the outback. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

𝐏.𝐏.𝐒. Thank you James Tudor for the spine-tingling photos 📸nner

𝑆𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟-𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒: That’s our new, made up noun to describe mutual trust and friendship among people who have bonded throug...
16/08/2025

𝑆𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟-𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒:

That’s our new, made up noun to describe mutual trust and friendship among people who have bonded through suffering (usually in outdoors).

It's also how we’d sum up today’s Stage 2 of Run Larapinta!

𝐘𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 “𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥” (19km/41km in this terrain ain’t like running your local Parkrun - think boulder hopping and “ankle breakers” with a good dose of vert)…

𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 “𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬” (the descent from the "High Route" ridge-line was described in some very frank terms - not savoury for social media!).

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 “𝐒𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚” 𝐨𝐫 “𝐇𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚” 𝐨𝐫 “𝐒𝐨𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚!”.

But you know what?

Dozens of runners came up to us at the finish to say how "frickin' awesome" it was. And how much fun they'd had.

We reckon that's because it's the suffering that 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 this sport of trail running so beautiful.

𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 that brings strangers together (sitting at the 13km/36km mark today we heard a lot of life stories being exchanged)…

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 of breaking yourself down in front of loved ones that makes old relationships stronger. (We saw one women patiently strolling, chewing a muesli bar while her husband was in a low-point - it was her unspoken way of saying “𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒’𝑠 𝑛𝑜 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑦. 𝐼’𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑊𝑒’𝑙𝑙 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟”.)

And, plus…

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 than the first bite of non-gel-formatted food after slogging it out for 14 hours!!

Speaking of food…

A big clink of the glasses to today’s stage winners:

In the Long Course, single-stage runner, 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑, took out the women’s in an impressive 5:17:10 (Stage-Race leader 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐳 𝐎𝐆𝐈𝐋𝐕𝐈𝐄 wasn't far behind in 5:22:57). 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐒 took out the men’s in 5:05:33.

In the Short Course female category, 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐄 (3:09:17) was victorious again. And, in the men’s, it was 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐔𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐍 (3:22:46).

FULL RESULTS: https://runlarapinta.rapidascent.com.au/2025-results

𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐆𝐄 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝟐𝟏𝟔 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 who competed today’s stage. It’s labelled the “tough one” for a reason but you gritted through with smiles on your faces and cheerful banter even at your lowest points (and only the occasional f-bomb! 😂).

Thanks again to James Tudor from Forktail for the snaps. Those images tell the tale of how STUNNING this area really is.

If you’re doing your own socials, please don’t forget to tag us so we can spread the love!

Tomorrow we go further West.

Cannot wait!

The (slightly sadistic?) Rapid Ascent Team

RUN LARAPINTA 2025 IS UNDERWAY! It’s hard to put into words the feeling that radiated off ~200 runners, as they slipped ...
15/08/2025

RUN LARAPINTA 2025 IS UNDERWAY!

It’s hard to put into words the feeling that radiated off ~200 runners, as they slipped out of "civilian" clothing, into their running threads and chased the sunset as it disappeared behind craggy red ridge lines…

It was that electric mix of nerves and excitement, of dreams finally meeting reality, of strangers who’ve been chatting for months finally meeting in the flesh.

And of course it was amplified by the deep energy of this all-knowing landscape.

It probably also helps that the runners this year are top-shelf human beings...

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 (one runner told us he’s been trying to get here since 2020, and has finally avoided injury, illness and curve balls to make it happen)…

𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 (like mother and son duo, Maria & Shannon who have been here um-teen times) …

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 (𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬) 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 (yes, Victoria Cole, we’re looking at you).

Whatever their goals. Whatever their backgrounds...

At tonight’s finish line, every face told the same story:
“𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐈’𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞”.

A huge congratulations to today’s stage winners:

MALBUNKA (LONG COURSE) FEMALE
🥇Beatriz OGILVIE 1:42:14

MALBUNKA (LONG COURSE) MALE
🥇 Ryan CLARK 1:38:22

NAMATJIRA (SHORT COURSE) FEMALE
🥇 Victoria COLE Prime (18-39) 1:01:52

NAMITJIRRA (SHORT COURSE) MALE
🥇 William LUCAS 1:10:35

FULL RESULTS HERE:
https://runlarapinta.rapidascent.com.au/2025-results/

Please enjoy these photo highlights thanks to James Tudor from Forktail.

Rest up and dream of strong ankles,

Tomorrow is the big one.

The (buzzed up) Rapid Ascent Team

13/08/2025

It's only 2 sleeps until the starting horn sounds for Run Larapinta 2025.

The weather is looking PERFECT - with chilly mornings (low of 2 degrees) and clear, sunny, mid 20-27 degree afternoons.

The participants sound AMAZING on paper. Can't wait to meet them in person (stay tuned for stories from the trails).

The outback terrain is lying in wait (as it has been for millions of years).

And the goosebumps are well and truly forming on the back of our necks! (This event has a certain gravitas that's hard to capture in words.)

Get excited runners - the next several days will be etched in your minds for the rest of your days!

Lets. Do. This.

The (raring to go) Rapid Ascent Team

NT Major Events Company Skratch Labs Fenixlight Alice Springs Town Council

Address

Suite 2, 1-3 Gilbert Street
Torquay, VIC
3228

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5:30am
Tuesday 9am - 5:30am
Wednesday 9am - 5:30am
Thursday 9am - 5:30am
Friday 9am - 5:30am

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Rapid Ascent Adventure Sports Event Management

Regarded as Australia’s leading adventure sports event management company, Rapid Ascent organises off-road, adventure and niche sports events across Australia ranging from mass participation adventure races (the world’s largest!) to boutique mountain bike festivals and unique trail running events. We conceive and host our own events and also offer other organisations and brands custom event management services (see further down for more details).

Rapid Ascent currently hosts a number of major events across adventure racing, multisport, mountain biking and trail running disciplines. In addition, we are also contracted to manage the logistics for several other events including the Mother's Day Classic Geelong and the Coastrek Series. And we always have more adventure event ideas bubbling away in the background.

Importantly, our races and events are about much more that the sports we happen to love, they’re about appreciating the great outdoors, promoting environmental awareness, healthy lifestyles, community participation and creating a friendly festival atmosphere for everyone.