DIVERGE Skyruns 2026 2026

Heading west from Queenstown, away from Mt Owen and Mt Lyell, and into dense bush and a steep hill – including an old goat track just out of town, that the hardy Queenstown footy team used to train on. It’s long been too overgrown for them but we’re re-making the way so you can run and hike it, and maybe they will too. You’ll immediately feel like you’re a world away. There are ferny gullies and hills that tell the stories of the region’s mining and logging history. Run or hike along some recently re-opened single trails, to the Queenstown Airfield. It’s an operating airstrip, with views straight back up to Mt Owen. This is the wildest runway you’ll ever run. You’ll do a short lap of the tarmac and then it’s back to the trails, back to Queenstown. Right near the finish line, you’ll cross the Queen River again — it’s a clear reminder of the region’s mining history. It is stained the colour of rust because an estimated 100 million tonnes of sulfidic tailings were dumped into the river. You might even spot some old mining dozer blades, that are embedded in the riverbank to help stabilise it.