Lilydale Lope a family affair
• Brian Baxter with his children L-R William Baxter, Lisa Smith and Belinda Barrett at the 2019 Lilydale Lope.
By Taylor Clyne,
May 25, 2022
One of the most iconic and difficult runs to complete is set for Saturday morning with the Lilydale Lope run returning to the hills of the North-East.
The tough 10-mile race features three difficult climbs through Lalla, Karoola, Second River Road and Golconda Road before heading back to the centre of Lilydale.
This weekend’s event will be the 46th edition of the run with founder and avid cross country runner Brian Baxter first completing the run in 1974.
The Pipers River farmer created the event from his love of hills, training on parts of the 16.6km circuit often after a day’s work on the farm.
He started his running career in 1966 and soon gained the nickname of ‘Iron Horse’ after the Clydesdales on the family property and his determination and tenacity.
Kicking off the event in the 70s the course has not changed in over forty years, starting and finishing in the main street of Lilydale overlooking Mt Arthur.
The event is now organised by the North Launceston Athletic Club in conjunction with Launceston Running Club and is expected to feature more than 50 runners this weekend.
Throughout its existence more than 1500 runners have completed the race, becoming one of those ‘bucket list’ events for distance runners.
Mr Baxter’s children have competed in the event over the years with son William Baxter taking out the event in 2019 ahead of his sisters Lisa and Belinda.
As an added incentive for competitors this year Mr Baxter is offering a $500 cash bonus for anyone who can beat the race record.
Current records are held by champions, Dave Thomas with 52.59 in 2015 and Kate Pedley 61.06 in 2013.
At present it is $100 for both men’s and women’s records, with this boost it will be $250 for each category and if not claimed raised annually to $500 for eclipsing each record.
Mr Baxter has been involved in every lope run since 1974 and is currently ranked 35th on the all-time list with a time of 60.19.
Major sponsors this year also include MLC Tania Rattray and Nick Duigan.
The race will start at 10.30am with spectators encouraged to cheer the start line on.