Blue Mountains runners take victory in UTA22 at Ultra-Trail Australia

Irish-born, Blue Mountains-based Pat Hennessy claimed victory in the men's race, with Sara Levett from Wentworth Falls the first female runner across the line on May 17.

Hennessy took the win in 1:45:05, more than two minutes ahead of Ben Duffus, with Billy Curtis rounding out the podium.

"It's absolutely amazing man, I totally enjoyed that, I come from a road racing background and you're looking at times all the time but when you're on the trails it's just about beating your competitor, it was really, really enjoyable," said Hennessy.

Hennessy was in the front group for the entire race, working his way into the lead as the runners made their way along the valley floor after working their way down from the Queen Victoria Hospital start line.

"It was tough going, in the first 8km the front five built up a bit of a gap before we got down into the valley but on the ascent I caught up and passed them around the 14 or 15km mark and then I just held that gap for the rest until the end," he said. "The gap was gradually building as I went on I suppose, I was conscious that I could have burnt out so I tried to be as efficient as possible and just keep running up them hills, I was just keep ticking the legs over."

The Irishman recently made the move to the Blue Mountains and has relished being able to train on the trails he raced on Friday.

Sara Levett was the runner to beat from early on the women's race, streaking ahead to be first to break the finish tape in 2:05:43, almost five minutes ahead of Jess Ronan, with Joanne Mills two minutes further behind in third.

"So happy to have run it, I was just wanting to have an enjoyable race for myself and I did, I've done the training on the course quite a bit so just happy with how it went today," said Levett. "I went down very hard and then had to make sure that I could hold on which I luckily did, those hills are so strong and humbling, kudos to National Parks for trying to get as much open as possible for the race and the event organisers, it was so well run and we had perfect conditions, some beautiful runners out there, everyone was kind, can't ask for more."

Levett is based in Wentworth Falls, with the majority of her training taking place on the trails the more than 2,200 UTA22 runners took to for the event.

"I do these trails all the time, Kedumba is pretty much my driveway, it means so much, these trails have been run on for thousands of years by the Indigenous people too so it's really cool to get out there, so many people have done it, so many are doing it tomorrow, it's great to be a part of it," she said.

This year, UTA will welcome participants from 48 nationalities, with more than 60 per cent of runners taking part in the event for the first time.

Since 2022, UTA has been part of the UTMB World Series, a circuit of the best trail running events in the world offering runners the only opportunity to begin their quest to UTMB Mont-Blanc - the UTMB World Series Final and the pinnacle event of trail running.

Saturday, May 18 will see runners taking on UTA50 and UTA100, with the final runs due to cross the finish line in Katoomba on Sunday morning.