2025 FACES OF HEYSEN

DANNIELLE VANDERHEUL

Heysen for me is where my racing career began, where i first discovered I could keep up with the elites. The race unlocked a desire to take my running further! Having competed in The 105 and 50k distances multiple times, i still fail to remember most details of the course, purely because of the various styles of trails the course takes you through! Pine forests, roads, skinny trails along fence lines, paddocks, hills and just to break it all up, a few stiles in between! Coming into the final 10k is one of the most memorable endings to a race I have experienced, coming down from one of the last climbs to a view of a deep blue ocean is refreshing, but terrifying because there is still such a long way to go! It’s a challenging course, but with the constant changes in scenery and terrain, it’s easy to become distracted and forget im running a race! The entire Ultra Series team have helped Heysen grow into such a strong event and i am honoured i have been able to be a part of it!!