Frequently Asked Questions

ACCOMMODATION GUIDE

We’ve designed the Ikara Ultra to be a community and fun-focused event where participants and their crews all get to stay together without camps. We think the best experience is staying at the Wilpena Pound Resort.

2025 saw runners and their crew form clusters in the campground, enjoying shared camp fires, letting their kids hang out, and loving the Flinders Ranges host location. We expect it to get even better for 2026 as the event grows and the campground takeover gets even bigger. The 100 km starts and finishes at the Visitor’s Centre, and 50 Mile and 50 km events both finish there. It all happens very close to the campground, shared facilities, and IGA.

100 Milers have a couple of options:

  • Stay at Wilpena Pound for the entire event and either use event transport to Mt Little or drive with their crew.

  • Stay at Mt Little before the event and have crew relocate to Wilpena Pound when the event begins.

START LINE TRANSPORT

We run multiple shuttles to get runners where they need to be:

  • For 100 Mile runners:

    • Thursday 31 April: Wilpena Pound Visitor Centre to Mt Little Station for the pre-race briefing.

    • Friday 1 May: Wilpena Pound Visitor Centre to Mt Little Station for race start

  • For 50 Mile runners:

    • Saturday 2 May: Wilpena Pound Visitor Centre to Parachilna Trail Head for race start.

  • For 50 km runners:

    • Saturday 2 May: Wilpena Pound Visitor Centre to Trezona Camp Ground for race start.

Booking details are released in the weeks before the event.

CUT-OFF TIMES

The cutoff time for all distances is Sunday 2 May at 3 am.

Hours allowed on each course:

  • 100 Miles: 42 hours

  • 100 km Friday 6:30 pm start: 32.5 hours

  • 100 km Saturday 6 am start: 21 hours

  • 50 km: 19 hours

Time cuts are all about safety. Ultra runners are capable of incredible grit and determination and that can lead to risky decisions made with an exhausted mind.

Further, we need to ensure the safety of the event crew. We willingly do hard work for long hours to make this event happen but the small team of legends we rely on doesn’t have infinite energy. The longer the event, the more stress it puts on aid station managers, medical teams, and the finish line crew. Our job continues even after the runners have headed home. We need to pack up, de-mark the course, and get ourselves back home.

QUALIFYING STANDARDS

Qualifying standards are an essential part of hosting the best events possible for you. The Ikara Ultra is remote, in a changing environment with potentially extreme weather conditions. We want to ensure that all our attendees and volunteers have the safest experience possible. We’re huge fans of challenging yourself and going hard at your biggest-ever event. Qualifying standards keep you accountable and motivated to stretch for an event in a responsible way.

2026 QUALIFYING STANDARDS

  • 100 Mile:

    • Completed minimum 2 x 50+km Ultra events.

    • One of these needs to be an 80km-100km in the 18 Months year leading into race with min 1800m elevation.

  • 100 km

    • Completed minimum 2 x 50+km Ultra events.

    • One of these in the year before the 2026 Ikara Ultra.

  • 50 Mile: Completed minimum 1 x 50 km Ultra event in the year before the 2026 Ikara Ultra.

  • 50 km: Completed minimum 2 x 20+km Trail Runs in the year before the 2026 Ikara Ultra.

SUBMITTING YOUR QUALIFYING EVENTS

We know that you’re all a bunch of data nerds, so send us a link to your qualifying activities on Strava, Garmin Connect, or your platform of choice. Use our Contact Page and just make sure the activity isn’t behind a privacy wall.

We’re open to other submissions too. If you’re a listed finisher at a qualifying event then let us know.

CANCELLATION & REFUND POLICY

We recommend all participants use the Race Roster Enhanced Refund Protection Program.

“The RRERPP is Race Roster's promise to participants to protect their registration purchase in the case that they cannot attend the event due to unforeseen circumstances. Purchasers of the refund protection program will be refunded the registration cost of an otherwise non-refundable, unused registration, less the cost of the RRERPP fee.” Learn more on the Race Roster website.

CANCELLATIONS

In the event the race is cancelled, a credit to next years event will be given as a first preference, you may elect to instead receive credits to another MMI Event. If you require your entry fee back, this will be given as 75% of your entry fee up until February 1st, 50% throughout February then 40% through to April 1st. No refund is permissible after April 1st due to costs incurred. After April 1st rollover to the following year less $100 admin fee to pay for spot-tracker. Again, we highly recommend taking out the RRERPP via Race Roster at registration process.