Delirious WEST 200 Miler

Event Overview

Course & Terrain

End-to-end trail race from Northcliffe to Albany, run almost entirely on the Bibbulmun Track.

Key course features to know before comparing this race:

• Karri forests
• Southern Ocean cliffs
• Beaches and dune crossings
• Tree Top Walk and the giant tingle forest near Walpole
• Jet ski ferry across Irwin Inlet after Peaceful Bay

Mostly singletrack on the Bibbulmun Track, through karri, tuart and giant tingle forest, then sand: long beach stretches (7.2 km of beach on the leg into Denmark), soft dunes and coastal scrub. The biggest leg climbs are the Tree Top Walk leg (+781 m in 22.6 km) and the opening 26 km from Northcliffe (+736 m); Mount Clare, reached after a beach, dunes and a suspension bridge, is the first major climb. Monkey Rocks, before Denmark, is the most technical section, and the organizer adds extra markings there because runners have been lost at night. The course leaves the Bibbulmun Track at the Irwin Inlet jet ski crossing and on the steep Shelley Beach descent, and runners cross Wilson Inlet on foot unless it is flowing, when they are shuttled. A GPX file on a watch or GPS and the Gaia app on a phone are mandatory.

Since 2025 the race has run in late March or April; earlier editions were mostly in February. The organizer’s April averages are 11–22°C (52–72°F) with 72 mm of rain over 11 rain days at Northcliffe, and 14–21°C (57–70°F) with 70 mm over 8 rain days at Albany. February editions could be far hotter: Kevin Matthews wrote in his AURA report that temperatures reached 41°C (106°F) in 2024. The mandatory kit is built for cold, wet nights: thermal top and pants, a seam-sealed waterproof jacket and an emergency bivvy.

Entry & Logistics

Why This Race Matters

Ultra Series Australia first ran Delirious W.E.S.T. in February 2019, when Shaun Kaesler and Bill Irving organized a field of 35 and AURA called it Australia’s first point-to-point 200-miler. Kaesler owns Ultra Series and serves as event director; Jeff Hansen, race director for three editions, died in 2022 and is remembered with a plaque and a tree of shoes in Albany. The 2027 race is the ninth edition. Two editions left the usual route: the COVID-delayed October 2021 race ran a modified course, and in 2022 fires near Denmark forced an out-and-back from Northcliffe to the Tree Top Walk. Delirious WEST is the only race of Ultra Series’ three-state TripleCrownUnder still running; its Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST 200-milers are paused indefinitely.

Historical benchmark notes in the directory record (verify current records with the linked official sources):

• Men: Shane Johnstone, 54:50:34, 2021 (fastest time in the organizer’s results, run on the modified 2021 route; AURA said it was not technically a course record)
• Women: Meghann Coffey, 67:09:51, 2021 (third overall on the same modified route)
• Fastest men’s time on the full Northcliffe–Albany route (all editions except 2021 and 2022): Aaron Young, 60:48:10, 2024
• Fastest women’s time on the full Northcliffe–Albany route: Sarah Foster, 71:18:10, 2020

Preparing for a Race Like Delirious WEST 200 Miler

The 200-mile race guide covers the format as a whole. These guides go deeper:

• 200-mile race strategy: Pacing, sleep loss, aid stations, navigation, crew and feet, with a worked Moab 240 plan.
• Sleep strategy for multiday races: An individual sleep plan with safe locations and clear stop criteria.
• Crew and aid-station strategy: Crew tables, aid stops, drop bags and runner preferences.
• Foot-care kit for multiday running: Tape, lube, socks, blister pads and simple hot-spot rules.

Best Fit

• Experienced 100-mile runners ready for a first 200 with heavy support: 21 aid stations, four sleep stations and crew at 16 stops
• Runners who want forest, beach and Southern Ocean coast in one point-to-point journey
• Australian runners looking for a home 200-miler with no qualifying race

Planning Notes

• Prepare for sleep decisions, weather swings, and aid-station discipline. The distance is only one part of a multi-day fixed-distance race.
• Train for terrain-specific fatigue. Technical trails and mountain courses demand downhill durability, hiking efficiency, and reliable night lighting.
• The directory does not mark this as having simpler logistics. Confirm qualification, terrain, support, registration, medical, and withdrawal requirements before planning around it.
• Day one: in the 2024 results Mandalay, 111.6 km in, was the most common place to drop, and Kevin Matthews called the Mandalay–Mount Clare leg the worst on the course
• Strict sleep-station departure cutoffs, including the Irwin Inlet jet ski crossing by 5:00 PM Friday (58 hours)
• Night navigation at Monkey Rocks and on the sections that leave the Bibbulmun Track
• Missing mandatory kit at check-in or at a random on-course check means disqualification

Event FAQs

Related Preparation

• Open the 200+ Mile format guide
• Compare all race formats
• Use the timed-race pace calculator
• Plan checkpoint arrivals and cutoff buffers
• Print a pace band for your goal time
• Estimate race calories and plan fueling
• Build a crew and drop-bag plan
• Build a race-specific gear checklist