About Bullanting

The Bullant bush running group was established in 1971 by a couple of runners in the Lower Blue Mountains area. They had in common a love for running in the bush and a good sense of humour. Since this time more than 100 runners have enjoyed sharing a run on Sunday mornings.

A typical Sunday morning run starts at 7am from the School of Arts at Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains, although some runs may start from the run leaders ranch or other location. The run leader decides where the run should go and generally leads from the rear. If any Bullant asks how long before a certain point is reached, the standard reply is 10 minutes.

The run typically covers tracks in the Blue Mountains National Park. A run can include some road running, track running, bush bashing, creak bashing, swimming and rock climbing. The run can take from 1 to 3 hours and cover from 10 to 25km. A regroup is held to wait for slower runners if they get too far behind. This is a good opportunity to tell jokes.

After the run a smoko is normally conducted at the run leaders ranch, so as to thoroughly embarrass the run leader in front of their neighbours. The object of smoko is to out eat and drink the rest of the Bullants. Some Bullants have been known to fast before a run in order to eat and drink more at smoko. Others may argue that they come for smoko and the run is incidental.

Each run is written up in archives usually by the run leader and a tally kept of completed runs. The previous weeks run is read out by the author at smoko so they can be ridiculed by the other Bullants for a sloppy write up.

After a new runner has completed about 6 runs in a row a naming committee decides on a Bullant nick name which is given to the person in a special ceremony. The name given is usually disliked at first but comes to grow on the runner as they enjoy many experiences with the Bullants. Most Bullants do not know each others real name and refer to them by their Bullant name even in public.

Bullanting attire consists of a yellow shirt with a on the front and Bullant nick name on the back. Optional red shorts can be worn. An old pair of running shoes should be worn. In winter a thermal top and thin gloves are an advantage.

A Wednesday training run is also conducted starting at 6:30pm sharp from the School of Arts at Glenbrook. In winter this is a road run around Euroka Clearing in the Blue Mountains National Park. In summer the run is around Red Hands Cave walking track again in the Blue Mountains National Park. Both runs take about an hour.

Each year an Annual General Meeting is held to elect office bearers. The election is an excuse to have a barbecue, drink some beer, eat snacks, tell jokes and sing songs.

Bullants come from all walks of life, including teachers, engineers, programmers, students, lawyers, doctors, mechanics, council workers, horticulturists and salespeople. Country of origin is no barrier either with runners from Germany and Hungary joining the ranks. Some have been with the Bullant running group since its inception while others vow never to return after one run. The core running group of 20 or so runners enjoy the comradeship of running together on a Sunday talking about sport, politics, finance, personal problems and telling jokes.

Over the years other activities have been added to the Bullanting calendar including canyoning, abseiling, camping, cross country skiing, hiking, downhill skiing, rock climbing, fun runs and marathons.