Hundreds of runners from far and wide tested themselves in the most gruelling of conditions, tackling the Hume and Hovell Ultra trail runs around Tumbarumba last weekend.

The eighth annual extravaganza saw competitors tackling courses ranging from 22 kilometres to 100 miles, with most events beginning just south of the town at Henry Angel Trackhead.

"We had 264 runners, and that was about 60 up on last year," race director Peter FitzPatrick said.

"It went well. We had a bit of rain and a bit of hail and those sorts of conditions. But they absolutely loved it... the untouched landscape and it's a pretty difficult challenge (that draws the runners). And it's nearly all trails."

Twenty hardy souls tackled the 100 miles (160.9km) event with Grant Brisbin (19 hours, 46 minutes, 29 seconds), beating Joe Ward by more than two hours. Roylene Stanley (27:27:58) was the first female to finish, after running for more than a day.

Andrew McConnell, who took out the Wagga half-marathon earlier this year, claimed victory in the prestigious 100km event, which also doubled as the final of the Australian Long Course Trail Championships this year.

McConnell won the 100 mile race last year at his first attempt, but came back in distance and grabbed another win and the Australian title.

Finishing in 10:11:28, McConnell was the first of 44 runners to complete the 100k. He was 32 minutes ahead of Scott Richmond and Rick Storrier, who both also finished in under 11 hours.

Kelly Glanville (14:03:39) was the first woman home, ahead of Karen Mickle and Rochelle Tregear.

Almost 100 runners took on the popular 22km event, with Reece Evans claiming victory. Evans, who was runner-up in the 50km run last year, finished in one hour, 50 minutes and six seconds. He beat Rohan Ashton by five minutes, with Rohan O'Grady the only other runner home in under two hours.

Briohny Seaman won the women's 22km in 2:18:21.

The 50km event was won by David Bailey in 4:49:00, with Neil Spreitzer second in just under five hours. Sally Towse was fourth overall in 5:17:16 and the first female finisher.

Commendably, Spreitzer and Towse were both from the 40-59 years age category, as were Glanville and Stanley, whereas most top overall placegetters throughout the weekend came from the 18-39 age category.

FitzPatrick said it's a great event for the region.

"It was a really good weekend and brought a lot of people to Tumbarumba," he said.

"A lot of the runners say they want to come back to see Buddong Falls and the scenery. And they come back to do training runs on it and everything now. I'd been out marking the course and I used to see no-one out there but I saw about 10 people out training this year."

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