This challenge is planned as the first in a program spanning for many years, all aimed at inspiring girls and women..

The Trail Beyond began when a few women got together and pondered the ageless questions: What makes us tick? What drives and inspires us? Why are we still seeing women around us sleepwalk through life to wake up one day to discover their whole lives have passed them by? And finally, what can we do that makes a difference?

This project opened its eyes when we progressed from simply wanting to push our own limits to wanting to inspire others to push theirs.


We recognise that women can experience significant barriers to reaching their goals through all stages of life. These can range from juggling work and family life, being the primary child-carer, lack of self-belief and focus, and limited support or no moral or financial support. However, at ‘The Trail Beyond’ we also have experienced the power that can be harnessed by strategies geared at breaking down these barriers, including hearing other women’s inspiring stories and the provision of moral and financial support from organisations and female mentors. 

We want to inspire women to know their limits, not because these limits have been imposed on them by society, but because they have pushed against them to discover where those limitations really are.

This project gained momentum when we decided to document our journey. And this is where we call on your enthusiasm to help us deliver this story and the stories of other, more incredible human beings, to you.



THE FILM

This isn’t a film about winners or losers. it is a story of strong women trying to push their own limits to be real life role models that other women can relate to and be inspired by. Each of our characters have their own unique path and personality which the viewer will get an insight into, both intellectually and emotionally. 

This film will capture the highs and the lows experienced by participants during each event, including the challenges faced by each woman just to get to the start line.

As we get to know each of the characters we also gain insight into some of the little things that help these women stay on track with their goals and allow them to manage their relationships and careers. By doing this we aim to demonstrate some of the ‘tools’ other women can be inspired by and utilise in their own lives to help them achieve their own personal goals which is a quintessential purpose of The Trail Beyond.
Extreme conditions show us what humans are capable of. A character driven story of adventure, risk, camaraderie and pain. These are all elements that our film will tune into to create a consistent and strong narrative flow.

To give you an idea, these are the trailers highlighting our first two races. More will follow as they are completed.

Media

Producing a quality documentary isn't cheap.
Producing a quality documentary in 4 different countries is a challenge on a different scale! 
We have sourced over $40K so far from our own pockets and pledges in sponsorship from generous and inspiring companies like Mountain Designs to get this far. But now we need help to bring all our footage to life in post production. 

Cassie will be working alongside award winning editor Michael Lutman from The Butchery to complete The Trail Beyond. 
Over the next few months this is what we need further support to cover. 


The more we raise above this amount, the higher quality product we can produce!

1. Getting to the start and finish lines of each race in one piece!!! 
2. Juggling family, work, training, racing and filming
3. Maintaining sanity
4. Making a documentary film about 4 women running 4 ultras in 4 months!

As well as the physical and mental feat of running 4 ultras in 4 months for our team, the film making process has its own set of unique challenges that come with planning logistics of moving people and equipment from country to country.
The main part of Cassie's work is arranging support and film crew in non-english speaking countries, increasingly remote areas to help her capture the race and the unfolding drama.. Working against the clock making sure that people are transported to check points on time, filming interviews with locals, organising drone filming, liaising with locals to arrange motorbikes and four wheel drives. The pre production, production and post production and creative of each race and over all documentary project is an all-encompassing 24/7 process.

These challenges are not unique to us. But we don't view any of the curve balls life throws at us as obstacles, rather, we see each challenge that this road has presented, as an opportunity to learn something new, to test out our tried and true coping strategies and keep perfecting them (and ourselves) in the process. Given that our documentary's aim is to inspire, we will definitely use any of the challenges we have to surmount as a story telling opportunity!

Working together as a team, we are incredibly lucky to have an amazing support network of family, friends, and a growing number of people that believe in the life-changing power of uplifting others.