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2021 AURA AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Ewan Horsburgh • February 20, 2022

AURA is pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 AURA Awards.

Australian Female Ultra Runner of the Year

For outstanding single or collective performances by a female.

Tia Jones, from Queensland, has had an outstanding year of running in 2021, breaking no fewer than 5 Australian W55 Age Group Records.

Tia’s records were achieved at 2 races in 2021, being the Sri Chinmoy 12 hour Track Ultra in March and the Southern Sydney 6 hour Track Ultra in June.

The Records that Tia achieved were the: 50km (4:15:46), 6 hour (69.774km), 50 mile (7:18:22), 100km (9:17:02), 12 hour (124.211km). With both the 6 hour only being 1.5km and the 12 hour being 2km short of the overall World W55 record.

An Amazing year of top performances and records, Congratulations.

Australian Male Ultra Runner of the Year

For outstanding single or collective performances by a male.

Matthew Crehan, from Victoria, had a phenomenal year of racing, with no less than 6 wins out of the 7 events that he competed in as well as a blistering 4th place finish from 1129 runners at the Ultra Trail Australia.

Matthew raced all over the country in 2021 with events ranging from the 45km Buller Sky Run, 64km Razorback run in Victoria, to the 80km Margret River Ultra in WA and 80km Cradle Ultra in Tasmania, up to and including 2 100 mile races at both the Brisbane Trail Ultra and Alpine Challenge.

Along with his 6 wins, Matthew also managed to break 4 of the course records, being at the: BTU 100 miler, Alpine Challenge 100 miler, Margret River Ultra and the 64km Razorback Ultra.

An Outstanding year of racing and achievements Matthew, Congratulations!

Bryan Smith Award

For the greatest single best ultra running achievement by a male under the age of 60.

Phil Gore from Western Australia receives the Brian Smith Award for his outstanding performance at last year’s Birdy’s Backyard Ultra, Phil took the win with an amazing 51 hours or Yards as it is known, and achieved an overall distance of 342.21km. On top of achieving the win at the event, this has also given Phil the best BYU performance for an Australian.

Along with this outstanding performance, Phil also achieved other great performances throughout 2021 with another amazing run of 48hrs (322km) at the Herdy’s Back Yard Ultra and also running 255.190km at the Lighthourse 24hr Ultra.

Congratulations Phil on such a great performance!

Helen Stanger Award

For the greatest single best ultra running achievement by a female under the age of 60.

Margaret Hadley from Western Australia has taken out the Helen Stranger Award for 2021, for her great achievement at the Birdy’s Backyard Ultra that is held in WA. With such a strong field at the event, Margaret was able to hold on to a 3rd place finish with 38 laps (254.98km). This finish has given Margret the best finish for a female runner in Australia for the now very popular racing of the Last One Standing Backyard Ultra format.

Well done Margaret on a spectacular achievement!

Young Female Ultra Runner of the Year

For outstanding single or collective performances by a female under the age of 30.

Sarah Ludowici from New South Wales whilst still young in the sport of Ultra running, achieved an outstanding result at the 2021 Ultra Trail Australia with a 3rd place podium finish in a time of 11:53:17 hours and only 18min behind 1st place and just 2mins behind 2nd place finishers. Sarah’s podium finish also placed her 37th overall out of the 1129 runners that competed at the event in 2021.

Sarah has now raced in quite a number of 100km ultras and is showing great form as a young runner, with a bright future in ultra running.

Congratulations Sarah, we look forward to watching your performances in the years to come.

Young Male Ultra Runner of the Year

For outstanding single or collective performances by a male under the age of 30.

Dominic Bullock from New South Wales, who being new to the sport of Ultra running, had an outstanding performance at last year’s Southern Sydney 12 hour ultra race achieving a massive 146.277 km to take out the win. Along with Dominic’s win he was also able to achieve an Australian M25 Age Group Record, breaking the record by over 20km. Dominic’s distance now sits as the 4th all-time best distance in a 12 hour event by an Australian runner.

Congratulations Dominic for achieving such a great result.

Cliff Young Award

For the greatest single best ultra running achievement by a male over the age of 60.

Colin Brooks from South Australia has had an outstanding year competing at races across 6 events throughout 2021. During his year of racing which ranged from running 64km ultra marathons to 6hr, 24hr and 48hr races, all the way up to a 6 day event with a 3rd place finishing total of 581.705km. Colin was able to take out the M65 Age category Wins at 5 of these events.

Not only was Colin able to pick up the Age Category wins, this was done whilst still achieving 3 outright third places and a second place outright as well.

Never quit running! We know you have so much more to offer in this great sport!

Shirley Young Award

For the greatest single best ultra running achievement by a female over the age of 60.

Jane Trumper from New South Wales, takes out the Shirley Young Award for her amazing and inspirational run at the 2021 Coast 2 Kosci 240km Ultra race that takes competitors from the Coast at Eden to the top of Australia on Mount Kosciuszko.

This was the 10th time that Jane has competed and raced at this event, and has become one of just 3 and the only Females to have completed this race 10 times.

Jane fought through all the odds that the 2021 race presented, to complete this event within the allowable time. On being asked at the presentation and receiving of her 10th C2K hat pin and special 10 times finisher’s plaque, Jane was able to respond with this being the last time and will be hanging up her Akubra Hat.

A fantastic achievement and an inspirational ambassador to the sport of ultra running.

Ultra Performance of the Year Award

Nominated by and voted on by the AURA members.

Cheryl Symons For her performance at the Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour Track Festival.

Cheryl from Victoria has received the 2021 AURA Performance of the Year Award for her Standout run at the 48hr track race in Canberra in March.

Cheryl ran a personal best, passing the 200 mile mark to take out the win with an amazing total of 322.352km.

This result not only saw Cheryl take the win, but had also placed her 3rd outright at the 48hr race, and according to the DUV yearly rankings, also place her distance as the world’s 5th best female in a 48 hour performance for 2021.

Cheryl’s result and win at the event also saw her take out the 48 hour AURA National Championships for 2021.

Congratulations Cheryl on taking out the performance of the year as voted by your peers.

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AUTRA News Report 19-02-2025

By Kate Dzienis • February 19, 2025

The latest in race results, covering Cradle Mountain Run, City Run, Oscars 100 Hut 2 Hut and Yaberoo Trail Ultra.

Final 2024 Points Competition Results

By Alexis Oosterhoff • January 30, 2025

Results for the 2024 AUTRA Points Competition have been finalised, and are available on our Points Competition page. Full details of the top 10 (as shared on Facebook during January) are detailed below, and results for all participating AUTRA members can be found in the documents at the above link. It was a real battle throughout the year between our top two finishers, Phil Gore & Kevin "BK" Matthews, with both giving it their it their all at events, and through contributions to the community - volunteering at multiple events, and submitting articles to our monthly newsletter, Ultramag. They finished within 2km of total distance for the year (Phil on 1203.087km, and Kevin on 1205.510km), and it was only Phil's final volunteering effort on 6 Inch Trail Marathon in December that gave him the that very narrow victory. As you'd be aware from previous communications, this marks the end of the Points Competition. With trail running (of all distances) now incorporated into AU T RA's constitution, and after careful consideration of the costs of the competition payouts in it's current form, the committee felt it was time for it's retirement. This marks my seventh and final year of delivering the points competition to membership (2018-2024), after taking on the role from Cheryl Symons. It has brought me great joy in doing so, and I feel like I've had an opportunity to get to know so many of our members through seeing their race (and volunteering) performances over the years! I'm continuing in my role as the AUS/NZL statistician for DUV (from whom we shared the data for the points comp), and you can expect to continue to find your ultra-race result on their site. 1st Place - Phil Gore (WA) - 86 points Phil's achievements this year have included a massive 265.653km (and 2nd place) at the IAU 24h Asia & Oceania Championships, wins at the Red Dirt Backyard Ultra (33 laps), the Australian leg of Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship (96 laps), and the Soochow/Taipei 24h Ultramarathon (270.826km). He also knocked out an easy (!) 72km at the Light Horse Ultra 24h in between supporting his amazing wife Gemma. Those two 24h wins netted Phil new Oceania 24h Open Male records, IAU Level 1 qualifiers, and pushed him to the top of Australia's 24h trophy board (with only the great Yiannis Kouros having run further). Phil topped-up his points by contributing one article to Ultramag, worked as an Event Director at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, and volunteered at a further five events through the year. He finished on 86 points. 2nd Place - Kevin Matthews (WA) - 84 points Finishing in 2nd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Kevin Matthews. He monstered his way through the year with finishes at Australia Day Ultra 100km, Delirious WEST 200mi, 24 laps at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, 190km at Light Horse Ultra 24h, 23 laps at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, and also completed Feral Pig 100 miler, Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km. And to top things off, he contributed five articles to Ultramag, and volunteered at five events. BK ran 1205km in Ultramarathon races this year, all of them AUTRA-listed, and surpassed 100 marathon finishes (including 51 Ultramarathons!) Kevin finished the year on 84 points, a massive 34 points ahead of our 3rd place finisher Sue Robertson. 3rd Place - Sue Robertson (WA) - 50 points Finishing in 3rd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Sue Robertson. Sue completed the Ultra Series 100 miler trilogy of Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST, and rounded out her year with the Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km races. She received 30 points from the racing at AUTRA-listed events, and was awarded a further 20 points by volunteering across eight events and contributing two articles to Ultramag, for a total of 50 points for the year. Thank you Sue! 4th Place - Margie Hadley (WA) - 47 points Finishing in 4th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Margie Hadley . She was the top-female finisher at both the No Time to Die Frontyard Ultra & Wild Dog Backyard Ultra, 2nd at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, ran 182km at the Australian 24h Track Invitational and placed 3rd at Coast to Kosci. Margie received 47 points in the competition 5th Place - Melissa Robertson (NSW) - 44 points Finishing in 5th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Melissa Robertson. Melissa took out 1st place at Irrational SOUTH 200 miler, 2nd place at Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place at Hume & Hovell 100 miler, 3rd place at Rumble in the Jungle and 6th place at Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko 100 miler! She also volunteered at the GNW 50km event, receiving 44 points in the competition! 6th Place - Aaron Young (WA) - 42 points Finishing in 6th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Aaron Young . Aaron finished in 1st place at each of the Ultra Series "Triple Crown" of 200 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), 55 laps at Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship, and rounded his year out with Feral Pig 100 miler. Aaron receives 42 points, just nudging ahead of Maree Connor (who also finished on 42 points) on a count-back 7th Place - Maree Connor (NSW) - 42 points Finishing in 7th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Maree Connor. Maree had an outstanding year, achieving 2nd place with 221km (and an IAU Level 1 qualifier) at the IAU 24th Asian and Oceania Championships, 1st place at the Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place with 67km at the Southern Sydney 6h race, and 1st place with 116km at the Narrabeen Allnighter 12h. Maree also competed at Spartathlon race this year (for which she contributed an article to the September Ultramag on her experience), receiving 42 points in the competition. 8th Place - Darren Linney (SA) - 41 points Finishing in 8th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is SA's Darren Linney . Darren completed 34 laps at No Time to Die BYU, 199km at the Adelaide 24h race, and 814km at the Australian 6 Day race, for a total of 1241km raced and 41 points . 9th Place - Tristan Cameron (WA) - 40 points Finishing in 9th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Tristan Cameron. Tristan completed the Ultra Series Triple Crown of 200 mile races (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), along with Feral Pig 100 miler, for a total of 1154km raced and 40 points. 10th Place - Jen Millum (WA) - 39 points Finishing in 10th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Jen Millum . Jen finished 1st at all three of the Ultra Series Trilogy of 100 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), and was 2nd female with 35 laps at the Wild Dog Backyard Ultra. With a volunteer stint at the Yaberoo Trail Ultra, Jen finished the year with 39 points in the competition. To view the complete list of members who secured points in 2024 click here and then follow through to Points Summary under the 2024 tab. All winners have already been contacted, with cash prizes distributed for 1st - 7th places, and AUTRA Store vouchers sent for 8th, 9th & 10th.