A Wet and Wild 24 hours: the crew's perspective

April 29, 2024

iau 24h asia and oceania championships - 6 april 2024 - ais, canberra, act

contributed by hayley boneham, aura member

As race week approached, the excitement grew palpable as each of us embarked on our journey across the country to converge in Australia’s capital. It felt like a reunion of old friends for John, Maree, Michael, Alicia, Matt, Cassie, Jenny, Grant, Su Yi, Jono, Justin, and me, warmly welcoming newcomers Luke, Lauren, Gemma, and Phil to our team.

The newcomers quickly adapted, and initially, we found ourselves engrossed in socialising, momentarily losing sight of our purpose for being there. My primary responsibility? Keeping Maree and Michael in top shape and ensuring they stuck to their race plans. No pressure, right?

My duties kicked off early on Thursday morning when they were scheduled for a press conference. While both are comfortable talking underwater, facing the camera posed a new challenge. I had a mere 15 minutes to provide media training and equip them with talking points for the conference. They did quite well - here’s the link if you’d like to watch!

The remainder of my time was consumed by meetings, food shopping, and preparing Michael’s meals. Luckily, I found time to fit in a few runs around Lake Ginninderra—a stunning body of water teeming with wildlife, and a popular spot for Belconnen residents to get their daily exercise. But back to the food prep—some athletes fuel on gels and liquids, but not Michael. Mashed potato, sandwiches, fried rice - the Jet Boiler proved its worth tenfold!

The day before the race, excitement mounted with the Opening Ceremony as our athletes, dressed in their green and gold attire proudly carried our flag across the AIS grounds and onto the stage alongside fellow competitors. Afterward, we bonded over a delicious team dinner, sharing laughter and camaraderie before returning to our accommodation for final race preparations and some well-deserved rest.

Our accommodation initially felt dreamy—comfortable beds, all the amenities, conveniently located—until it turned into a nightmare when the smoke alarm blared at 11:30 pm, and we were all evacuated from the building. Who doesn’t love a spontaneous fire drill right before a big race?

Come morning, we dragged our tired selves out of bed into pouring rain at 7am, lugging suitcases and equipment across the AIS track while the athletes stayed dry at the hotel.

Setting up camp amidst puddles and rain, we transformed our humble marquee into a crew tent fit for an F1 pit stop. Not wanting to get too wet, our athletes arrived fashionably late, and we sprang into action to assist with final preparations for the gruelling 24-hour race.

Now, let me paint a picture of this race for you: imagine running around a 400m track for 24 hours—a feat of mind-boggling endurance, made even harder by Canberra's unpredictable weather, which experiences four seasons in a day. We experienced torrential rain for the first 4 hours of the race followed by blazing sun, 22 degrees Celsius, no wind, and 79% humidity. At the first sight of sunshine, we rushed outside the tent to hang out the athletes' wet clothes over makeshift clotheslines and chairs, only to hurriedly bring them back in 3 hours later as the weather shifted once more, and the rain returned. For the remainder of the race, rain persisted throughout the night.

Despite this, our athletes began the race strong. However, as the weather shifted, so did the challenges they encountered. Throughout the gruelling event, our athletes confronted a myriad of obstacles—cramping, dehydration, injury, nausea, and even bouts of exorcism-style vomiting.

Right from the start, poor Grant was hit with a sudden quad injury, while Alicia faced persistent foot issues that kept Lauren and Justin on their toes throughout the race.

Michael and Maree kept me busy, requiring fuelling and hydration every 15 minutes before Michael suffered cramps for two hours, prompting increased electrolytes, stretching, shoe changes—everything to ease his discomfort. He picked up the pace until nausea struck, leading to four hours of relentless vomiting. Unfortunately, this triggered a chain reaction, with Maree and Jenny also grappling with nausea and vomiting.

The chaos somehow spilled over to athletes from other countries who weren't prepared for the sudden weather change. Glancing across the track, I witnessed a surreal sight—athletes desperately hurling themselves off the track in search of toilets, bins, or a patch of grass. Sadly, no amount of rain could wash away the aftermath, so the surroundings took on an unintended artistic flair.

Despite the challenges, the crew rallied together, turning the crew tent into an emergency room as we treated and troubleshooted each issue, sending the athletes back out promptly each time. Simone and Ewan were phenomenal during this period—jumping in to help us solve issues, heat up food, and even massage Grant! The camaraderie was inspiring, and our goal was clear - get all 10 athletes to the finish line. No matter what.

After pulling out all the stops, we managed to keep all athletes on the track, albeit some walking and hobbling around. The women’s team rallied together, demonstrating true teamwork and grit, with Maree leading from behind, pushing Cassie and Jenny to achieve personal bests and break away further from second place New Zealand who were nipping at their heels.

The men found themselves in second place throughout the race, engaging in a fierce battle with first - place India. Mayhem continued to ensue in the final hours as all athletes, worn out and exhausted, approached the home stretch. However, a beacon of sportsmanship emerged from Grant and the Australian men’s team. Realising that our top three male runners were slowing down in the final hour due to mental challenges and exhaustion, Grant summoned his remaining strength and began pacing Luke, John, and Phil. The pace train stretched across the track, inspiring India's Amar Singh Devanda to join in. Grant maintained the pace for the entire final hour, pushing the men and helping Phil to achieve a personal best and a Continental record.

Despite setbacks, we emerged stronger and closer as a team. I am immensely proud of the crew and athletes for representing their country, supporting each other, and promoting this incredible sport. Special mention goes to Matthew Eckford for bringing this amazing race to Australia and putting on a spectacular event.

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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.