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Aiming for an elusive 240km at Southern Sydney

September 26, 2024

southern sydney 24 hour ultra - 31 august 2024 - sydney, nsw

contributed by michael griffin, autra member (taringa, qld)

On Saturday, 31 August 2024, I took on the Southern Sydney 24-hour track ultra, hoping to crack the elusive 240km mark. My journey to this event had started several months earlier in June when a bout of COVID in the weeks prior had derailed an attempt at the Butter 24 hour event up on the Gold Coast. Within hours of finishing the event, disappointingly short of my goal, I was Googling more 24 hour races on the east coast and landed on the SS24. Getting in touch with the race director I learned that the event was sold out, but I should join the waitlist. Preparing and training in readiness I eventually had confirmation – I was in!

On the weekend of the event, the weather was not what was expected for this time of year. We had gusts of up to 40km/h, which meant our gazebos were at constant risk of becoming airborne, and the temperature hit 26°C. But out there on the track, it felt more like 30+ with no shade in sight – I definitely missed having trees around!

The race kicked off at noon, and it was already warm. I kept a comfortable pace, trying not to concern myself about the rockets who shot out of the gate and just focus on my own race. My nutrition plan was working well – I'd made my own carb drink, and it was doing its job keeping me hydrated in the heat. Communication with Bronwyn, my amazing support crew, was Formula 1-level smooth. She had everything dialled in perfectly, passing me nutrition on the run and making sure I stayed fuelled to our plan without missing a beat. We’d planned a combination of principally energy drink, baby food and flat Coke for later and so far it was working well.

The wind was relentless, but at least it was only a headwind on half the track. For the other half, I got to enjoy a tailwind, which was a small blessing. Every time it picked up, though, I had a moment of anxiety about whether our gazebo was going to stay put – thankfully, it did.

The first few hours felt good. I was running efficiently, chatting with other runners, and making a few new friends which is a great thing about the format of the 400m track events. No-one is ever out of eye-sight of each other and regardless of how many kilometres you’ve covered, you’re all still bunched together and within smiling range.

During the afternoon and evening, the 6 hour and 12 hour events were finishing up. I was excited to see that running buddy Carol had broken an NZ national record which was very impressive given the conditions. Although I felt a little envious of her being done for the day, I still had my own goal to chase! As the sun dipped, the temperature dropped fast. I still felt pretty warm, but the support crews started pulling out beanies and puffer jackets. One bonus of running: you stay warm while everyone else freezes!

Night-time also meant the appearance of the infamous cheese toasties from the aid team. Tempting as they were, I stuck to my plan and politely declined – maybe next time. For now I’d be sticking with my plan. Around this point Bronwyn took a brief break, leaving me in the care of our next-door neighbours Carley and Gary. This was incredibly generous of them and a testament to how inclusive and friendly the ultra-running community is.

The night wore on, and by 12:30 am, when Bronwyn returned, I’d hit 130 km. It was then I realized my goal of 240 km was slipping out of reach, but I kept pushing at a pace I knew I could hold. My feet were holding up well, and there were no signs of cramping, a testament to our electrolyte strategy, run coaching and the strength and conditioning work leading up to this event.

Dawn came as a relief – not just because it meant daylight, but because I could hear the birds waking up. Plus, it meant the return of the coffee van! Although I was happy to continue to get my caffeine from flat Coke, I know the support crews would have been happy for some hot, nourishing coffee. Adding to the vibe, the 3-hour runners had joined us on the track, bringing some much-needed fresh energy.

I crossed the 200 km mark at 9:30 am, which was a huge personal milestone being my previous maximum distance. From there, it was time to grind out as many more laps as possible, running as much as I could with walking breaks thrown in. By 11:30, though, my body had given everything it had. Flashing vision and extreme fatigue hit hard, so I took a breather, regrouped, then collected myself for one last lap.

As for the goal? I came close but not quite. I managed to cover 212 km, which was good enough for second place overall and a new personal best for me in this format. Despite not achieving what I’d set out to, I’m really proud of how it went down, especially considering the tough conditions that made the race more of a physical challenge than I’d anticipated.

In the end, I’m proud of the effort. Bronwyn was an absolute rockstar throughout – this is 100% a team effort and there’s no way I’d have been able to achieve the distance I did without her keeping me fuelled, warm, cooled and motivated. Huge thanks to my coach Jodie O’Borne, strength and conditioning coach Erin at Healthfit Coaching and Gaby at IntensEatFit for nutrition training. We didn’t quite get there but we are on the way – let the science experiment continue! Thanks also to Race Director Stephen, the amazing volunteers at the event and of course all the other runners and support crews. Despite the fact we know it’s going to hurt, despite the emotional rollercoaster we know is coming, we give it our all and come together to achieve something truly amazing.

Now, it’s time to recover – starting with the cheeseburger and fries on the drive back to the hotel!

For the numbers people, here's some stats from the event.

Kilometres run: 212.381
Hours of running: 24
Calories burned: 16,360
Litres of energy drink consumed: 8.5
Number of baby foods consumed: 8
Weight lost from the event: 4.7kg
Number of toenails lost: 0 (so far… 3 are looking very sketchy)

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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.