AUSTRALIA DAY ULTRA RACE DIRECTOR REPORT

Kate Dzienis • January 29, 2018

Contributed by Ron Mcglinn, Race Director, Australia Day Ultra

Leading up to the 4th instalment of the Australia Day Ultra event on January 20, a number of runners had put it out there that they were going to have a shot at breaking various age group records and personal milestones. The fast, flat course did not disappoint once again.

The temperature was predicted to be somewhere around 17C overnight, however the breeze did pick up slightly, and cooled it down to somewhere in the vicinity of 10-12C….perfect running conditions, while being shielded by the paperbark trees along the estuary.

Bernadette Benson had been training to break her own race record set back in 2015 of 8:32:00 and attempting to better her age group record of 8:22 for the 100kms event. Kevin Matthews had made no secret of his attempt break his 50+ age group time set by Bryan Smith in 1995 of 7:58:38, and Richard Avery was chasing that elusive sub 7hr prize after his 7:35:56 scorcher from last year.

As midnight ticked over, Alexis Oosterhoff sent the 100kms runners off into the night, a sea of hi-vis vests and headlights. It was obviously very early on that Bernadette, Kevin and Richard were all smashing out consistent laps with all three looking very good in the early stages, all putting in speedy 12.5kms laps. The mood was light and relaxed as the runners crossed the mat after each lap, however at the 50kms mark, crossing the mat in 3:30 Richard was starting to labour after a nasty fall. At the 62.5kms point Richard regrettably called it a day, leaving Big Kev and Bernadette out there to chase their goal times. Both looked great all the way through with only slight pace drops in the last couple laps, but otherwise dream runs if you were going to label them anything.

As the sun came up over the estuary, Kevin bolted home with a brilliant time of 7:47:33, beating the old age group record by roughly 11 minutes, with Jon Pendse trailing close behind after hanging onto Kevin’s dust cloud in 8:06:50, followed closely by Bernadette (overall 3rd) with a new course record of 8:27:47. Although B missed out on the 8:22 she was after on the day, she had set another Canadian Age Group record and thoroughly showed us she is just lifting the bar with each run.

The 50kms runners were set off at 3am, with a number hoping to finish in sub 4:30 to make the pilgrimage into Bunbury to the local parkrun (which is a bit of a tradition). A last minute entrant, Wayne Spies contacted me to see if I could find a spot for him, as he was in the area, and wanted to use ADU as a training run for an upcoming event. I have to say that it was certainly impressive watching him break the course record and tuck a 3:19:03 into his belt, all the while looking like he was running down to the letterbox to post a letter.

As the sun came up and broke over the estuary and black swans, I was taken back by how many great performances I was privileged to be a witness to. As a race director you quite often get lost in the day to day running of these events which starts months in advance, but having two great friends (Alexis Oosterhoff and Shaun Kaesler) to help race direct on the day gave me the opportunity to be more a part of the atmosphere of the event, and to share in the personal triumphs of the runners as they slogged it out, out there.

Watching Sue Robertson cross under an arch of our arms to a standing ovation for her first 100kms in a time of 14:13:13 was something quite special. To be able to shed a tear with the competitors as they received an award for the Longest Day (last person on course under cut off), and break through a barrier they once never thought they would, was a truly fantastic moment and something that inspires me and the other RDs here in the wild west, to keep investing into the sport and the people.

I don’t know a better bunch of people to hang out with, and here’s hoping the pikers from this year get back to ADU next year and kick the ass out of those barriers. Even those loonies who are backing up for their 5th in a row!

Ron Mcglinn

Featured Picture: AURA member Chris Lark set in a comfortable pace to take second overall in the 50kms event at ADU. Photograph – Supplied.

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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.