Avery’s attempt at 24hr Guinness Record

Kate Dzienis • February 26, 2022

The body is capable of more than we know. As ultra runners, you would know the brutal physical and mental motivation it takes to push yourself further and further than the last race; how when you want to get to that finish line, everything you’ve worked hard for comes to fruition and every single ounce of blood, sweat and tears showcases your vulnerability like never before.

On March 12, Mark Avery from Newington, NSW will be hopping onto a treadmill and attempting to break Luca Turrini’s 2017 24hr treadmill record of 261.180km (ratified by Guinness World Records). Turrini had surpassed the previous record by 780 metres – and now Avery wants to take it one step further, by aiming for 265km in the space of 24 hours.

To start at the beginning, Avery tragically lost a friend to cancer in 2015, and found himself struggling to cope with the loss. Dealing with depression, anxiety and stress at the time, he soon discovered a comfort in running and so his journey to ultras was just beginning.

Since 2017, Avery (41) has stacked his cards high with a number of races, including conquering his first marathon that year. He’s since accomplished varying 42.2km, 50km and 100km runs, and this year has been focusing on time on feet to prepare for his treadmill challenge, which is raising money for his charity of choice – Outrun Cancer.

“Running brought me out of the darkness,” he says.

“It gave me hope and filled me with purpose to attempt extraordinary things for myself and for charities and causes that I’m passionate about.”

Getting ready for the fundraiser has been no easy feat. Avery has been listening to his body to ensure proper nutrition needs are met, and has been working closely with current record holder Turrini for advice as well as Mark Green, his coach from The Body Mechanic. He has been focusing on multiple-hour runs, completing a 12hr earlier this year at his local gym, and has put together a crew including two good mates and his wife.

“Keeping things simple is what works for me,” Avery explains.

“Just slowing down to eat rather than trying to eat while running; I’d found it difficult to digest when I did that previously. The plan will be to run in half hour blocks throughout the entire 24hr and then have a 1-2 minute walk break so I know that’s something I’ll be looking forward to.

“To cover the 265km, that’s an average of about 11km per hour, but to accommodate for the walking breaks as well as toilet breaks I need to be running at 12km per hour/5-minute k’s. If all goes to plan, I could drop down to 11.5km per hour in the second 12 hours – am hoping for a bit of a buffer at the end.”

Avery says he has done everything according to his training plan, which was devised by his coach, and wants to make sure he doesn’t overthink things.

“Sometimes things have gone wrong during my training runs, but that’s given me a lot of confidence actually,” he says.

“I haven’t got it all perfect, of course, and I know that if things go wrong I just have to dig myself out of those holes and troubleshoot. I’m exactly where I need to be right now. And look, anything can happen in 24 hours, but I feel as though I’m in the best place to give this a red hot crack.

“I actually feel relaxed right now, and am looking forward to the lead up for the big day.”

For those wanting to support Avery during his record attempt, it will kick off from 10am at Concord Bowls Club in Sydney’s Inner West; the event will be open to the public and there will be entertainment for the whole family.

Avery’s treadmill attempt will be livestreamed on the Outrun Cancer website with information released on the site closer to the date.

To donate to the cause, visit here.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

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.