AXE IN THE HEAD DOESN’T STOP MACKAY FROM RACING

Kate Dzienis • May 31, 2019

Contributed by Julia Mackay, AURA member

Woodchopper’s Ultra, WA

I ran my first ultra last year and this was to be my fourth. My preparation for the 50km was not great – a tough week for different reasons; I got a cold on Thursday, and by Friday I was feeling really rough. I got off work a bit earlier and had a little down time before my great friend and running buddy Kylie Sherwin arrived at my house and we started the drive to Donnelly River. We didn’t arrive at the village though until after dark but got a great welcome from our fellow Cottage 13 folk. Number 13 and the name of our cottage was Harme – not terribly uplifting, but after a light supper Kylie and I hit the sack in the bedroom off the veranda and hoped for a good sleep.

Not to be unfortunately.

Some folk in other cottages missed the village rules about being quiet after 10pm because the music and general partying continued until after 2am. We woke up feeling a tad grumpy and very average, and my first thought was, ‘I think I’ll only do 12.5km today, one lap, that’s plenty.’

However after thawing out by the loungeroom fire, a good coffee and some porridge, I started to pick up. Once I had my costume on and Kylie and I headed over to the start/dinish line, all tiredness left me and I felt great – still not 100%, and I briefly toyed with the idea of doing a half, but I really wanted to crack my first ultra in my 60s and I knew that I would be disappointed if I went home with anything less than an ultra.

The atmosphere on the oval was incredible and seeing all the costumes and runners was such a pick-me-up! Kylie wanted to do a half, so I planned to stick with her and see how I felt.

The first lap was stunning.

Seeing the Great Karri Tree and running through the gorgeous scenery was amazing. The 12.5km turned into 13.5km and I mentally calculated that 50km was going to be 54km…I just parked that thought.

The course was absolutely magnificent with its gentle rolling hills and epic downhill runs. No spiders so even better. A heap of encouragement from other runners coming and going and the support from the folk at the start/finish line was brilliant. There were two large parties of people camped out behind their cottages which was right by the track leading into and out of the start/finish line and their encouragement (and amazement) was great. I never got sick of hearing ‘There’s an axe in your head!’ and ‘How many laps to go – keep going!’

Running with Kylie was fantastic – shooting the breeze, singing along to our respective songs and generally having a blast!

After lap two, Kylie decided to do one more lap to keep me company (thank you so much) plus a little extra so that she clocked a marathon. Once we finished lap three, there was no stopping and I knew wasn’t going home without my ultra done and dusted.

I was tired, my right knee was grumpy and it was starting to cool down, but I had a little chat to myself, reminded myself of some of the mantras I used, and put the run into perspective, grabbed some lollies and headed out for lap four.

What made this last lap wonderful was having ultra runner Harmony Waite and her gorgeous nine-year-old daughter Juliette for company as they were sweeping.

Lap four was tough, and it was freezing (note to self: take gloves next time). I walked most of the way, and I had moments of deciding that I was never doing this again. I questioned for the umpteenth time why the heck I did this.

I felt like crying, but after allowing myself to have a minute’s pity party, I stopped my internal whinging, and did a bit of mindfulness – I observed how different everything looked at night and how bright the toadstools were compared with the daytime.

And I was still moving.

Slowing but moving, nonetheless. I needed to hold onto Harmony a couple of times, but used the opportunity to pick her brains about Delirious WEST which she had run earlier this year, and the time flew by. Walking past the crowd of people still partying by the track and hearing one say “She’s still out there – keep going!” was lovely. Seeing the arch in the distance however, I started to run.

Seeing my tribe lined up and cheering me home was such a special moment and one that I will never forget. I’m slow – I call myself a Gigantor Tortoise Runner (like the Galapagos tortoises) but I don’t give up and I get there in the end.

Am so appreciative for the opportunity to do this run; very grateful for everyone’s patience and really chuffed for finishing and cracking a 54km ultra in my 60s!

Pictured: Julia Mackay at the Forest Series WA Woodchoppers Ultra, in costume. Photographs – 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.