COAST TO KOSCI NO. 5 FOR PEARSON

Kate Dzienis • December 28, 2020

Contributed by John Pearson, AURA Member

Coast to Kosciuszko, 4-6 December 2020, Eden NSW

The 2020 edition of C2K certainly didn’t disappoint! When I heard the race was back on the calendar I couldn’t wait to apply. The excitement of getting a place at the start line was quickly replaced with an anxious wait regarding the border closers (COVID-19).

After a long drive we were finally in Eden, catching up with many friends and creating many more. My goal this year, on a limited build up, was a conservative run, hoping to maintain a sub 30 streak.

The first 24km to reaching the crew was relaxed and felt good. This continued until around the 50km mark, the legs just felt a little heavy, nothing unusual around that time.

Then 2km up Big Jack I got a sudden calf cramp so I eased the pace back but then got another one on the other leg. I began throwing down extra electrolytes and #infinitoz.

After the 6km climb the legs were giving me a number of random cramps so we slowed the pace even more as we looked to up the fluids without causing any gut/nausea issues. I rolled into Cathcart at 70km, feeling dead in the legs, with the quads joining the cramping fiesta. I told the crew I was having concerns about getting rehydrated, my last pee being over 5 hours earlier, despite swallowing 2 litres in under 2 hours.

The temperature was apparently 29 degree C, with a dry wind disguising the energy stepping warmth. A further 2 hours of slow, laboured run/walking passed before I could finally water the grass. By this stage the challenge was not what time I would finish, but to survive and rebuild, to ensure we reached that summit.

I slowly got some rhythm back in the legs and pushed on from around the 90km mark, enjoying a decent run to Dalgety at 148km.
Craig R Smith and Jack Pearson enjoyed running under the bright stars into the checkpoint, before Dan Symonds took over for the long haul, over the Beloka Range into Jindabyne.

The sun was rising over the lake as we headed into town, normally we are around perisher at sunrise, on a decent run.
At least we got to see a different section of the course in daylight.

It was great having Jack accompany me up the long climb from Jindy, his enthusiasm was so motivating. Dan joined me after Sawpit Creek until a few km before Charlottes. One by one we ticked off the landmarks, pay gates, sponers, smiggens, perisher and finally Charlottes Pass. The crew was ready and waiting, all equipped with mandatory gear and we headed off to the summit in bright sunshine, in shorts, t-shirts and sunnies.

I know mandatory gear is often questioned as being an overkill, especially in such nice weather, but it proved to be so vital just a couple of hours later. The march to the top was slow and steady, my feet battered by the extra walking and gait changes due to the cramping. We finally made it to the top as wind gusts increased by the minute.

A few quick photos and we turned to head back; stumbling over the boulders caused another major spasm fest in the legs.

Suddenly the sky went ink black and the crew decided to get us wrapped up just as the rain started to hit. Within minutes the temperature plummeted to about 10 degrees C, the wind driving the sleet horizontally. We staggered very slowly, bracing against the huge wind gusts towards the toilet block 2km down from the summit.

Not one of us was not shivering uncontrollably as we quickly took off the wet gear and put on any extra layers available before huddling together wrapped in tinfoil space blankets. We tried to get phone calls out, to the race officials but unfortunately had no signal. We sent texts in the hope they may get out. We waited two hours, as the winds and rains battered the steel door.

After a group discussion we decided to push on a further 1.5km down to the better equipped Seamans Hut as we were still shivering and unable to get warm. We were confident we would get phone reception there too. We were greeted by a number of other runners and a warm stove. We were told we should stay there until vehicles arrived to ferry us the remaining 5.5km back to the finish line.

So with 234.5km covered our running journey came to an end.

Eventually a vehicle arrived and ferried groups back to Charlottes Pass. We finally flopped onto the beds at the Jindy Hotel around 9.15pm Saturday, so much had happened since the 5.30am start the day before. Despite all of the above, we all still had such a great adventure, rose to the many new challenges that got thrown our way and most importantly we still managed to keep the smiles…well most of the time.

It was great to experience the lows and highs that this event serves up continuously, with such great mates and my son Jack. Thank you, to the great team of race officials, for bringing back this Iconic race and enforcing that vital mandatory gear. Thanks to all the runners and crews, the mutual support and encouragement is always a highlight of this event.

I wonder what Coast to Kosci 2021 has in store.

Pictured: AURA members John Pearson, Simone Hayes and Stephen Redfern at the C2K presentations. Photograph – Supplied.

< 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.