COBURG 24HR RACE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Kate Dzienis • April 26, 2018

Contributed by Tim Erickson, Race Director, Coburg 24hr Festival

A total of 56 athletes (34 runners and 22 walkers) toed the line for the midday start on Saturday, April 21 in the 35th annual staging of the iconic Victorian ultra event, the Coburg 24hr Festival. The forecast promised good weather and it proved correct. The first few hours were still, warm and sunny, until late afternoon cloud cooled competitors. A cold and misty night was followed by another sunny day, but again not too hot.

The 24hr Run saw clear wins to Nikki Wynd (201.290km) and Daragh O’Loughlin (217.260km). In the women’s race, little separated the three runners for the first six hours, but from then on Nikki gradually drew clear, never to be challenged.

In the men’s race, Philip Balnave led for the first eight hours, with Stuart Hughes in pursuit. As the night set in Philip slowed, to be overtaken first by Donald Bailey and then by Daragh O’Loughlin. Daragh took the lead just before the 12-hour mark, which he passed with 116.8km. From then on, he increased his lead hour by hour, running to a comfortable win. Kay Bretz ran a strong second half to take silver with an inaugural 24hr distance of 212.660km. Third placed Donald Bailey also excelled, bettering the 200km barrier with an inaugural distance of 205.636km. Shaun Moore, in fourth place, confirmed his C2K qualifier with a PB 183.249km. The next two places were filled by runners contesting their first 24-hour track races, with Stuart Hughes 182.372km and Joel Claxton (our equal youngest runner at 23 years of age) 181.229km.

The walk divisions had an international flavour with entrants from Belgium, Netherlands, the Isle of Man and USA joining their Australian counterparts. The women’s 24-hour race saw an easy win to Dutch walker Gertrude Achterberg. She had passed the halfway mark with 85.146km and looked set for a big total. Alas, she slowed in the second half, finishing with 138.040km. Dawn Parris walked strongly as always to take second with 131.745 km. Lorraine Billett impressed with her third place distance of 101.378km, setting four new W70 Australian walking records along the way.

In the men’s 24hr walk, Justin Scholz and Colin Heywood headed out fast with Chris Burn in close pursuit. Justin’s pace was too demanding for the others and they gradually gave ground in their chase. He passed the half way mark with an impressive 97.7km, nearly 5km clear of Colin and a further 1km clear of Jantinus Mients and Chris. The race complexion changed when Justin retired just after the 14-hour mark. By then, Colin, Jantinus, Chris and Adrie Ross had come together and were within two laps of each other. They stayed within touch of each other until the final hours, when Chris eventually pulled clear, reaching the 100-mile mark with 22:08:09 and then retiring, with his goal achieved. Jantinus was next to reach the 100 mile mark, with 22:25:34, then he too retired. The same was the case for Adrie Ross with 22:33:31 followed by race retirement. Colin was next to reach the 100-mile mark with 22:46:53 but he then surprised by doing one further lap before retiring, thus ensuring a win in the 24hr race.

But it is fair to say that the 24hr placings were of minor importance to these walkers, with their new Australian Centurion statuses of greater significance.

The 24hr walks also hosted the Racewalking Australia 100km walk championships, with placings as shown below.

RWA 100km Walk Championship Men

Justin Scholz Vic 12:18:45
Colin Heywood NT 12:53:08
Jantinus Meints NED 13:04:51

RWA 100km Walk Championship Women

Gertrude Achterberg NED 14:20:01
Dawn Parris Vic 18:40:22
Lorraine Billett SA 23:01:14

The meet also included 12hr and 6hr Run and Walk Championships. The 12hr races started at midday on Saturday and were held alongside the 24hr but with competitors in lane 3 rather than in lane 1. The races saw outstanding performances from Mal Gamble (a new M50 12H Australian record and PB of 137.763km), Ken Marsh (a PB 115.298km) and Bernadette Benson (a W45 6hr Canadian record of 72.329 km).

The 6hr races, which started at 6am on the Sunday morning, also produced their own highlight, with Kevin Muller breaking his own Australian M45 6hr run record with 81.414 km

The perpetual trophies were awarded as follows:

Victorian 24 Hour Track Champion: Daragh O’Loughlin (Vic)
Coburg Endurance Award: Lorraine Billett (SA)
Jim Gleeson Trophy: Justin Scholz (Vic) and Gertrude Achterberg (NED)
Jack Webber Trophy: Chris Burn (IOM)

A number of masters walking records were provisionally set as follows:

Joel Claxton
M20 100 miles Run: 20:04:22
M20 24hr Run: 191.229km

Bernadette Benson
W45 6hr Run: 73.329kms

Malcolm Gamble
M50 12hr Run: 137.763km

Kevin Muller
M45 6hr Run: 81.414km

Lorraine Billett
W70 12hr Walk 65.154km
W70 50 miles Walk 16:33:21
W70 100km Walk 23:01:14
W70 24hr Walk 101.378kms

A final note of thanks to the many people who deserve special mention

Heather (and family!) and Bertha in the canteen – what a superb job!
Bernie Goggin who shared the overall event management load with me.
The Coburg 24hr Committee members who were on deck for so much, if not all, of the event.
The other volunteers, many of them Coburg Harriers members, who helped with event setup or pulldown or who came for periods during the race to help out.
Philip van Duren for singlet design and delivery and financial sponsorship via his travel company ‘The Outdoor Traveller’.
Michael Gillan for his dedicated work as masseur this year, and for many years past.
Robyn and Brett Saxon of TrailsPlus for their event recording. They extended their chip system to cover six lanes this year, and it worked seamlessly for our lane 1, 3 and 5 competitors. They also used a new software system that they have recently purchased and it was far superior to the previous one, allowing a much greater variety and timeliness of reports, etc. Anyone who came for a look could not help but be impressed by the enhancements on show this year. To have the results confirmed and printed out a few minutes after the final gun goes is an amazing thing when I think back to our old manual days, with Mark and Brian sweating it out behind the scenes.
Centurions Michelle Thompson, Terry and Karyn O’Neill and Stu Cooper who looked after our overseas walkers with their own big multi-tent area at the top of the track.
Billy Pearce who looked after our first aid needs for the first 12 hours.
Our fantastic long term first aid support Libby Ravalli was unable to come this year, so Bernie organised for the Western Sports Trainers Assn to take responsibility for the second 12 hours of the event. In particular, we were very fortunate to have Sam Fenech on duty for the last 6 hours. Sam is known to many of us for his work with Athletics Victoria and was a wonderful resource to have on deck for the final few hours of the 24H and for the immediate post-event period. As can be seen, it takes a lot of dedication and enthusiasm to put on an event like this. Well done everyone and see you all again next year for the 2019 Coburg 24 Hour Carnival.

Full results, along with lapsplits for all competitors, are available here.

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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.