REDFERN RECAPS THE SRI CHINMOY 48HR

Kate Dzienis • March 31, 2021

Contributed by Stephen Redfern, AURA NSW State Representative

Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour Track Ultra (2021 AURA National 48hr Championships), 26-28 March 2021 (AIS, Canberra)

I finished in 2nd place with a total and new distance PB for a single race of 326.441km. I was so happy to reach the 200 miler mark for the 48 hour.

Congratulations to AURA president Ewan Horsburgh for making this a great race and taking out the win. What a race he ran, and it was so enjoyable trying to chase him down for the entire 48hrs, for which I was never able to do.

Wow what a race this was.

With a bigger running plan leading into the middle of 2022, this was the first race in the build-up to bigger things for next year.

Having had my interest, I’ve wanted to give the 48hr track race a go for a number of years now after doing a few 24hr races, but up until this year had never been able to find where to fit one in.

Heading into the race I had a pretty good training block trying to keep my running consistent and to not over do the weekly km so as to be able to head into the race fresh and not fatigued.

The weekend in Canberra was just brilliant, with the weather perfect for being out on the track for 48 hours. The days were shaping up to be around the low 20s with the nights a little colder at around the 5-6 degree mark, which was still great if you kept moving.

On top of the great weather, what also made this one of the best events I’d run is all the great friends, colleagues and runners being there to share the experience.

But onto the race itself.

It certainly is completely different to what I have experienced before. Effectively it’s running 2 x 24hr track races back to back, but they could not have been more different for each day running.

I went into the race with a set run strategy and also a set nutrition plan, which I felt in the end they both were just perfect.

The plan was to do a 20min set of an 18-2 run walk strategy with the 2 min walk always lining up for when I was to take my nutrition. I was going to do this for as long as I could and then adjust with more planned walks as the race progressed if need be.

What transpired was that the plan worked perfectly for the entire race and even though the pace may have slowed down, I was able to keep up the 18-2 run walk for the entire race, with the nutrition plan also not changing for the entire time as well.

For the first 24hrs, I was able to reach the 200km mark, but found the next 24hrs was such a contrast and managed to complete 126km to give me the total of 326k in the end.

Not quite how I saw the second day go, but what a learning curve it was with how the body handled the track on that 2nd day.

Despite all this, I felt I had a great race, with my overall plan working really well and at no point did I ever find the race or time out on the track boring at all.

I chose to listen to my music during the first evening, and even managed to cycle through all 240 songs on the iPod, and then found I was enjoying the race after that to the point where I didn’t need my music anymore.

It was fantastic to be able to share the track with the other races of the weekend, having company on the 1st day with the 24hour runners and then the 12 and 6 hour runners joining on the 2nd day for their races. Every time they started it seemed to pick up everyone’s spirits.

My nutrition plan went perfectly to schedule and I didn’t need to change what I was doing for the whole 48hrs.

My main nutrition was Tailwind for the race which I took in 150ml bottles every 20mins and then for every 6th lot at the end of each 2 hours it was a free choice of normal fluids and a small snack.

For the entire race I went through a staggering 108 bottles of tailwind which ended up being 16.2lts (4 scoops per litre) or a total of 64 scoops. With this plan I still found that I was enjoying this even in the last hours of the race

As always a massive thanks for all the support from Tailwind Nutrition Australia who have supported me the whole way.

For my shoes, I went with the HOKA ONE ONE Mach 4 as being my main shoe and having the Clifton’s and Bondi as my back up changes.

I did cycle through all 3 pairs, but in the end it was the Mach’s I wore the most with using them for the first and last 12 hours of the race and also a 5 hour stint in the middle. Other than one blister between 2 toes that was tended too on the 2nd night, the feet faired up really well.

I had decided to use my combo of the T8 shorts and undies for the race with the idea of doing a change say each 12 hours with a clean fresh pair. This was not needed at all and ended up staying in the same pair for the entire race without a single issue. Having used them now for about the last 15 months, I certainly can’t rate these items highly enough.

And how can I forget the massive support over the entire race from the crew, with an absolute massive thank you to both Penny (Red Pen) and Simone Hayes who took care of me over the entire weekend, despite Penny not feeling the best and Simone also running in the 6hr as well.

Now enjoying the recovery and looking forward to the build-up for the next main race being the 6 day in Adelaide in September and then onwards to June 2022.

Pictured – Stephen Redfern in the Sri Chinmoy 48hr Track. 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.