Copy of WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 20/6/2019

Kate Dzienis • June 10, 2019

IAU/ITRA Trail World Championships, Portugal
Cleland 50 (National Short Course Trail Championships), SA
Gold Coast 100, Qld

Saturday our team of determined Aussies raced in the IAU/ITRA Trail World Championships held in the stunning Mirandha de Corvo, Portugal, and what an eventful day it was!

In the women’s division there were 159 finishers with French runner Blandine Lhirondel claiming the title of 1st Female when she crossed the finish line in 4:06:17.

Aussie Stephanie Austin from Merimbula, NSW took an amazing 19th Female with a time of 4:33:58, and she certainly has something to celebrate as her result was the best by an Australian woman in world trails history!

Jodie Earl from Bullaburra, NSW held on to 77th Female with 5:15:12.

Sydney’s Sarah Ludowici took 104th Female (5:29:41), Jessica Collins from Margate, Tas claimed 137th (5:56:47) and Lauren Rooke from Coromandel Valley, SA stood tall with 142nd (6:12:14).

With 204 finishers in the male division, our very own Ryan Lowe from Macmasters Beach, NSW claimed 105th with his time of 4:25:19.

The male winner was Jonathan Albon from Great Britain who ran the distance in 3:35:34.

Cleland 50 (National Short Course Trail Championships)

The Cleland 50, held on Sunday in SA, also doubled as AURA’s National Short Course Trail Championships.

The 50km route covered three different loops, heading to Mt Lofty and down to Waterfall Gully Road, and is considered a tough race.

Despite having injury issues in the lead up, AURA’s John Csongei from Aberfoyle Park, SA went in with a number of goals in mind, including hope of a podium finish.

He secured 1st Male (Overall) in the race, as well as 1st Male in the National Championships listing, completing the course in 4:53:38 and said on his socials he was not expecting a win.

“Lacking the fitness to finesse my way through the course how I would have liked, I had some friendly company as I was caught up by other competitors at various points,” he said.

“But hey, the size of the engine is only one part of the equation, and it makes for an exciting race.”

AURA member Graham Tottey from Adelaide, SA secured 2nd Male in the National Championships listing, finishing the race in 6:32:05.

For the women, it was Hannah McRae from NSW who took 1st Female in the National Championships, only 1 minute 20 seconds off Csongei’s time. It was a double celebration for the ultra runner though, as she claimed 1st Female out of all participants and 2nd Overall – a spectacular effort on such an arduous course and a course best by an estimated 27 minutes!

Her time saw her finish the race in 4:54:57.

Continuing with placings in the women’s National Championships through the Cleland 50, Ina Schapiro claimed 2nd Female with 5:27:11, Vicky Rounding took 3rd Female in 7:02:58 and Glenda Banaghan held on to fourth (7:03:41) while Vicki Shaw claimed fifth (8:07:37).

Congratulations to AURA finishers with Japanese citizenships Kazu Kuwata (5:39:53) and Atsushi Ogai (6:26:47).

Gold Coast 50/100

On to the Gold Coast 50/100 held on Sunday, and what fantastic results from AURA members at the race. Marita Eisler from Woody Point, Qld secured 1st Female as well as top finisher overall with her incredible time of 8:26:11 in the 100km. Right behind her was Corrina Black from Mermaid Beach, Qld who took 2nd Female and 2nd Overall with her event finishing in 9:03:20.

Malcolm Gamble from Mordialloc, Vic claimed victory for the men taking 1st Male/3rd Overall in 9:09:32 whilst Mick Francis, travelling from WA, held on to 2nd Male and crossed the finish line in 9:23:54.

Congratulations also go to Pam Muston (10:59:21) who ran the 100km, and John Nuttall who finished the 50km race in 4:54:50.

The next two events on the AURA calendar will both be held on June 15, including the Sri Chinmoy 24 Hour Track Race (24hr, 12hr and 6hr) in Campbelltown, NSW and the last man standing format event Mirrim Wurnit Back Paddock Ultra in Romsey, Vic.

Pictured: The Australian team at the IAU/ITRA Trail World Championships in Mirandha de Corvo, Portugal. Photograph – Gary Mullins.

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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.