FROM THE EDITOR (2020)

Kate Dzienis • December 28, 2020

I think I speak for many of us when I say, thank goodness the year is nearly over.

What started out to be a cracker of a year…well, the signs started pretty early with the last few months of 2019 seeing eastern states bushfires devastate families and their livelihoods. They creeped into 2020, and our eyes were glued to every piece of media we could get our hands on to keep up-to-date on what was happening, and find out what we could do as a nation to help those who needed it most.

Later, in February, I recall tuning into Sky News and hearing of how a small village in China, Wuhan, had been hit with a life threatening virus called Coronavirus, and how people were locked up in their homes, unable to leave to go to work or school, socialise, shop…basically go about their daily lives.

Usually I look forward to March (birthdays and special events), but come middle-of-the-month, and Australia – ahem, the world – was thrown into chaotic disarray as the first known case of the Coronavirus strain COVID-19 hit shores internationally. In fact, the first Aussie death occurred right here in Perth, WA; an elderly man who lived less than 8km from my own home, so…yes, March was pretty much a write-off when the whole country went into lockdown.

Following this, of course, were the cancellations and postponements of races. I had been signed up for the 6hr Lighthorse Ultra which was meant to be held in April. It was supposed to be yet another attempt at reaching ultra distance for me, AND it just so happened that I was going to use it as my ‘We’re expecting baby number 2’ announcement – I was going have a photo taken of me wearing one finisher’s medal around my neck, and then holding another in front of my belly, with the caption ‘We both did it!’. The timing could not have been better.

I recall race director Shaun Kaesler sending various emails and updating the event’s Facebook page with information on whether or not he was going to go ahead with it all. Restrictions were in place, but in late March there was still hope among the general public that this would all fade away, life would return to normal, and events of all sorts would continue.

Sadly, there came a point where we all succumbed to the knowledge and the fact that COVID-19 was here for the long haul, and our favourite races began to get pulled off the calendars. We supported our race directors in their decisions, and frantically stocked up on toilet paper, canned goods as well as longlife milk. Parkruns across the country were cancelled – something completely unheard of and never done in its history; no one was allowed outside of their homes unless it was for essential items. We were indeed in the midst of a pandemic. Runners and walkers, at least here in Perth, could at first go about their business and still run in groups – at a distance of course, but eventually we couldn’t even do that. It was each to his and her own, and yelling ‘hello’ from a distance if we saw a friendly face.

There were no races, and in turn, no race reports. The word ‘iso’ started trending, and a Facebook page popped up titled Self Isolation Running which many of us, I am sure, followed and contributed to. Running circles around one’s home became the norm.

And then, hallelujah – the first races started to come back! The Elephant Trail Race, Birdy’s Backyard…slowly but surely, registrations for events began to sell out, especially with limited numbers to keep social distancing at bay. We are now in December (yay!) and although some restrictions are still in place, state borders are forever closing-opening-closing-opening, clusters are coming and going, the majority of us are ready to bring in the new year.

With not as much running happening for many of us in 2020, I have seen extraordinary determination and fortitude by a large number of AURA members who throughout the year have not let COVID-19 get them down. We have learnt not to take the little things for granted, and I’m sure that the ultra running scene will get even bigger and better as more and more people come to realise this.

Ultra runners are a special breed of human.

Personally, a big thank you to the AURA committee and all of the AURA community for your contributions this year – whether it was submitting a race report, sharing photos on our Facebook page, keeping us in the loop of your iso runs, messaging with a ‘hello, how are you doing?’ randomly, or just reading our Ultramag. You have all made an impact on me, and I love working with every one of you on your stories.

Cheers to an amazing 2021!

Kate Dzienis
AURA Marketing Officer & Editor

P.S. My future ultra runner and pandemic baby Benjamin was born on 4 November, 2020 weighing in at 4.63kg and measuring 49cms in length. We will be aiming for an M1 1km (or less) record in 2022 so keep an eye out for his name in lights 🙂

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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.