GET TO KNOW YOUR 24HR ASIA & OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM – JOHN YOON

Kate Dzienis • November 26, 2018

MANY OF US ARE AWARE OF THAT FEELING AND THOUGHT PROCESS OF, ‘I’M NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN’, IN PARTICULAR WHEN WE FIRST STARTED ON OUR RUNNING JOURNEYS…OF WONDERING ‘WHY AM I DOING THIS’, AND STRUGGLING TO LEARN HOW TO RECOVER PROPERLY AFTER OUR FIRST LONG RACE.

John Yoon, 47, from Kensington in Victoria contemplated just that when he took on his first serious marathon event back in 2003, the Sydney Marathon – but look where he is today!

Yoon always loved sports, and says he ran ‘here and there’ like any casual runner, sticking to a plan for perhaps a week or two, then trailing off, then hitting the road again a couple times a week. But come 2002, and a friend completely changed his view on the sport.

“It was a mate of mine who completed the Sydney Marathon, and prior to this I seriously thought only professionals ran those sorts of distances, but it fascinated me,” he reveals.

“After a few months of really thinking about it, I signed up for the 2003 Sydney Marathon.

“After what I remember being a wishy-washy training regimen of about 40kms per week (I just didn’t think it was possible to do anymore), I struggled with the event. I finished it in about 4:20 and remember not being able to get out of bed for two days.

“I thought, never again, but ended up signing up again, and again, and again, and then managed to qualify for the Boston Marathon in 2012.

“I haven’t looked back since.”

That same year, Yoon heard a friend of his had finished the North Face 100 in the Blue Mountains, and as any runner would, signed up for it because it sounded ‘crazy’.

It was the race that started it all for him.

He completed his first ever ultra, the 100km, in a net time of 17:59:54.

“The North Face 100 kicked off the ultra running bug, and since then I’ve been lucky enough to travel and participate in a lot of big races like Tarawera, UTMB, UTMF, and Diagonale des Fous,” he says.

“In 2016 friend Donna Urquhart managed to talk me into signing up for my first 24-hour in Sydney, the C2K, which I thought was insane, but here I am having this year won the National 24hr Championships in Adelaide, and in the Australian Team for the Asian Championships.

“It goes to show that anything is possible if you put your mind to it, because as far as I’m concerned, I’m far from talented!”

Yoon claimed second overall behind a German runner at the 2018 Adelaide 24hr the weekend of July 14-15, winning the national title with 245.6kms.

He explains the fascination for him in a 24-hour race is how straightforward and uncomplicated the format is.

“It’s so simple, yet tough on the body and mind,” he says.

“There is no variation in surface, no hills, and full support of your crew at every lap, so it’s just you and the track and the clock.”

These days, Yoon is average between 100 and 140kms per week, peaking at 180kms with runs on a daily basis.

“I’m currently doing about 10 to 25kms on my weekday runs and then 30 to 70kms on Saturdays and Sundays; they’re mostly tempo style runs aimed at sustained a certain race pace,” he explains.

“Some lactate threshold-type sessions for the shorter sessions give me headroom while running at slower race pace, otherwise it’s about mileage to get my legs (and my mind) toughed up.

“I was so humbled and proud to get the call that I made the team, I’m extremely proud to be amongst all the great runners that I look up to. I never thought I’d be representing the country at anything.

“Thank you AURA and the ultra community for all your support, I’ll certainly give it my best on the day!

“Don’t litter, be good, and smile!”.

Yoon will be racing alongside his Australian team mates at the 2018 IAU 24hr Asia and Oceania Championships in Chinese Taipei the weekend of December 1-2.

Pictured (feature): John Yoon. Photograph – Supplied.

Pictured (above right) John Yoon competing in the 2018 Adelaide 24hr. Photograph – Simon Linden.

< 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.