GLORIOUS RESULT FOR CLIFTON AT UTMB 170KM

Kate Dzienis • October 1, 2022

Contributed by Lou Clifton, AURA member

UTMB 170km, CHAMONIX (FRANCE), 26 August 2022

UTMB is probably one of the best known trail races in the world. Started in 2003, its popularity quickly soared from 700 entrants to now over 2,500. This despite being regarded as one of the hardest mountain races, following the Tour du Mount Blanc walking track for 171km and with more than 10,000m of elevation (and descent) through France, Italy and Switzerland.

I’d never had UTMB high on my bucket list of races as I really like smaller, lower key and more quirky events. But in 2019 I had a couple of good race results in the Ultra Trail World Tour (1st female at Cappadocia Ultra Trail and 2nd at Ultra Trail Mount Fuji) and was offered an entry to UTMB in 2020. Of course COVID put a stop to that and by 2022 Ultra Trail World Tour had been replaced by the UTMB series, I still had my entry but also a knee injury following a year of hamstring tendon issues.

We planned a four month trip to encompass seeing my family in the UK, the Mozart 100 in Austria as a ‘warm up race’, training in Spain with friends and a lot of training on the UTMB. When my husband was hit by a car whilst cycling to the first aid station in the Austria race everything was up in the air. He spent a month in hospital with bad injuries and in between daily visits I carried on training in Salzburg on the city flats and mountainous surrounds. We decided to go to France (via Italy where we spent a few nights with my amazing coach and her family) and see how we felt. I carried on training, running all of the UTMB course over a couple of weeks. Then our amazing friends Annie and Matt came to help Steve crew, so we were on! The only issue now was my knee. Having had good training runs and really painful ones, I decided I had to start and be prepared to pull out if the pain was too bad.

Start lines are always nerve wracking but UTMB is next level. The crowds, music and energy was intense! I was able to start in a pen behind the faster runners’ pen so there was space and it wasn’t too crowded when we took off. There were plenty of women passing me in the first 20km but with a very long race ahead I focused on running my race at my pace. The route pretty much goes up and down mountains for 170km and I had done all the climbs, which helped although at night following the fluorescent markers up, some of the climbs seemed way longer than in training. My main outcome goal (other than finishing) was to podium in my age group (50-54) but I knew there were strong women in my category. I also hoped to run under 30hrs.

I could only see my crew for assistance at five of the 15 aid stations and had told them not to bother with the first two as they were hard to reach. So I first saw Steve, Annie and Matt at 80km, Courmayer. I spent a bit of time eating, changing socks and getting ready for the next leg. Later I saw I had spent 20 minutes which is 18 more minutes than I usually spend at aid stations! I was quite slow in the aid stations in this race as I rarely had crew to hurry me up, often sitting down for a few minutes to empty my pockets to see what I needed to still eat. If I did it again, I would definitely move through faster.

I had times in mind for some aid stations, both for my crew and for me to target sub30. I was a little way behind at Courmayer but by the time I got to Champex at 126.5km I had lost my ability to do basic maths and had no idea how I was tracking (I was about an hour behind my best case goal). The last climb (which I had done twice in training) was difficult in the dark and I wasn’t looking forward to the rocky technical section across the top and equally difficult descent with wrecked quads and a knee that had had hated every downhill from the start. I thought I was looking at 32 hours as my watch had stopped. When I finally reached the finish I was shocked to be told 30:21 but annoyed with myself for not being more on top of the timing and quicker at the aid stations! Seeing Steve, Annie and Matt there and celebrating together was one of the best moments of my life. Sharing the experience with amazing friends was an incredible motivation and with everything Steve had been through, picturing his face when I finished gave me such good energy throughout the race. I finished 17th female in a highly competitive field, first Aussie home and 1st in the 50-54 age category, so got to go on stage the next day to be given a huge metal cow bell, which was the cherry on top and fantastic for us all to experience together.

Pictured: Lou Clifton (2nd from left) with her crew at the finish line. 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.