Hill Brings It Home at GSER

Kate Dzienis • December 21, 2022

Contributed by Nigel Hill, AURA member (Vic)

GREAT SOUTHERN ENDURANCE RUN 100mi, HARRIETVILLE Vic, 11-13 Nov 2022
1st Male 100mi

I had never ran in the area so I wanted to challenge myself and see what everyone was talking about.
It was predicted rain and the weatherman didn’t get it wrong this weekend, we toed the line at 6am in rain – we were off for our adventure.

The lead pack formed very early on with Oowan Davies and Matt Gore; heading up NW Spur the rain has stopped so I removed my jacket running with long sleeve thermal instead. Not knowing the course I sort of third-wheeled this section but was able to take in the surroundings, however when we reached the summit of Feathertop it was white out and snow at the top, so disappointing as was really looking forward to the views today.

Returning we could see we had a handy lead to the other runners and the Razorback was a welcome change, nice flowing single trail towards Blowhard Hut which was difficult to find due to whiteout conditions. I had decided pre-race not to load course on Garmin; this was a mistake and had even contemplated starting it at the aid station, looking back I should have as I hate relying on others especially when no course recognition had been done.

The start of the Twins was very steep and testing finding the markers to plot a path and meeting us at the top was Ian from The Eventurers photography duo…bloody hell they do a fantastic job taking photos. Yep it was white out again.

Plotting the course was difficult in the conditions but we had 3 sets of eyes which made it a little easier and off to Mt Murray aid station. Still feeling good and it was only 6.7km to the Selwyn aid station where I would see my crew. I was bang on target for time and had decided to take in some whole foods and had some noodles. The other boys had decided to push on but I had to remove soft heel raisers from my shoes as I was slipping and sliding due to the wet conditions these were not required today for the terrain.

I pushed up the hill and was able to catch them within a couple of kilometres but had wasted energy I didn’t really want to. Mt Selwyn was solid and I had my first tumble. I wasn’t in a good head space at this stage thinking, why am I putting myself through this? And contemplated pulling out but kept thinking of my crew and how they had given up their time for me. Also the amount of training to get to the start line. We got onto some fire trail…it was wet, muddy and slippery but may have put my mind at ease just running and noticed Oowan had dropped off and this was the spur I needed. By the time we got to the water point we had put a gap into him. I have learnt from previous experience to always take water when you can, better to have too much than not enough.
The others were stuffing around so I decided to test the waters here a little and just got rolling on the flat roads doing sub 5min pace but thought they would catch me as they were both handy runners. I had opened up a handy gap when I made a navigational error at the junction following a sign up single trail, not the markers down the road. I quickly realised and got back on course but it took me 5km to catch them, very costly but I think this flicked a switch that I was stronger than them today.

From Van Damms aid station I just got rolling again and started to break away without too much effort, reaching the Viking Climb by myself. This was solid, steep, thick, wet and muddy – not what I was looking for at the halfway mark of the race but pushed through with the occasional vent off loud and reaching the top it was white out again. Turning around I could see I had .5km on Oowan and 1.5km on Matt. This was my time to go and put the hammer down and get a good break.

We moved into the night after Van Damms aid station. I had a couple ham cheese toasties, they were the bomb and I was starting to see more competitors wishing them luck back towards Selwyn aid station where I would pick up my pacer. I had developed some serious chaffing on my back from having wet clothes and a heavy pack but had to just put it out of my mind.

I was 2hrs ahead of schedule. Things were going well. Picked up my pacer Matt. The conditions were thick fog but just gave the instructions to power walk the incline and run the flats, we made good time with one minor navigation error up a hill for fun then back down towards Mt Murray aid station where they had mentioned Oowan had just gone through Selwyn aid station.

This time back through the Twins I had tracked back on my Garmin which made it a little easier but still was difficult due to the fog and white out conditions. Twins was a slog on tired legs but I got through unscathed through the grass, rocks, logs and mud to Blowhard Hut aid station and met my crew again. My friends were manning the aid, it was the welcome lift I needed and sure…I got a little extra attention. Whole foods, hash browns, soup and bacon made me a new man, as I couldn’t eat the toasties at the last aid station. It’s funny how your tastebuds change during a race, and I was definitely over gels so was on to cliff bars and blocks. I had noticed my hands blowing up – a sign of lack of electrolytes or blood flow from the mandatory gear in the pack. My shoulders were killing me.

Last section, time to bring it home. This is where the heavens opened. We decided to put on rain jackets, gloves and balaclavas. This was crucial as I was starting to shiver. Top of Bon Accord Descent was difficult – rocky and limited viability but we knew first light was coming and would make things a lot easier. The rain persisted and the descent seemed like it was never going to end but I was bloody happy to see the signs for Pioneer Park and the finish line taking out 1st place, so bloody happy all my hard work had paid off in a time of 25hr 26 min.

To Matt, Megan and the volunteers, you put on a fantastic event, well done! To my crew Georgia, Matt and Andrew going through the night, no sleep, driving all over the country side, I can’t thank you enough. I couldn’t have done it without you.

The shoes I wore were Altra Mont Blancs.

Photographs – 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.