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Injury Doesn’t Stop Langhans from running at Adelaide 24hr Festival

Kate Dzienis • June 28, 2023

Contributed by Geoffrey Langhans, AURA member (Happy Valley, SA)

Adelaide 24 Hour Festival, ADELAIDE (SA), 10-11 June 2023

The Adelaide 24 Hour.

Some races mean more to an individual than others. For me, this was that race. In October 2020 I tackled the 12 hour event in what was my first official ultra. It was a hot but great day, tackling lap after lap of the Uni Loop opposite Adelaide Zoo. I went in with no expectations. I left with a third place trophy and a new definition of what was possible.

My commitments meant that I had to wait until the 2023 edition to return to the 2.2km gravel path but just 7 weeks out from race day I hit my first significant injury setback. I’d driven to Falls Creek for the Alpine Challenge ultra and 3 minutes after we had started, my race was over. I had set out too fast and didn’t leave enough space between me the runner in front to properly assess the trail before my feet were upon it. My right foot hit a rock that rolled and my ankle with it. Instead of letting myself tumble and probably just losing a bit of skin, I powered through the step with the sole of my foot pointing parallel to the ground rather than perpendicular to it. Goodbye ligaments. Not that I knew the finer details in that moment. I knew it hurt, I knew my race was over and I cried. I cried again when I received the MRI report. I now know the names of a number of specific ligaments in the human ankle, as well as an effective way to tear them.

Biweekly physio sessions and daily rehabilitation exercises commenced and pleasingly, improvement was obvious in every appointment. What was also obvious but unwelcome was the rapid weight gain. Post-injury I had immediately cut my energy intake in half knowing that without a heavy training load I wouldn’t need as much fuel. I underestimated just how much my ability to maintain a healthy weight relied on running, and how it permitted me to have a diet that would make any nutritionist cringe. This was a forced opportunity to improve my diet or have to deal with further consequences than just a diminished aerobic capacity. I started eating better and controlling my portions (a huge challenge for someone who loves the sensation of being full) so that when I could return to training there would not be significantly more of me than there was pre-injury.

My physio was great and I slowly started to walk further and then jog slowly on a treadmill. As the torn ligaments were on the lateral side of my ankle, it meant with taping I could carefully run on relatively flat surfaces in a straight line. Four weeks after the accident was the Great Ocean Road marathon. A race that I had entered to pace my partner through her first full mara. She is a much better runner than she typically gives herself credit for (and is still improving all the time) but I knew that over such a distance her pace wouldn’t be too strenuous on my ankle. A final passed test from the physio and I was given the greenlight to attempt the mara. I didn’t know how I would go but I did know that I needed to get through it with ease to be a chance of running the Adelaide 24 three weeks later. My partner and I assembled at the start line on a cold and wet Lorne morning and pushed through the relentless headwind to Apollo Bay. Ursula was happy to have conquered her first mara and I was happy to have gotten through unscathed.

Two more weeks of increasing training preceded a week of taper and weather watching. I’d not often been dealt the kindest hands of weather cards for my larger events over the last year but that looked like changing for this race weekend. The prospect of a slight chance of showers on Saturday followed by a cool and still night and cloudy morning had me excited to know I’d only be fighting myself rather than the elements too. The entrant list had been released and it was a mix of inspirational friends and unfamiliar names. There was quality in the field: the previous 2 winners and a former 24 hour Australian champion among them. I wasn’t sure what to expect from my body and was happy just to be there. A very light drizzle welcomed us at the start but that would be the limit of the rain. I started faster than I had planned and knocked off the first mara distance in 4:20. The lesson to pace properly from the beginning is one that I am yet to master. Things were feeling good, even my ankle, and the comradery was great so I ploughed on as darkness greeted us. It seemed like every brushtail possum in the county hangs out at the Uni Loop at night in addition to the odd fox, one of which I chased away from helping itself to a fellow runner’s unattended aid station. Close to midnight I became aware of a hotspot developing on the sole of my left foot and despite my best preventative efforts it soon evolved into a blister you could rest a stubbie on (not that I think anyone would want to try doing that). My run had already turned into a shuffle and was now changing into the walk that would carry me through to the end. Unfortunately, during one of my blister management attempts I had removed and then forgotten to reattach my timing anklet.

The moment of realisation and turning back to get it almost broke me but there were a few of us very close to each other and this drove me on. Daylight broke and most were uncertain about where they stood in the field. Some late jostling over the last few laps concluded with very little separating second to fifth with the top 5 all surpassing the 100 mile barrier. I seem to be cursed in that I’m prone to finishing any time based loop ultras at the point furthest away from the lap start/finish and today was no different. By the time I’d made the slow plod back to the race hub everyone else had had the chance to check the results and another runner greeted me with congratulations of a third place finish. A podium spot was the cherry on top of a 7 week journey that had started with tears and ended with a new 24 hour PB of 167.91km.

I’m not sure which was the bigger race: the race for me to be ready for the Adelaide 24 or the Adelaide 24 itself. Either way, I’m proud to have conquered both.

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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.