IS IT A DIRE FUTURE FOR TRACK ULTRAS?

Earlier this year, just shortly after the Bunbury Track Ultra on August 11 and 12, race director and organiser Ron McGlinn informed participants who were immediately asking for next year’s date, that despite a well-run event for 2018, the race itself was in question.

The event began with a decent amount of interest back in 2015, and in 2016 peaked with 89 runners entered, however in 2017 that number dropped to just 75 entrants – and as with all races where people have to withdraw, that total ended up being 68 on the day.

McGlinn explains that this year, in 2018, the Bunbury Track Ultra lay claim to just 47 runners, of which nine were children, making it 38 adults (including teams).

“I guess like all things, the reasons are varied and complicated,” he says.

“In 2015 when Track Ultra kicked off ,there were a number of gaps in the ultra calendar, and there was a genuine need for our own 24hr track event in WA.

“Since then, there has been an explosion in the WA ultra-scene with lots of great events close to where people live, which is Perth.

“Logistically, it is harder for people to travel (Bunbury is 170kms south of Perth), and being brutally honest with myself, track ultras appeal to only a very small cross section of the running community, so it naturally attracts less competitors.”

McGlinn’s intent was to provide an event for WA runners, the opportunity to run under optimal conditions on a track, and let West Aussies enter a track race in their own state rather than having to fly over east.

“This has been in decline ever since, and is no longer self-supporting,” he says.

“An event has to be planned months in advance, and items such as trophies and medals have to be ordered and paid for in that time, well and truly before we have the numbers to recoup any of those outgoing costs.

“This year the vast majority of our entries came in the last couple weeks prior to the event, and it only seems to be getting worse, with many people waiting until the very last minute to enter.”

Sadly, McGlinn will have to make some hard decisions about what is viable and what is not.

With a 40% drop in numbers for 2018, realistically it’s a struggle with increasing costs and fewer entrants, and at this point, McGlinn has stated that running the Track Ultra in 2019 was slim.

Coburg 24hr race director Tim Erickson has weighed in, saying his event has also seen numbers dropped due to a variety of factors, but entrants are slowly being increased again.

“In the 1990s with the demise of the Westfield Run, our Coburg 24hr Carnival numbers dropped drastically, bottoming at an all-time low of 14 in 1999,” he recalls.

“During the 1990s a Relay Division had been added to provide further critical mass, but was only partially successful. In fact, some felt it was more effort than it was worth; around 2000, the Coburg Harriers were thinking of calling it quits and winding up the event.

“In 2002, the club accepted a request from the Australian Centurions for them to incorporate their annual 24hr Walk Carnival into the Coburg 24hr Carnival, as they too had been suffering a similar numbers drain.

“The 2002 Coburg 24hr Carnival was extended to include 24hr, 12hr and 6hr walk divisions and became a joint run/walk carnival, with both clubs involved.

“The overall number of competitors that year rose from 31 to 52.

“As Coburg was using a timing system that was still partly manual, a cap of around 50 had to be placed on the event and, by 2007, demand was outstripping places. As a consequence of this event popularity, the carnival was split into two in 2008, with the 6hr staged in March and the 24hr in April.

“With the creation of the Canberra 48hr Carnival in March 2016, all of a sudden we lost our exclusive eastern seaboard track presence in the March/April region, and our overall carnival numbers had dropped to 65 by 2017.

“We then decided to recombine back into one carnival, which we did in 2018, when we attracted 56 entrants in our 24hr/12hr/6hr single weekend carnival; as we were now using a fully automated chip recording system, the big numbers were no longer an issue.

“For 2019, we have added an additional marathon run/walk category and, with judicious use of separate lanes and separate start times and lots of advertising, we hope to grow the overall carnival numbers to around 80+.”

AURA president Rob Donkersloot reveals it’s not surprising that McGlinn is making this move.

“We can’t expect our race directors to hold these events for purely altruistic reasons, and even worse take a financial hit,” he says.

“From what I see, the major growth is on the trail, and in shorter distances. Getting these people to transition to a track event could be difficult, it’s almost a different sport.

“West Australian sports participants, not just ultra runners, are used to having spend a thousand dollars plus to attend events in the eastern states; that’s not the same for those living in the east where often airfares can be had for $100.

“The other thing to consider is the increase in the number of 24hr events around Australia. A few years ago, there were around four events total, but this year there are seven, and that doesn’t count Auckland, all vying for the same runners.”

Sadly, it has become a numbers game for race directors of track events, where they must take in to consideration the cost of chip systems, track hire, and first aid on limited budgets. The Sri Chinmoy 24hr Track has been running for almost four decades, and the Coburg 24hr for more than 30 years.

We are hoping the Bunbury Track Ultra will see years of successful events in the future.

Pictured (Feature): AURA member Heather Hawkins racing at the 2018 Sri Chinmoy.

Pictured 2: Jen Millum at the 2018 Bunbury Track Ultra.

Pictured 3: Runners at the Coburg 24hr this year.