JONES TAKES INSPIRATION FROM OTHERS AT BUTTER 24 & 48

Kate Dzienis • October 1, 2020

Contributed by Tia Jones, 1st Female/1st Overall at the Butter 24 & 48 and AURA member

Butter 24 & 48, 25-27 September 2020, Qld

The third running of the Butter 24hr race took place at a new venue this year at St Joseph’s Nudgee College, Boondall in Queensland. The track and its facilities were great for this format of race, with an international standard athletics track running surface, access to toilets, showers and electricity for hot food and water.

When Bryan and I arrived early on Saturday to set up for the race the wind was already gusting and from what race director Alun Davies told us they had to battle with high winds, heat and an evening storm from the beginning of the 48hr race on Friday. The winds had been so bad that they had taken down most of the gazebos, three of which were badly damaged and had postponed the race for a brief period due to an electrical storm.

We set up our seconding table and waited for the start of the race at 10am.

The race was started promptly at 10am with 11 runners in the race.

It was getting quite hot but the high winds were actually a relief and helped cool us down from the hot, dry heat. The race was progressing smoothly until around lap 21 when a huge gust of wind lifted the covering over the timing system and pulled up the electrical connection and wiring to the system.

Luckily no one was hurt as runners where running over the mat as it happened. This resulted in Susannah (co race director) having to manually count the laps of all the runners for three hours in the hot sun until Alun managed to reconnect the system and get it up and running again.

It took a further two hours to update the system and to get information available again on the number of completed laps. Unfortunately the system went down again 45 minutes before the end of the race and Susannah stepped up again to manually count until the end.

A huge thanks to Susannah, Alun and his team for working so hard in very difficult and trying conditions to recover the timing system and keep the race going. As race directors you can plan and prepare as best you can, but when the elements conspire against you, you have to improvise and adapt and I thought they were brilliant.

The weather gradually started to calm and cool down and we were joined on the track at 4pm by the marathon runners and the 6hr runners. The 12hr runners joined us later at 10am.

The temperatures plummeted in the evening, and fortunately I had a long sleeved top to change into and a jacket, but forgot to bring gloves! I ending up running a number of hours with a spare pair of socks on my hands to keep them warm. It was lovely to see the sun come up and to listen to the birds welcoming in the new day. The race finished at 10am in hot but calm conditions.

Personally for me it was great to have my family, including my two granddaughters and friends come and support me at various times during the race, as most of my races are either overseas or interstate.

It certainly gave me a big boost to see them there. My husband as usual was an absolute star and I wouldn’t be able to do these races without his support. He was able to take a few breaks because Carol Wingreen who ran and won the marathon, joined him crewing for me through the night and next morning. Thank you Carol!

Vivienne Buss a big thank you to you as well for your support in the evening and again the following morning through to the end of the race.

I am always blown away by the strength and tenacity of ultra runners in 24hr races. It takes a lot of mental strength and hours of training to prepare and run in these events and there certainly was no lack of enthusiasm, courage and determination from everyone on the track. It was very inspiring!

Well done to all the runners and a big thank you to Alun, Susannah and their team.

Pictured: Tia Jones takes 1st Female at the Butter 24 followed by Kathryn Austin and Amanda Pavey. 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.