KNOWLEDGE, INSIGHT KEY TO LINNEY’S 100K WIN

Kate Dzienis • February 28, 2018

Contributed by Darren Linney, Winner, 100kms SA Track Championships

I had such a fantastic and memorable night of running at last month’s SA Track Championships in the 100kms event, and felt I was amongst some truly great runners and volunteers who showed great sportsmanship at a well-organised event on a hot Adelaide summer night, on January 27.

The SA 100kms Track Championships was an experience that will stay with me forever. It was such a great night, not just because I came first (that really was a bonus though!), but for so many other reasons like the fact it was so well run event by Ben Hockings and his team of volunteers. I’m sure it was a positive experience for most runners and everyone involved.

The hot night made it uncomfortable for some, I’m sure, but I revelled in the fact it was hot. It made more for a challenge – and I do love a challenge. I mean, that’s why I chose ultra running.

After not being able to enter the SA 100kms Track Championships for the last two years, I finally had a chance to take it on for 2018. I’ve run a few ultras – 14 in total including four milers, but I had only run two flat 100kms races. My previous 100kms was the Western Coastal in Semaphore, Adelaide in 2017, and I thought I had run a reasonable time, within a couple of minutes of last year’s winning time at the track event, and maybe I was in for a chance to improve on my time with the possibility of placing.

The SA 100kms Track Championship race was to be my first official AURA event, given I’d only become a member in December 2017. I’ve wanted to be a part of AURA for quite a while, but delayed doing so because I thought I would rack up a few ultras to warrant me as a member.

I finished the Great Southern Endurance Run (GSER100) in November, 2017; that was my biggest and most challenging event to date, both physically and mentally. It took me very close to my limits and have never felt more exhausted. Participating was a real eye opener as I have never pushed myself that far before, but after weeks of recovery, I got back into the running routine and I found that I had a new confidence in running.

The realisation of what I had accomplished and the fact I had gained a wealth of knowledge, experience and gained a personal insight in to what ultra running was really about, was all relevant to the Track Championship. It changed the way I looked at and felt about my running, and I feel it has made me a much stronger runner.

Training in the lead up to the event mainly consisted of running a good bit of distance over a period of a few weeks, mainly on road. I normally like to train on trail these days, as it makes for a great workout and is also very scenic. I also have the Adelaide hills on my doorstep, so I’d be silly not to take advantage of that.

I knew there would be a chance it would be hot at the event, even during the night. It was around this time Adelaide was experiencing its normal summer bout of very hot days and nights. Everyone thought I was nuts as I ran a lot in the midday sun to prepare my body and mind for the heat should it be like that. Getting in a run when I could, shuffling between work and family life.

Unlike the GSER100 where I ran solo and relied on no one, I was very fortunate to have a support crew at the Track Championships, and excited about the prospect as I have never had one before. My wife Jen and our two friends Stacey and Stephen Holt made up the team, and with our children taken care of by friends, this meant we could all focus on the event.

We arrived at the SA Athletics Stadium at roughly 6pm, with the race due to start at 7pm. The day had been scorching, around 42 degrees and looked like we were all in for a hot overnighter as the next day was forecast for another big heat.

Years back, I used to run for my local athletics club in England, and having run many times around a track, the surrounds for the Track Championships all felt familiar. I never would have thought that 30 years later, I’d running 250 laps around another track, but I felt very at home and calm.

Having been used to running on bitumen, pavements and trail terrain the track surface felt amazing, and I had a spring in my step.

We set up roughly 50m up from the start/finish line, and we had a gazebo and table for all our gear. Before I knew it, race organiser Ben Hockings gave the 10-minute call for the briefing. Feeling very excited, I had no idea who I was up against, and at the briefing there were not many of us – perhaps 8 runners. All seemed friendly and I felt very much like the new kid on the block amongst experienced ultra runners.

Two runners had travelled from interstate John and Greg, and I knew fellow SA runners from previous runs. There were no women in the 100kms, only men.

My Garmin was set, the countdown began, and then we were off. We were told that every three hours we would turn and run in the opposite direction, which broke up the monotony, which I thought was great. I started off conservatively, and from early on I realised I was probably not going to have any major competition unless it all went wrong for me. If I was to be challenged I would have reacted and upped my pace, but I didn’t want to push too hard if not necessary with a possible chance of burning myself out in the early stages.

The stadium was getting busy as the 50kms runners were preparing to start their run at 8pm. As I continued along while they all started, everyone participating was such a great sportsperson, and although not necessary, they tended to move aside for me as I overtook on the inside lane. At this point I was averaging well under 2-minutes per lap at least for the first 100 laps, and was looking at finishing in good time.

Night had set in, but it was still fairly hot, but the volunteers and Yumigo had it all covered with ice water and sponges. Mentally the heat didn’t affect me too much, but I knew I had to keep my body cool so I took advantage when I felt the need.

At lap 114 I needed the toilet desperately, and I tried not lose too much time, but noticed I was dehydrated so more fluid was needed. I felt much better after my stop.

Lap after lap; 80% of my run was listening to music; friends came to visit for support; I was on a mission.

It was me against the clock.

Three-quarters through and I was still moving at a reasonable pace, although my laps had slowed, probably from the halfway point at around 2-minutes per lap or just over. I had a couple of low moments (not sure why, maybe the heat was getting to me a little), but the end was nearing.

With 10 laps to go I increased my pace a little, knowing the finish was in sight, but getting a bit confused towards the end with my timing as I ran past my predicted 8.05, and still had 6 or 7 laps to go. I later realised I had actually run 102.5kms! As much as I had tried to stick to the inside of the track, I must have run that extra 2.5kms wandering from that inside line due to overtaking, toilet breaks and water stops.

With only a few laps to go I could see my crew getting excited. Maybe they thought, Yes we can finally go home! Just kidding, I’m sure they were loving the whole experience as much as me.

Two or three laps to go I increased my pace yet again, and finally I got to my last lap.

Running down the final straight to the finish line was a memory that will stay with me for the rest of my life, with Ben on the microphone congratulating me on my finish, and a few cheers and claps from my crew, supporters and the volunteers. I saw participants Greg and David, two 100kms runners coming down the straight together still competing, and they stopped to form an arch for me to run under just before I ran over the finish line. It was such a sporting thing to do. For them to stop their own race, and see me over the line and shake my hands, was truly great. It showed such amazing great sportsmanship. Much respect.

I was extremely happy with my finish time of 8:16:19. It gave me so much confidence knowing I could shave a lot more off that given better weather conditions. Unfortunately, I had my presentation on the podium on my own as second placer (Greg) and third placer (Will) finished roughly 2.5hrs and 4.5hrs behind me. They were doing it tough out there, potentially running for 14hrs. Later I found out that Stephen and Colin were to finish with minutes to spare under the cut off time, and in the hot morning sun that’s real commitment. Much respect to those guys too.

Four weeks have now passed, and I look back to that night with great memories, and feel so very proud to hold the title of the 100kms SA Track Championship for 2018.

Images: Photography – Tracie Hanson, Michelle Hanlin and Stacey Holt.

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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.