MANAGER’S REPORT – IAU 100KM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Kate Dzienis • September 1, 2022

Contributed by Simone Hayes, AURA Treasurer

IAU 100km World Championships, Berlin (GER), 27 September 2022

I was very honoured to be given the privilege of attending these championships as Team Manager on behalf of AURA. Being a 24hour runner I hadn’t met most of the team so we started to get to know each other with a few in-country Zoom meetings to bring us all together and get to see some faces.

Over the course of the next 5 weeks there was a lot of admin getting entry forms in, dealing with the LOC, sorting out flight details, having meetings with captains and the committee regarding team expectations. Then we sorted out nutrition plans with the team members and discussed the crew and logistics. A lot goes on before you even leave the country.

Once in Berlin we all caught up and met in the flesh on Wednesday and straight away you could see the team building a comradery that would develop into a really tight team bond by race day. I’m sure many lifetime friendships have been made over these 5 days, which is one of the wonderful aspects of ultra running – the running community that embraces each other.

Thursday before race day we all met for our first breakfast together and I handed out their team uniforms along with a goodie bag of koalas and a flag. This was an exciting moment for the newcomers to the team.

We then attempted to make the trip to Bernau to visit the race venue by public transport however the train gods were not on our side, we just missed one train and after waiting 50mins for the next it turned up but we were told it was broken – so much for German precision! So we abandoned the race inspection and instead headed to Brandenburg Gate and had a run through the Grober Teirgarten which was beautiful. The speedsters dropped their manager after about 2km so I had a lovely trot around the park taking photos.

We headed home for lunch and then a team meeting, followed by dinner and then and early night. The next two days were going to be long ones.

Friday a few of us had a quick run around another nice park, Volkspark Friedrichs-hain. Berlin is a very green city with parks everywhere. You could easily clock up a big run here and still remain in the parks.

I then left the guys to shower and start my official duties. First stop was the media conference at the hotel and uniform inspection as well as the introduction and interview of the elite athletes. Then it was onto the buses to the race venue to view the course and to attend the technical meeting and IAU lunch. At lunch the skies went black and a thunderstorm hit and the rain fell – hopefully it wouldn’t last but was predicted to go on all night and early Saturday morning.

After lunch we were bused to meet the teams for the flag march and opening ceremony. The flag march is always a highlight at the champs. Luckily the rain stopped for this even though the skies were black.

We marched through a beautiful cobblestone pathway that wove through homes lined with people on the streets and also calling out from their balconies above as they cheered on the countries and took photos. The team handed out lots of Aussie koala souvenirs and threw a few to the balconies!

Once we arrived at the opening ceremony venue we were greeted by a brass band and then moved into the town hall for the ceremony which in opening ceremony-terms was very short and sweet, but special nonetheless. Then it was back on the buses for the return to the hotel. On the bus we had a team meeting to go over what I had learned in the technical meeting, this saved us having to meet again after dinner so they call all retire early.

Dinner was quick and everyone headed off to bed around 7.30pm, I stayed and chatted to a few of the other managers and IAU team over a beer then it was my bedtime too. The alarms were set for 3am.

RACE DAY

We had planned to meet for breakfast from 3.30am and then be out the front at 4.30am to line up for the buses so we would arrive nice and early in Bernau to check in. Unfortunately 10 buses were ordered and only 7 turned up and we were left standing on the street in a bit of a panic (not as much as the LOC were panicked!). Eventually they called a heap of taxis so we got there in the end. We arrived at the race venue in the dark and was a bit chaotic as they weren’t completely set up but we managed to get everyone together as the taxis arrived and make it to check in on time while the crew started sorting out the tent.

Then 15mins later the gun went and the runners were off! It was a super-fast start! The runners did an initial 2.5km loop and then 13x 7.5km loops. The weather was very overcast which we thought would be great but was extremely humid and warmed up quickly – you could tell by the first 10km that they were really feeling the humidity and they were all drenched and taking in more of their nutrition than planned and needing extra fluids as the aid station on the turnaround had run out of water. After 3 more laps we could see it was going to be a tough day for them.

During the day a few niggles that runners had started with reared their heads, a few new niggles appeared. Some got better and some got worse. The crew managed each runner so well to keep them going but ultimately is was the runners that continued to dig deep and forge on. We witnessed some gusty efforts out there given how many of them felt – the laps were long and you could see it taking its toll and I was amazed at their tenacity. It was actually hard to watch some of them leave on their last lap – they seemed almost broken but were so courageous as they headed off and started running again – I shed many tears over the day – it was quite emotional.

One by one they crossed the line. We gave them all a small Aussie flag to run with on their final lap, which happened to be an extra 800m due to an error on course measuring that was discovered after the first two laps – definitely not what you want in a World Champs and it gave the IAU and LOC some very stressful hours! We had the job of telling them that they weren’t quite finished yet…but there wasn’t one complaint – they just did it.

There were a few wobbly legs on the finish line and the grass just behind was where they all landed and remained for a bit – again, so emotional for them as they had completely emptied their tanks.

At 8hr59mins we had all runners in bar one, Anna had an injury that prevented her from running the last 45 or so kilometres, but she was determined to finish and she did – and the whole team was there to cheer her over the line after such a gutsy finish in 11hrs22min. The team showed great comradery and made sure they stuck together as after all, it’s a team event and you’re not done until everyone is done.

I could not hve been more proud of this team in the way they behaved, supported each other and performed out there. They were respectful to each other, the crew and their fellow runners. Not everyone had the day they had planned but that’s ultra-running – they all gave it 100% and you can’t ask for more than that. I’m sure this talented team will go on to more championships as they have created a fantastic bond which will take them a long way. I wish them all well in the future and can’t wait to see what they do next. Thank you for running for your Country and AURA.

Enjoy the recovery.

Men Overall

Dion Finocchiaro – 21st, 6:48:14
Grant Schmidlechner – 30th, 6:53:45
Andy McConnell – 39th, 7:05:37
Clay Dawson – 64th, 7:40:52

Women Overall

Michelle McAdam – 33rd, 8:09:08
Jacqueline Kelly – 46th, 8:28:14
Greta Truscott – 59th, 8:52:51
Clare Palmer – 63rd, 8:59:23
Corrina Black 67th, 9:03:48
Anna Pillinger – 88th, 11:22:48 (injured and walked last 45 km to ensure a finish)

Men’s Team

7th Place
Dion, Grant and Andy

Women’s Team

11th Place
Michelle, Jackie and Greta

World Masters Athletics Championships

M40 – Grant – 1st place
W55 – Tia Jones – 1st Place

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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.