MATTHEWS’ CHANGE OF TACTIC AT KEP ULTRA V2

Kate Dzienis • May 28, 2022

Contributed by Kevin Matthews, AURA member (Perth, WA)
Winner of the 2022 Kep Ultra V2 Men’s 100km

KEP ULTRA V2, MUNDARING (WESTERN AUSTRALIA), 14-15 May 2022

The Kep Ultra V2 is a new addition to the WA racing calendar with its inaugural event being last year. The original Kep was created by Rob Donkersloot and was a point to point from Northam to Mundaring. It was basically the only real ultra in WA for many years and has entered into folklore since it was forced to fold due to unachievable council constraints, mainly on the number of road crossings and insurance costs. Shaun Kaesler from USWA has created an event, with blessings from Rob, that holds true to the original but is an out and back, thus limiting the number of crossings and making the event feasible.

I entered 2021 with a long run with a medal mentality because the event is technically only three weeks out from the Lighthorse Ultra; it was no different this year, so again I went into the race with the same mentality – enjoy it but don’t push it, there are bigger fish to fry later in the year. Added to the mix was a nasty head cold that had been hanging around the week before and I was more worried about just finishing.

So on a cold and wet Saturday morning on 14 May 2022, we all lined up at the start and quietly shuffled off – ‘quietly’ being the key word here…more council stipulations, to alleviate any noise complaints, you see what I mean about keeping this event going!

This race can be broken down into four stages. Stage one is a 15km downhill section before stage two, a 37km uphill slog to the half way point and then the opposite coming back. As you can image the race really starts when you hit the bottom of the final 15km section, uphill, all the way to the finish after running 90km to get there. Challenging is a nice way to describe this last part of the race – or bonkers – but I’ll get there later in the report.

My game plan was the same as last year’s…I had my poles ready for me at the halfway aid station and would use them to propel me to the finish while limiting damage on my tired legs. I had no aspirations about finishing position…just finishing strongly, or as strong as possible. With this game plan in mind, I settled in around 6th male and just enjoyed the serenity of a beautiful morning on the trails with like-minded people. I’ve said many times I race often because this is what I enjoy the most, bib on my chest and just being around people with the same views on life, the universe and everything, at least when it comes to running.

The first 15km to the Bellevue aid station is nearly all downhill and deceptively so in some places. I knew this would be a different story on the way back with 90kms in the legs and over eight hours running, so I made a mental note to prepare myself for this and as already mentioned, break the race into the four sections.

After Bellevue it’s an uphill slog to the halfway point passing through John Forrest (23km), Mount Helena (35km) and Chidlow (41km) aid stations before reaching the turn-around at Wooroloo (52km). Because it’s an out and back there were more than enough aid stations and you always felt like you were either just leaving one, or just arriving at the next. This made a big difference to what you needed to carry and also the conditions helped being cool, meaning you didn’t need to be constantly worried about hydration, which is the norm in WA.

As I mentioned earlier in the piece I settled down into 6th place and put on Taylor Swift’s greatest hits on the shokz headphones to serenade me to halfway. On a side note if you’re a runner who listens to music, pod casts etc., you must buy a pair of these headphones, they’re so good! I think we have three in the house at the moment, I may even get a pair for the dogs.

Three weeks prior I’d won the 24hr Lighthorse Ultra with a distance of over 200km and was in no state to put it all on the line again so soon. Pre-event I was also battling a head cold and I even had thoughts of pulling out earlier in the week. This was not an A Race and was certainly expendable for the greater good if needed. Luckily I held my nerve and rocked up at the start.

Racing wise, I started to feel the urge when I saw my good friend Charles Bosveld, he was the Delirious West 200 miler third place getter, but he was struggling coming into Chidlow aid station. He certainly didn’t look great and he would eventually finish well over 12 hours which is pretty special given he looked finished at 40km. Mentally strong, he decided to change his strategy from racing for a podium to just finishing, a hard thing to do mid-race. Massive kudos to him, sometimes it’s not the runner first past the post who is the real winner.

After leaving Chidlow, I then spied my drive buddy to the event, Simon Bennet. Simon has a great pedigree and has placed top 10 at the Margaret River Ultra twice, which is pretty special. He’s returning from injury and we ran to the halfway together. I entered the aid station 5th but with a quick turn-around left in third place, with Simon hot on my heels.

It’s funny how all the talk of a ‘long run with a medal‘ goes out the window when you suddenly find yourself on the podium. All of a sudden it became a ‘You ain’t getting any younger and these opportunities may not present themselves again‘ type run, basically it was ‘On like Donkey Kong‘.

After I picked up my poles I really started to motor, first to drop Simon, and second Trevor Bosveld was probably only a few minutes ahead of me. Jumping to podium contention had reignited my competitive spirit and with Mind Focused Running’s Rob Donkersloot at each aid station, I had the perfect tactician to aid my cause. It’s so funny how a race can change so quickly and the goals are reassessed and changed. Charles was initially gunning for a podium; now all he wanted was a finisher’s medal while I was the polar opposite.

I managed to catch Trevor coming into Helena aid station and after giving him some advice on how to run the rest of the race I left him there and really put my foot down. Rob had informed me the lead runner had been disqualified so I entered Helena aid station third and left in the lead, the pressure was on now big time. I started doing the maths in my head, 35km to hold on for the win. This is when course knowledge comes into play, I was faced with 20km of decent running virtually all downhill or flat before the climb to the finish. I had done it before and knew what to expect so I did enough to maintain my lead but also put some distance between me and the chasing pack giving me a buffer for the last climb. I actually felt pretty good surprisingly enough and maintained a good pace all the way back to Bellevue aid station, the last before the finish.

At Bellevue I put the headphones back in, dialled in Taylor Swift again, and off I went, the final uphill slog to the finish. It wasn’t pretty and I was certainly suffering but I managed to keep moving forward only really walking, for a hundred or so metres at a time, for the last four to five kilometres when I knew I was going to win, well…first male anyway.

Crossing the line in first place, will it be the last time? It felt great to place first male as it was so unexpected but also the race panned out so well with all the cards falling into place. Can I do it again? Not sure. Circumstances on the day just gave me the win – lead runners getting disqualified and fellow competitors being either under done or just not feeling it, everything conspired for me to get to the line first. Of course you got to be in it to win it and I have a base fitness now that if these opportunities present themselves, I can take advantage but I’m still in shock truth be told.

These events take so much time to organise, setup, run and clear away and they need a legion of volunteers who have to be managed. The race directors on these events put in massive hours before the event and on the day will be there for nearly the full 24 hours – actually, probably longer. You need a passion to pull these events off and the Ultra Series staff and volunteers have this in spades.

So that’s the KepV2 2022, one of the races of my life coming so soon after another one of the races of my life…this is becoming a thing. I hope I can continue my good form into the Unreasonable East 200 miler in late June as I will need to be ready for this bad boy of an ultra. This event, in its inaugural year, looks so epic but also a tad daunting, massive elevation with probably freezing conditions, both test you.

I am more excited than worried but I also understand I need to be at the top of my game to finish, forget racing but then again you never know what happens when the bib is stuck on my chest…

Pictured: Kevin Matthews crossing the finish line at the 2022 Kep Ultra, taking 1st Male in the 100km event. Photograph – Heath Watkins/Supplied.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

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.