COACH’S CORNER - ADAPT during your race by Anne-Marie Cook

May 31, 2024

anne-marie cook from up coaching suggests a smart way to deal with race day setbacks. hint - don't panic!

There’s every chance that something will go wrong at some point in an ultramarathon. That’s primarily due to the length and the number of variables in trail and ultra running.

Sure, you can reduce the likelihood through meticulous training and preparation. But it’s still no guarantee. So, regardless of the scope and severity of an issue on race day, you need a plan to deal with whatever could go wrong.

So, try to A.D.A.P.T. It’s a race saver!

This handy acronym is a framework to deal with issues that arise during a race – from the simple to the life-threatening. A key attribute is that it can reduce your chance of panicking and throwing your race plan out the window. When you’re feeling exhausted it’s easy to catastrophise and make a decision you’ll regret later – like keeping on going even though you haven’t seen pink tape for a while, or pulling out of a race in a moment of fatigue.

You can and should practice this technique in training, so when sh*t hits during your race you can keep your head level and your eyes on the prize.

Accept

Mid-race, it’s easy to blow things out of proportion and lose rational perspective. If you’re prone to imagine the worst-case scenario, this is even more relevant to you! An example could be feeling a hotspot developing underfoot. Instead of appreciating the situation for what it currently is and how to deal with it, you might imagine a blister impacting your entire race. Staying in the present rather than imagining the potential future can help you accept your situation and make wiser choices about how to solve it.

Diagnose

Whether it be a rolled ankle, pouring rain or a stitch, you need to fully understan the issue. It’s important to not try to go straight into solving mode without all the information. If you’re not able to take on fuel, try to calm your mind and think about the symptom. Do you feel nauseous? Are you hot? How does the problem feel?

Analyse

This is the step in which you think through the current situation. An example of this step would be a rolled ankle: “My ankle hurts. But not too bad. I can walk on it, which is good. The next aid station is 2 kilometres away.” Even if you don’t have a solution yet, don’t panic! Take time to get panic under control and just name the situation without reacting.

Plan

In this step, you make an action plan to deal with the problem. The fewer issues you have to deal with, the easier it is to create a plan. But of course, the reality of ultrarunning is that several things could be going on/going wrong at once! If things are complicated, deal first with the issue that has the most potential to be catastrophic (e.g., if you’re getting cold but also cramping, first plan how you can get warm).

Take action

This is where the rubber hits the road – or trail! If you’ve diagnosed you’re feeling overheated, your action plan might be something like: “I’m going to walk to reduce effort and focus on drinking to cool my body. When I get to the shade just up there, I’ll stop out of the sun and put on my hat. Once I feel better, I’ll start a walk/run strategy.”

ADAPT in action:

Accept: Oh crap… I haven’t seen a trail marker for a while … Augh! I think I’ve gone off course! OK, this is not a disaster, let’s adapt to the situation.

Diagnose: I think I last saw ribbon at a junction. How far back was that! OK, it was maybe only a couple of kilometres.

Analyse: If I’ve taken a wrong turn, I will need to retrace my steps. Am I sure? I don’t know!

Plan: OK, I’ll get out my phone and check the course map and my location to be sure that I need to go back, before I waste any energy.

Take action: Yep! I can see the junction on the map. Back I go. But it’s probably less than a kilometre. I can get back on course, it’s not a big deal. Let’s do this!

With thanks to United Endurance Sports Coaching Academy (UESCA) for introducing me to the ADAPT concept. Check out Jason Koop’s take on the framework here.

ANNE-MARIE COOK COACHES INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS IN TRAIL AND ULTRA RUNNING FOR UP COACHING IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND ONLINE AROUND THE WORLD. SHE'S QUALIFIED AS AN ULTRA RUNNING COACH BY UESCA AND TRAIL & ULTRA LEVEL 3 HIGH PERFORMANCE BY ATHLETICS AUSTRALIA. AS AN ATHLETE, ANNE-MARIE HAS PLACED 7TH AT UTA100 AND 6TH AT THE AUSTRALIAN MOUNTAIN RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS.iF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION ON BEING TRAINED BY andy, CLICK THROUGH HERE TO OUR AURA ENDORSED COACHES PAGE.

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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.