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COACH’S CORNER – GET THE RIGHT NUTRITION FOR YOUR ULTRA

Kate Dzienis • January 28, 2019

Coach’s Corner is a new feature for our AURA members, where qualified trained professionals provide you with advice and tips on improving and enhancing your ultra running performance.

Contributed by Tony Smith, Run Coach at Tony Smith Run Coaching, WA

Tony Smith is a Level 2 Intermediate Recreational Running Coach, accredited with Athletics Australia, and has more than 30 years of experience. His running highlights including 1st Male placings at the Australia Day Ultra 50k (2019), Sandman 50k (2018), RunningWorks 50k (2018), Bunbury 50k (2018), Goldfields Marathon (2016), and Feral Pig 50k (2016). Tony has a long standing career in the armed forces, and uses his defence knowledge to run smarter.

Nutrition for ultra running

Ultra running is not only a test of physical fitness and mental strength; it also comes down to an eating contest.

Why is nutrition so important in ultra events?

The root cause for the majority of DNFs in ultra running is the dreaded gastro intestinal problems or as most of us know it, ‘GI issues’. Basically we are putting food in, but our digestive system is not able to process it. For shorter events our digestive system can cope with us surprising it with an energy gel here or an energy bar there. However, this approach in an ultra will ‘find you out’ every time and more often than not will lead to GI and performance issues.

During physical activity our body re-routes blood away from our digestive system to the muscular system, and in turn our digestive system moves into a sleep mode. Our body has limited glycogen stores (energy used for physical activity), which in most of us will only last only a couple of hours.

Therefore, nutrition becomes not only a necessity, but an aspect of training that we simply cannot ignore. Our digestive system is a little like us when we are unexpectedly woken – we are surprised, a little grumpy and then probably not very helpful.

Tips to help train and develop your nutrition strategy.

Practice makes permanent– just like our physical and mental training, we need to train our digestive system to wake up ‘happy and helpful’ to utilise and break down the food we are consuming. Testing and practicing different food strategies on our long runs will help you develop what works for you and your digestive system. It will also reduce the changes of GI issues during your goal event.
Stay hydrated – water is just as important as the food we add. Without this our digestive system is unable to transfer the fuel to our blood stream. I’m sure we have all experienced taking on food but it just sitting in our gut, causing bloating and nausea. Without the correct level of water, the food will just sit there all day long. Cramping is also associated with poor hydration as the body starts to redirect water from our muscles to prioritise in regulating our body temperature (sweat).
Develop different strategies– the majority of us set an A, B or C for our event goal. We should adopt a similar approach for our fuelling strategies to counter when things don’t go to plan, which is generally more often than not. Therefore, it’s important to be flexible with our fuelling to counter some of the uncontrollables such as weather, aid stations running out of supplies, etc. For me, flat ginger beer settles my gut and flat coke gives me a quick but limited boost from fatigue. The key is to practice in training and don’t be afraid to adapt on race day and ‘do something’, the problem is unlikely to just go away.
Little and often – don’t cram your digestive system with food, give it a chance to wake up happy with a manageable amount of work to do. Too much food at once will make it grumpy and unhelpful. Again, experiment and practice, practice, practice what types of food and quantity works for you on your long training runs.
Nothing new on race day– we have all read, heard and probably said this one before. Some of us have most likely winged it with a new pair of shorts or top, maybe got away with it or got chaffing from hell. Your fuelling on race day should be just like your training. You have practiced it so often, it’s now just business as usual (BAU). You’re not going to be tempted by the brightly colored jellies or muffins at an aid station.

Trust in your training and don’t be the person that winged it!

To get in touch with Tony, or for more advice, head to his website Tony Smith Run Coaching or search for Tony Smith Run Coaching on Facebook.

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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.