President's Report: April 2024

Simone Hayes • April 29, 2024

April, 2024

Howdy runners!

I hope you have all had a great April and enjoyed the Easter break and Anzac Day long weekend. If you live on the eastern seaboard you will have experienced some magnificent weather like us here in Sydney, perfect running weather!

We are still riding the high after the 24 Hour Asia Oceania Championships where unfortunately the weather gods weren’t as kind that weekend, but the rain didn’t dampen the spirits of all the amazing athletes that took to the AIS track in Canberra. Our Australian representatives did us proud again, with the Women’s team nailing the Gold with 3 podium finishes. The Men’s team nabbed Silver with a 2^nd place on the podium. Competing teams were from India, New Zealand, Chinese Taipei and South Korea and all put on a great display of sportsmanship and toughness as they braved the weather and the competition for 24 hours. I believe that we put on one of the best championship events that I have seen and we are very proud of our athletes, the race organisation from Matthew Eckford and his team, the volunteers that came to help and the supporters that cheered the runners. It was truly a world class event.

To make the event even more exciting, alongside the Asia Oceania race was also the 24 Hour Australian Championships. This as we know resulted in some amazing totals being produced and I think a spot on the next 24 Hour team at the World Championships in Albi, France in 2025 will be hotly contested as we have so much depth at the moment – I’m glad I’m not a selector! As you are probably aware there was an issue with the timing (for this race only), as when the clocks changed over at 3am for daylight savings there was an unprecedented glitch in the timing system. Of course we understand that this is very frustrating for all involved, especially the athletes, but can I urge you to consider that this is technology we are dealing with and not everything always goes to plan. Regardless of all pre-emptive procedures that were put in place the unfortunate happened. I know this caused the timing company many hours of work and distress, but in the end humans can only deal with what computers spit out to some extent. Luckily, as always, there were redundancy measures in place and all of the correct data was still there and it was resolved in a timely manner.

All in all it was a hugely successful weekend and something that we can be very proud of.

Coming up in May on the AURA calendar we have Dead Cow Gully LOS, Organ Pipes Classic, Irrational South, Ultra Trail Australia and No Time to Die Ultra.

It’s also Mother’s Day in a couple weeks so I wish all of our mums who run (and those who don’t but still support the runners!) a very happy Mother’s Day – kids, don’t forget Mum loves new running shoes! Our mums are strong and capable of so much – you only have to look at the 40 year old humble mum of two, Jasmin Paris, who was the only female to ever complete the Barkley Marathons earlier this month. This amazing feat inspired women worldwide, but right here in Australia we have many mums that also inspire us on a daily basis, just by getting up early to train, by standing at start lines, and by doing something they may not have thought possible – until they tried it. They are showing their children that you can get out of your comfort zone and do amazing things just by giving it a go. Women of all levels from the back of the pack to our elite are all out there loving our sport in whatever shape or form ultra and trail running comes in for them! Here’s to all the mums out there!

Next month is the AURA Annual General Meeting on 28 May. We invite all of our members to attend and vote on the committee positions, and will send the links and agenda closer to the 28 May date. Please come along and have your say in the future of AURA. We have a few updates to the constitution to put forward so if you have an interest in how your association is planning to move into the future then please show your interest by attending and voting, either by proxy or in person.

At the AGM there will be two new committee positions to be filled. A Governance Officer and a Director of Events position. If you are interested in nominating for either position please contact me at president@aura.asn.au for more information prior to 13 May.

In the coming months we will have the State Reps applications, applications to host the 2025 National Championships and more, so keep your eye out these posts if you would like to be more involved in the sport.

That’s it for April, we hope you have some exciting things planned on your calendar for May!

Happy running!

Simone Hayes - President

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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.