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Race Director Report: Transcend Ultra

July 30, 2024

TRANSCENd ultra

22 june, 2024

walyunga national park, wa

shane johnstone, race director

Transcend took place on Saturday, 22 June, starting at Walyunga National Park, 45 minutes from Perth City in Whadjuk Country. The Transcend experience can be closely followed from afar like no other event in Australia, there is a live broadcast of the event on YouTube, with commentary from elite athletes Nathan Doig and Jess Jason. Every runner / hiker has a GPS tracker that can be followed via the Track Me Live maps. The 65km ultra runners start at 6:30am under the flickers of light from the illuminating Transcend race gantry. It is here where they are welcomed to country by Daniel Garlett, with a spirit cleansing smoking ceremony, didgeridoo and clap stick performance, the runners were handed clap sticks and welcome to join in with the ritual. As the race start time neared the rain increased to a torrential downpour which was fitting as they listened to Warriors by Leagues of Legends telling them ‘Here we are, don’t turn away now’.

The runners set off along the Avon River trail at an ambitious pace, especially in the challenging conditions. The pace proved to be too hot for some, opting for an early finish but others seemed to power through the trails, mud and all just having a blast as if they were back in their childhood exploring bushland. The early rain had brought the raging Avon River (gogulgar) and adjoining creeks to life, running through Bells Rapids and Bells Falls were special highlights leading into aid station 1 at Avon Ridge.

Leg 2 featured some epic single track and the notorious mud slide, where staying upright becomes the priority focus, fortunately the creek crossing just after was a prime place to wash the clay off the trail shoes, before ascending to Scenic Lookout around the giant John Forrest Cairn that is over a survey marker from the 1800’s. By this stage the 40km hikers had set off from aid station 2 adding to the atmosphere along the course.

Leg 3 is within Paruna Wildlife Sanctuary which always catches people off guard with its steps carved into the steep hill climbs and descents. The epic views over the Avon Valley take the edge off the discomfort and lure you to the Nissen Hut at aid station 3. At each aid station the runners and hikers are welcomed by a grazing table experience of home-made slices and nostalgic lollies that they will recall from their cherished childhoods, which fuels the fire to get them back on course hunting that finish line.

Leg 4 has the least amount of elevation however still features some surprises to keep the runners and hikers on their toes. The goat track 1km from aid station 4 is the highlight taking them through some eery bushland to put them back into full trail mode before the final stretch. The last support line at aid station 4 – Valley Campground within the Avon Valley National Park, Ballardong Country is often where many take the time to have a cup of warm soup and fresh bread to recharge the legs for the King / Queen of the Mountain climb up to the highest point of the course above the Boral Quarry. At this point the runners and hikers cross ladders into private farms before they reach the final 5km of the course which features some of the best single trail on the course.

The live entertainment from Sunchuks calls out to the participants to keep on following the trail markers and when it gets dark they see the search lights in the sky giving them a goal to keep chipping towards. The finish village features at the top of the final climb allowing the spectators to cheer them up those last final painful meters of vertical gain whilst having a Slum Dog Brewing Co or ROAM Distillery beverage along with a dirty burger and chips sitting around the fire pit. When the sun goes down the onsie costumes and chainsaws came out to welcome the final finishers in Party Hour 7:30 - 8:30pm up the neon light tunnel and under the luminated Transcend finish gantry. Wow, what an experience it was!

Transcend was very inclusive being open to hikers and trail runners. It has distances for all fitness levels and all age groups and if the distances were too far for someone to complete solo there were team options:

Kids Dash
6km Hike / 6km Run
40km Hike / 40km Hike Team Relay
65km Ultra / 65km Team Relay

The 2025 edition will be on a new date, Saturday, 16 August and will additionally feature:

40km Run
25km Hike or Run

One of the most special parts of Transcend is that all finishers are given the opportunity to plant a tree, giving back to the land and for future finishers who will eventually be welcomed to a Transcend Forrest. Some of the Transcendents opted for a glamping experience overnight, others enjoyed a beverage or three before catching a bus back to town, and some went on to stay at the historic Toodyay town. The region is well known to history, culture, food, wine and hot air ballooning over everlasting canola and wildflower fields.

This year’s champions were:

65km Ultra

Female
1 Erika Lori AUS 6:46:53 (Female Course Record & 2,000 AUD prize)
2 Claire O’Brien-Smith AUS 7:37:27 (1,000 AUD prize)
3 Arian Huston 8:15:00 AUS (500 AUD prize)

Male
1 Piotr Babis 6:19:59 POL (2,000 AUD prize)
2 Dale Zabiela 6:28:29 AUS (1,000 AUD prize)
3 Nicholas Bamford GBR (500 AUD prize)

65km Teams

Male
1 Bunch of Old C’s 7:01:23
2 Western Nomads 7:08:38
3 East Hilly’s 8:15:22

Female
1 Kate Bush’s #1 Hit Single 8:16:51
2 CC’s 8:42:21
3 Para Deleite 9:13:13

Mixed
1 TBC 7:30:00
2 Perpetual Peaks 7:34:29
3 Team White 7:59:19

6km Run

Female
1 Christine Lison 36:41 (Female Course Record)
2 Katie Sharples 38:55
3 Harper Shadbolt 41:10

Male
1 Christopher Sharples 32:58 (Male Course Record)
2 Reece Major 33:27
3 Raymond Walter 33:29

Please note the 40km hike and kids dash are non-competitive, however the 40km run in 2025 will be.

Further results can be found here: 2024 Results | Transcend Trails

Relive the 2024 event via video:

- Event video by Noeko https://youtu.be/3EM53yGZlGs

- Live Broadcast by Alive & Streaming Transcend 65K Ultra 2024 | LIVE! (youtube.com)

Checkout the event website www.transcendtrails.com

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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.