RACE DIRECTOR’S REPORT – NERANG

Kate Dzienis • October 31, 2018

Contributed by Ian Cornelius, Nerang Event Organiser

Although the Nerang 200 miler has 11,640 metres of vert and is rated as difficult as Badwater or Great North Walk (times two), it is made quite manageable by the fact that it is conducted on a looped course of 25 kms meaning that crew support, food, clothing change, a short nap, running repairs and onward encouragement can be made or provided every 25kms.

Bring a tent, food, crew and the will to succeed and the 200 miler is achievable by anyone who can run a marathon.

We provide a marquee for shelter and electric power for microwave, hot water etc.

We had 30 marquees this year (the race was held September 27 to 30) which was just barely enough.

We plan to have 50 marquees next year.

The Nerang cycle velodrome is a wonderful facility. It is just on the fringe of Gold Coast suburbia, is less than one hour by car from the international airports of Brisbane and Gold Coast (Coolangatta) and it boasts toilets and hot showers and a shopping centre just five minutes away.

The run course is through a heavily forested area which provides some measure of protection should the weather be hot.

Although we had no reports of any serious medical issues this year, we were comforted by the fact that the Queensland Ambulance Service was less than five minutes away, in case of emergency. We have a 4WD on site to cater for any evacuations.

The other major benefit of the looped course is that we can simultaneously conduct the shorter event options of 100 miles, 100kms, 50 miles, 50 ms and even 25kms. Runners in a point to point dedicated 200 miler can travel pretty much the whole duration of the event without seeing another runner.

With this event runners are always coming through and other runners are frequently in view. The major benefit, of course, is that those in the shorter events can learn from the experience and be encouraged to move up a distance the following year.

The most amazing thing in 2018 was the high finish rate.

In the 200 miler we had 12 finishers from 18 starters and in the 100 miler we had 10 finishers from 17 starters.

Of equal significance was the emergence of females.

In our first 100 miler in 2016 we had nine starters, all males.

In 2017 we had 12 starters in the 100 miler, with just the one female starter and finisher Sievland Poh.

200 mile	male	time	female	time
1	Todd Hazelgrove	63:08:36	Kerrie Williamson	64:08:11
2	Lucas Sarra	63:39:51	Natalie Reutter	82:08:14
3	Sam Weir	64:59:50	Lisa Spink	85:48:40
100 mile
1	Terence Lim	29:35:57	Amy Strong	28:37:30
2	Richard McCormick	31:56:03	Stefanie Awiszus	29:48:44

3	Brett Kettle	35:47:38	Debbie Gilchrist	35:33:22

100 kms

1	Cody Stark	13:53:21	Jillian Clifford	15:54:48

2	Kevin McCann	15:59:29	Claire Bibby	20:37:52

3	Emerson da Rosa	19:48:25

50 mile

1	Dean Lyons	9:58:17	Joanne Rech	13:58:13

2	HMSHKW Bandara	10:37:37	Shona Burton	14:00:12

3	Shaun Baynes	16:14:29

50 kms

1	Oliver Armstrong	4:53:04	Krisztina Balacz	5:43:12

In 2018 we had four female starters in the 200 miler and eight in the 100 miler. Astonishing! Thanks to Sievland for showing the way.

The 200 miler was hotly contested with just two hours separating the first four placegetters. Amy Strong, female winner of the 100kms in 2017 stepped up to the 100 miler and was outright winner.

Congratulations to all of the athletes.

Full results are at http://results.timingplus.com.au/event/nerang200/2018

Live timing was provided by Timing Plus and this worked flawlessly, enabling us to effectively track the runners for the duration of the event. GPS trackers won’t work in the National Park because of the dense tree cover.

Pewter tankard awarded to finishers of 200 miles and 100 miles.

We awarded belt buckles to finishers in 2017. The problem with them is that they have no useful function and do not have room on which to inscribe the name of the recipient or their time. We selected pewter tankards for 2018 which have a useful function and/or can be displayed in a trophy cabinet. We inscribed the name of the event, the name of the recipient and their time on a dog tag. This can be affixed to the handle with a chain or glued to the side of the tankard. These have been generally well received so we will stick with them for future years.

Thanks to all our hard-working volunteers but especially Ben Dennien, Geoff and Jan Pesut, Gary and Sharon Parsons and my wife Cynthia all of whom worked tirelessly for 24 hours a day for five days.

Thanks also to all of our race sponsors and to Asia Trail Master.

Next year’s Nerang Ultra-Trail Gold Coast festival will be held from September 26 to 29.

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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.