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Race Report: 2023 Surf Coast Century 100 by Lonneke Kefalas

December 21, 2023

Surf coast century - 16 september 2023 - anglesea, vic

contributed by lonneke kefalas, aura member (maroubra, NSW)

Absolutely pumped with my first hundy at Surf Coast Century! I felt really good throughout, conserving energy in the first half for the third leg which had some steep hills and the last leg which of course would be tough running further than I have had before.

Amy, Sandra and I ran all together for the first few kilometres, and we were having a great time. Sandra went ahead about 5km in and Amy and I stayed together until the 18km mark or so where I had to let her go to stay within my green heart rate zone.

The sunrise from about 8-10km in was absolutely phenomenal and running on the beach with the sunrise ahead was magical! Kept the shoes dry through the tidal zone at world famous Bells Surf Beach until the last few hundred metres of the leg having to cross a creek on Torquay Beach, so the planned sock and shoe change was still going ahead.

A change of scenery on leg 2 heading into beautiful bush with plenty of nice flowy singletrack and some fire trails. This leg seemed to fly by apart from the last few kilometres coming back into Anglesea in the opposite direction to leg 1 and knowing it would go over the advertised 48km mark for the checkpoint.

Leg 3 started with a clamber under the bridge which ended up being fine and we chatted afterwards that we all did it in a different way and witnessed a few more options too.

This section has the highest elevation and some steep hills. I spotted Amy on the top of Heartbreak Hill as I was halfway on that hill but it took a few more kilometres to catch up to her again. When I did (57km mark or so), we ran together to the checkpoint with a welcome stop at the unmanned water point as we had run out of Tailwind and it was the hottest part of the day.

Thank goodness for a full refill and sunnies as it was also windy and there were mini tornados blowing up a load of dust caking to our sweaty and sun creamed skin but at least not our eyes. We hiked with Sandra from the 70km aid station to the end of the leg at 78km (meant to be 75km) where unfortunately she pulled out as she was not well.

The legs were definitely tired after all the hills but my energy levels remained good and I wanted to keep running wherever possible and found a rhythm again in leg 4 but realised Amy was no longer just behind me.

Finally, the last aid station was in sight (2.5km extra on my watch) and the light house just up the hill. The lighthouse…what a milestone reaching this beauty. You can see it from several locations throughout the course and it seems so far away, then gets closer but we turned away from it, but now finally I’m here. The watch said 87km and I couldn’t remember if that was the right distance from the lighthouse or if my watch was way ahead so I had to work with a 3km margin and get to grips that the finish might be 103km in total, pff, how will I ever make that…and I had also forgotten the course description from here…oh well, forwards is the only way, just keep moving…

It’s still light as I pass the cute cafe where we had a lovely lunch the day before with all four of us and the beautiful house and gardens. It gets dark soon (no more stunning views) and I eat a few flies as the headlight goes back on. I’m going through single track which is probably beautiful but tricky in the dark, then we’re back on the beach for what seems much longer than the 3.5km or so it is and I make a bargain with myself to keep running while eating my last gel (14 in total, one every hour has served me well) until the green flashing lights directing us off the beach. Then it’s mostly walking on the 4km mostly uphill loop we did at the start, and then some flat so I can run again and am told the finish chute is just around that corner, so keep running and then I’m finally there!

Can you believe it - that’s a 100km and 15 hours of running (and 13 mins)! It’s also my triple crown completing Rapid Ascent’s 3 long distance races which earns me a comfy jacket!

Ivan is at the finish even though we said he didn’t need to after Sandra pulling out and at home but he is the best supporter for all of us so he is and I am grateful! Then I high five every solo runner that comes over the finish line and then it’s Amy’s turn to finish after a tough last 16k getting there on pure perseverance and she gets a hug and a kiss!

Sandra phones to congratulate (so lovely) and so we’re complete again! A superb event, great course, stunning scenery and an amazing vibe! Well done, Rapid Ascent. I thought this might be the one and only 3 digit run I’d ever do but it is quite possible I come back for this one - I loved everything about it - before, during and after race day.

Thank you to everyone who has supported and encouraged me from Sydney, Canberra and the Netherlands, all the on course chats and encouragement from fellow runners, to my running buddies for lots of fun training runs, to Amy and Sandra for sharing this adventure and all the fun in and around it, to Ivan and Sandra for welcoming us into their new home and town and showing and ferrying us around everywhere and Ivan for all your crewing.

Lonneke Kefalas

All images supplied.

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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.