RD GREG WALLACE RECOUNTS THE C2K

Kate Dzienis • December 28, 2020

Contributed by Greg Wallace, Coast to Kosciuszko race director

Coast To Kosciuszko 240km, 4-6 December 2020, Eden NSW

After a two-year hiatus, Coast to Kosciuszko returned for 2020. Borders were open, enabling 49 of the maximum 50 runners to be on the start line at Boydtown Beach just south of Eden, NSW in early December. A didgeridoo echoing across the bay at dawn and a Welcome To Country explaining the traditional trading paths from Eden to the high country set the scene for a special race.

Runners had a beautiful morning through the bushfire scarred hinterland before reaching the lush Towamba Valley. Vlad Shatrov was the early leader, setting a fast pace in seeking to better Andrew Tuckey’s race record. Runners met Big Jack Mountain then enjoyed the flatter terrain through Cathcart. As the day unfolded, the temperature would increase.

Although Coast To Kosciuszko has had hotter days, the decent wind, little shade or protection and the amount of downhill that many forget about started to take its toll.

One withdrawal became two, then three, then more including seasoned campaigners such as Jo Blake, Kevin Muller and Sabina Hamaty. By dawn the next day the number of withdrawals hit double digits. Those withdrawing had over 130 Coast To Kosciuszko finishes between them, so inexperience couldn’t be a factor.

While all runners toiled away on the course there were fascinating duels up front. Vlad Shatrov led Morgan Lindqvist by as little as 400m and by as much as 2km. All day. Kay Bretz was only a couple of km further back with Grant Brisbin and Nicholas Bamford keeping up the pressure. Amy Lamprecht led Joasia Zakrzewski by similar margins with Lou Clifton a little further back. All day.

All runners longed for and welcomed the cooler temperatures of the night on the Monaro Plains and into Jindabyne. The runners got to experience an amazing sky with the most stars you’ll ever see. The leading men maintained the pace and positions, while Joasia got past Amy before the 148km mark at Dalgety.

The weather held while the forecast indicated increasing winds across the morning and rain for the afternoon of Day 2.

Vlad Shatrov continued to lead and looked strong on the climb to Perisher in the early hours of the morning but eventually succumbed and withdrew just before the Perisher Valley checkpoint at 219km. Morgan Lindqvist kept the pace and was able to power on to Charlotte Pass, summit Mount Kosciuszko before crossing the finish line to win just after 8am in 26:35:49. Grant Brisbin overtook Kay Bretz on the climb to Perisher, and was strong on the summit, finishing only 34mins behind Morgan in 27:09:45. Joasia Zakrzewski had a near perfect run, finishing in third place outright, and being the first placed woman in 28:18:53 – smashing the women’s record by almost 2 hours.

In fact Joasia, Amy and Lou as top six placegetters and the first three women overall, all beat the previous women’s record.

As Day Two wore on, the forecast worsening weather arrived with strong winds although the rain held off held off longer than anticipated. By late afternoon the weather closed in and an Inclement Weather finish at Charlotte Pass was called, meaning runners not already en route to the summit would finish at Charlotte Pass and not summit Mount Kosciuszko.

The winds continued to increase with gusts of up to 80km/h with sideways driving rain as the last runner to finish, David Bennie crossed the finish line just prior to 10pm. David had a very special finish with course ambulance vehicles guiding David home, in a procession with sirens flashing, in the driving rain.

The 2020 Coast to Kosciuszko introduced a new generation of runners to this special event, with the first nine finishers all first timers. The conditions in the afternoon of Day One saw a number of multiple finishers withdraw as they struggled or niggles came back to bite. Yet the really tough weather conditions on Day Two saw no withdrawals. The runners at the back of the pack really toughed it out in massive winds and sideways rain – yet all crossed the finish line with beaming smiles and in their happy place, and few earned their Akubra and hat pin harder than the last runners home – Julie Sager, George Mihalakellis and David Bennie.

A wonderful post race announcement was awarding 12 time finisher Kevin ‘Brick’ Heaton his permanent race number – 11. Kevin embodies the Coast to Kosciuszko values of humility, community and resilience.

The 2020 Coast to Kosci had it all in a race that’s rarely predictable. From bushfire ravaged winding roads, white powdery dusty tracks, to lush rolling pastures, hot blue skies by day to the pink hues of dawn, the blackness of night with only stars to bare witness to the feet upon them, and a finale of threatening rolling grey clouds, unrelenting icy winds and wild sideways rain. We look forward to the first weekend of December in 2021 for the 13th Coast to Kosciuszko.

Pictured: Trevor Allen clocking up his 8th C2K. Photograph – 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.