RUNNING STRONG ON HOME TRAILS AT BTU 2021

Kate Dzienis • July 31, 2021

Contributed by Jessica Schluter, AURA member & 1st Female at BTU110km

Brisbane Trail Ultra 110km, 9-11 July 2021, Brisbane Qld

Training and racing trail events are just that little bit different now that we have to contend with all the uncertainty around COVID, lockdowns and border restrictions. This year’s Brisbane Trail Ultra had all that excitement and more with things being up in the air a few weeks out from the start. COVID derailed quite a few friends from being able to join the start line but in the end the organisers managed to put on an incredible event, and I was happy to make use of a few good months of training.

BTU is an awesome event but especially so because these trails are my bread and butter. I train on these trails every week and could have run all 110km without a single trail marker. The event kicks off in The Gap with the first 43km to the Checkpoint 1 being a good solid run up the hill to Mount Nebo. While we don’t necessarily have the long impressive climbs found in the southern states, we do have unrelenting, undulating climbs that after a while add up and can put a bit of sting into the legs. Because of COVID we kicked off in waves to keep us all distanced but I was happy to find myself running with a few of the 100 Mile runners after a couple of minutes and enjoyed a good chat as we cruised the single track around Enoggera Reservoir.

From here the trail widens out and criss-crosses Enoggera Creek multiple times which means some good slippery descending and then some good climbing up out of the creek crossings. Once you get out of the final creek crossing (for this section) you are now on the staple trail of all Brisbane trail runners, South Boundary Road. I hit South Boundary feeling good and came across a friend who was running the miler. He had only just completed the Adelaide 200 Mile event a few weeks back and I was keen to hear more about his run.

We chatted for a few kilometres until we hit the beautiful single track in and around Jolly’s Lookout and Mount Nebo. It’s an out and back here so crossing paths with a lot of other runners was quite fun and I was keen to see how much of a lead I had on the next female, which looked to be about 10 minutes. I popped out of the bush at Jolly’s Lookout, saw my beautiful family for a quick high-five and photo stop before heading into the first checkpoint. At Mount Nebo I got in and out quickly with the help of my speedy crew and prepared myself mentally for the next section.

From Mount Nebo (43km) to Gold Creek Reservoir (73km) is probably the toughest section of the course. One trail in particular is Township Break and it’s a ripper. Ropes are installed for the race to keep us upright on the steep descent to the creek. These were very helpful until you get to the end of the rope and then wonder what the hell you are going to do now. I slipped and slid down Township Break all the while thinking about the grinding climb out where I knew a 20min kilometre would be showing up on my watch. I was happy to make it to the top of Township in one piece and was then able to enjoy some rolling hills down to the bottom of the next big climb up Creek Road.

I focussed on getting enough food and fluids in on this section because I know from past ultra’s that this is often where I can come unstuck if I don’t eat enough. Once hitting the bottom of Creek Road it’s another ‘hands on knees’ climb and with close to 65km in the legs it’s a relief to get to the top. I saw two runners up ahead of me and had the goal to catch them before the top in the next 1.5km. I managed to catch them both just at the top before we all refilled our bottles at the water stop.

From here the trail heads across The Pinnacles which are a net downhill but at the time really don’t feel like it. I was happy to turn off The Pinnacles onto the single track around Gold Creek Reservoir because I knew it was only about 5km to the check point. It had been a really windy day up until now and with this section being along a ridge the wind was absolutely howling at this point. Getting off the ridge was good and dropping down into the reservoir where it felt less likely that a huge branch was going to fall on my head was a relief.

Coming into the 75km Gold Creek Reservoir checkpoint I felt strong and on top of things. I collected a refill of gels and a treat of mashed potato and ginger beer. I was happy to feel like I was heading for home. There is another long climb out of this checkpoint but I took this moment to powerhike, eat my potato treat and put on some music for the first time. I was glad I was running alone as there was some seriously bad singing going on. From here there are more rolling hills until you get to another climb called Kokoda. With almost 90km in your legs it a definite hiking hill and it can really bite but once I got to the top I knew I could enjoy a cruise along to the top of Mount Cootha.

When I hit this flat track, I immediately started running amongst the 30km runners. They flew past me so quick I thought I must have actually been walking. It was nice to have the distraction of these runners around me and even nicer to get to the final checkpoint at Slaughter Falls. It was here at 95km I could pick up my pacer, Brad, who was going to safely navigate me through the final section which included some of the most technical trail of the entire race and then a final 10 or so kilometres on bitumen.

It was great to run with Brad and we chatted away pretending that we were actually just out for a 20km training run around Cootha. Head torches got turned on and I had a pretty scary near miss along this section, clipping my foot on something random and almost ending up face first into a big rock. This made my heart rate skyrocket and my knees lift just that little bit higher in the hope I could get to the end of the track in one piece. We kept running alongside the 30km runners and while I tried to keep pace with some of them at times, I just didn’t have it in my legs.

We left the bush for the last time and headed into the suburban section of the course. It was actually super fun running through the streets of Bardon, past people out enjoying dinner and drinks, down past Suncorp Stadium and onto the footpath that follows the Brisbane River and has incredible views of the Brisbane city skyline. I was lucky enough to hit this section as the sun was going down, the city lights were turning on and I felt like I could just keep running. Brad kept the pace up and I was quite happy to maintain it if the path was flat. I called out to him that I was probably going to need to walk up over the Goodwill Bridge and when I didn’t get a response I knew he was planning on not slowing the pace and just seeing if I would keep up. As we hit the very pathetic incline of the bridge, which at the time seemed so much bigger, a couple of runners out for their evening speed session flew past us. I used this as motivation to just keep rolling the legs over and managed to get to the top of the bridge stilling running and was stoked to see the Kangaroo Point cliffs in sight and could hear the finish line music pumping. We enjoyed another kilometer or so along the river before one final push up the Kangaroo Point Cliff stairs to the finish line.

I was stoked to cross the finish line in first place after 112km, 5500m of climbing and in 13 hours and 17 minutes. I ran strong all day and couldn’t have asked for a more fun day on my home trails. I can’t thank Shona, Cora and all the volunteers enough for making the Brisbane Trail Ultra happen.

I’m already looking forward to the 2022 edition and possibly testing my legs (and head) by running the miler.

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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.