SETTING (OR BREAKING) THE RECORD STRAIGHT

Kate Dzienis • December 9, 2018

By Kate Dzienis

We all love long distance, and we all love the challenge of beating our personal bests. It’s why we’re ultra runners; it’s why we are always trying to better ourselves for mental, emotional, and physical growth. Perhaps even spiritual. And let’s face it, no matter how fast or how slow we are, aren’t we always in awe of those who stand on the podium with their official placings?

Those who place with a first, second or third position rightfully earn those spots. Their consistency, their dedication, their commitment to the sport is first and foremost commendable because we all know how much life can get in the way, so to prove that balance is possible to other runners is truly exemplary.

And then there are two types of podium finishers – those who have been training to get a placing, and those who run a great race just attempting to beat their own PB.

But what about when they set a record?

In Australia, and amongst the AURA community, we have had, and still have, astonishing runners who have set and/or broken records across a variety of distances like the very latest ratification of John Shaw from Wangaratta, Vic for his 3:34:18 finish time in the 2018 Ned Kelly Chase 50kms (M65-69) where he came first overall.

But what does it feel like to have set or broken a record?

Margie Hadley from Henley Brook, WA has set numerous records across the state, including her 18:11 time at Woodbridge Riverside parkrun (Sept, 2018), 18:34 at Aveley parkrun (Jan, 2017), setting a course record at the RunningWorks Ultra 50k with 3:44:17 (Oct, 2018) and setting the women’s record at the 2017 Waterous Trail on Foot 100 Miler in 19:57 where she became the first woman to finish the distance in under 20 hours in the event’s first five years of operation.

Hadley, 38, also this month became the 30th finisher to complete Run Down Under, and was named fastest female to finish the 14,080km journey in two years and 18 days.

She says when it comes to setting or breaking records, she actually never knows she’s done so until someone makes mention of it.

“I actually didn’t know I’d broken the record for Run Down Under until Travis Ireland (RDU) emailed me and told me I was the fastest female by 93 days,” she recalls.

“I don’t ever go out to set records like that, it’s always unintentional, never really a planned goal to go out and do that.

“I was so stoked though, Jodie Oborne from Qld held the record having completed it in 841 days back in 2016, and she’s an awesome runner who has an amazing record breaking history.

“The best runs that I’ve done are when I don’t put a time restriction on them so there’s no pressure, because you need to enjoy it, and when you enjoy it, you always run better.”

John Nuttall from Kelso, Qld has also set numerous records on the other side of the continent, including his most recent at the 2018 Adelaide 12 Hour (M65) with a time of 11:20:35 and at the same event, the 100km (M65).

He has also set records in the 6 Hour M60 age division at Centennial Park, NSW with 69.676kms in 2012, and in the 6 Hour M65 category at Campbelltown, NSW with 65.491kms in 2017, but unlike Hadley, had his eyes on the prize.

“To set a running record is great, but to put it into perspective, I wasn’t a runner, having only started when I was 44 years old, so I didn’t have time on my hands and never chased open records,” he says.

“When I was approaching 60, I really tried to get fit to see what I could do and from there checked out the age records, and the rest is history.

“I’ve aimed to set a record on all my occasions; I look at my record certificates on the wall in the mornings when I tie my runners on and think yeah, I earned those. Especially this year getting the M65 12-hour that was held by the legendary Cliff Young. I’m not saying I’m even close to him, he was a legend, but it’s nice to think I may have given him a race.”

2018 IAU Asian 24hr Championship Aussie team member Sharon Scholz’s background consists of more than a dozen record breaking runs, including breaking the Female Australian Record in her very first 48-hour event, the 2010 48-Hour Australian Championships with a final tally of just over 333km, and the 2010 48-Hour World Championships (France) where she smashed the Australian road course record by nearly 20km.

But the Wangaratta, Victorian’s favourite record breaking race was on home soil.

“Quite a lot of preparation occurs for me to be aware of what is possible in terms of records,” she says.

“I definitely aimed for records when I was in ‘that space’, but now I run to my best on the day and that’s great too. Probably my favourite record to break was Coast 2 Kosci in 2010.

“We had set up the entire year around my achievements and this was the last in an amazing calendar year. But if I needed to choose one of the age or Aussie records as a favourite, I’d choose France (24 Hour World Championships) where I broke the Australian Open Road record with 224.885km.

“I knew I was one of the quiet but deadly runners if I ran well, and I set a PB of nearly 30kms. It’s so amazing to know I have set them, I feel very privileged in a way to have the opportunity to do so.

“Sometimes when my depression is high and self-confidence has plummeted, I forget to acknowledge these achievements to myself. Maybe I should reminisce more frequently to give myself a kick up the behind – that I sorely need from time to time.”

If there’s one thing in common record setters and record breakers have, it’s discipline. Discipline needs to be applied in every aspect of the process, but whether you have your eyes set on putting your name to a record, or are just in it for the personal bests, never lose sight of your journey and how you got there in the first place.

Pictured (feature): Margie Hadley shortly after finishing, and setting a record, at the 2018 RunningWorks 50k Ultra. Photograph – Serendipity Images/Facebook.
Pictured (middle left): John Nuttall. Photograph – Facebook.
Pictured (bottom right): Sharon Scholz with husband Justin. 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.