SPECIAL REPORT – A CAPTAIN’S PERSPECTIVE

Kate Dzienis • September 28, 2018

SPECIAL REPORT
Contributed by Brendan Davies, 100k World Championship Australian Team Captain

The 30th IAU/IAAF 100km World Championship was held on 8 September in the tranquil rural setting of Sveti Martin na Muri, in northern Croatia. Team Australia left with high hopes after securing improved team results at the last Championship two years again in Spain. Growth in participation in ultra running in Australia has yielded fantastic results from more athletes and selectors rightly choosing large teams as a consequence, with a great mixture of youth and experience.

Originally eight women and seven men were selected, by far the largest team in my time representing AURA at representative levels and testament to the renewed focus on high performance instigated by President Rob. However, selecting big teams in ultrarunning is one thing and definitely doesn’t necessarily lead to big results, and this report would be quite apt having the tagline ‘The Ups and Downs of being an Ultra Runner’.

Firstly, let talk about the perils of being a high performance ultra runner, and this could sum up the story of the men’s team. It’s almost inconceivable that from an original seven man team we would have only one with a finishing time next their name at the end of the Championship, yet this is the reality and certainly highlights the perils of ultra running.

Work commitments claimed our first member a month before the event, with our most experienced runner at World Championship level, Andy Hayden, unable to find leave from work. Andy was a big loss, and one particularly that I felt most. Andy and I have been on four previous teams together and I always find him a calming and wise head in race week. It was a loss, however we knew we could cover. We had six strong men left, and a month out we were confident of a very solid team result, and perhaps were beginning to harbour hopes of a team podium.

However, as is the thin line we tread at the high level, injury unfortunately claimed two of our strongest runners in the last two weeks before the race. It was a huge blow to the men’s team morale losing Darryl Hill and Dion Finocchiaro. Both men were showing career best form and we knew the hole they left would be impossible to fill.

This left us with four men; myself, Barry Keem, Francesco Ciancio and our team manager Gary Mullins to take the start line; however the perils weren’t over yet! In the week of the event, Gary had developed a throat infection and was nowhere near 100% in race week. This coupled with his selfless hard work as team manager running around organising rooms, meals, crew etc and although he’ll never admit this, it ultimately took its toll on him. I believe in keeping the team well managed in race week, Gary did sacrifice some of his own recovery before the race.
They say getting to the start line is the main thing, and even with all these pre race mishaps, we still had a team of four men and seven women (Marita Eisler had also withdrawn from the women’s team due to personal reasons). The course, however set along undulating road among corn fields, apple orchids and olive groves would also have its say, and a big say it was to have.

When one does a road 100km, it’s not expected to be run over a course with 850m +/- and in humid and hot conditions. Indeed the nature of the race was completely different to all my previous 100km road races. With its ups and downs, it felt much more like a trail race at times, with consistency of pace not really possible and the fatigue from the conditions hitting hard. Unfortunately it would be these conditions that would claim Francesco, withdrawing at 47.5km, and Barry and Gary 55km into their race. Quite the blow! With the 7.5km out and back course, it was quite a shock for me to see no other Aussie male runners out there, but it only made my resolve to finish as strong as possible even greater.
I finished the race in 7:08 and 25th position, nowhere near my best finish at a WC level (I was 10th in 2016) however satisfied with my effort and perseverance shown.

Ultimately I believe the biggest factor that influenced the race positions was the heat. I could see how easily the Europeans were running in the conditions coming out of a record hot summer and coming from an Australian winter left us all somewhat acclimatised to this. My own race execution probably wasn’t as good as it could have been, and I left wondering what could have been.

The story of the women’s team, however, was somewhat different – with all the team finishing and with many positive tales. Yes, each runner had their ups and downs, but overall the women were much more measured and handled the conditions better. With two of our team members, Emilie Tan and Tia Jones, living in much warmer locations (Singapore and Dubai respectively) it was no surprise to see them go so well. Tia was rewarded with a superb race, winning the World Masters F50-54 Gold Medal.

I am extremely proud of the women’s team, with all members bar Tia debuting at their first 100km World Championship. They showed a lot of heart, determination and team support. The run of the day from the entire Australian team would have to go to Victorian Tash Fraser, who ran smartly all day to claim 23rd spot.
It was great to also see Barbara Fieberg, Corrina Black, Larissa Tichon and Margie Hadley take to the big stage so confidently and with the courage that racing at top level requires. I can only see all four ladies taking positives out of this experience and using this as a stepping stone to greater things in their ultrarunning journeys.

Final Results

Men
25th– Brendan Davies – 7:08:30, 5th M40

Women
23rd– Tash Fraser – 8:12:37
36th– Emilie Tan – 8:30:51
39th– Tia Jones – 8:33:42, 1st W50
52nd– Margaret Hadley – 8:56:03, 11th W35
54th– Barbara Fieberg – 8:58:16, 4th W40
63rd– Corrina Black – 9:17:27, 14th W40
85th– Larissa Tichon – 10:09:00

Womens Team 8thout of 22 eligible teams

I would like to personally thank on behalf of the team all the support from AURA and the wider ultra running community in Australia. Thank you to our crew on the ground, Dion and Darryl who came and helped out despite the disappointment of not being able to run, and the rest of our crew David Fraser, Jerel David and Jenny Taplin and all the other partners that put their hands up to help.

Full results: http://live.cro100.run/SubRaceMultiFooDetails.aspx?RaceID=6&SubRaceID=1&Gender=a&Group=WCI#

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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.