THE MAKING OF A 100KM CHAMP

Kate Dzienis • April 28, 2022

Contributed by Dion Finocchiaro, AURA member (Brighton, Vic)
1st Male of Sydney International 100km

SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL 100KM / AUSTRALIAN 100KM CHAMPIONSHIPS, NARRABEEN (NEW SOUTH WALES), 23 April 2022

Marathons are often one of the pinnacles in distance running. A mighty challenge both mentally and physically. Time management is key to getting enough training and even then, you’re not guaranteed to even make it to the start line, let alone finish one. A true test of one’s physical ability, motivation, grit and of course keeping away from the toilet throughout the event. Throw in some life challenges like work, kids, injuries, motivation, etc. then the marathon really challenges you with a marathon of life just to start the journey of 42.195km.

However, for me that’s just not enough. I want to race it as hard as I can and leave nothing left for tomorrow. I don’t even know how many marathon events I’ve completed. I need a new challenge. One that can kick my ass if I’m not mentally and physically ready, plus a bit of luck. 100km. On the roads. It’s the kind of event someone stupid would have on their bucket list. Given it’s a once off and the challenge is the distance, you’d probably choose a beautiful location with trails, beaches, mountains or the like; where you can walk and take in the scenery and experience a life in a day.

Yet for me, I want a flat surface where I can attack the distance as fast as I can. It’s a distance I’ve attempted many times. Through the hills in the Mt Dandenong Ranges and even Hong Kong. I’ve attempted the 100km 13 times where I had my ass kicked 3 of those times and not finished. A couple more have involved blowing up and slowing down a lot. You can’t hide in these events and I have experienced silly mistakes, bad luck and just being inexperienced.

I recently attempted a 100km race on an athletics track. This was to push my limits and aim to break the Australian record of 6:29:26. That’s 3:54/km pace for a long time; or a 19:28 for 5km 20 times back to back. Well, it didn’t go well and I started suffering early on. Starting at noon in the heat didn’t help either; 25km into that run I felt unwell but persisted. I got to 55km before slowing, I had a sports beer at 59km. Then ran another 20km to stop after 80km. My average pace was 4:14/km which included a 59km split of 20mins. Physically I was very disappointed but mentally I took a lot out of it and had a lot of confidence from the headspace I was in between 60-80km.

Then 2 weeks later were the Australian 100km Championships. This was my goal race and I’d had a number of goals. One – to win. The other – try break the long standing 100km Australian Record. Having not finished my previous two 100km races, I had an extreme fear of failure to complete the distance. I was fitter than ever before, but my goals were challenging me to the core to run that fast over the distance. It’s stupid to think that people choose to do these events for fun, yet I’m one of those people. I wanted to feel a great sense of accomplishment and the thrill of completing something I thought was almost impossible.

Even getting to this event in Sydney was a marathon in itself. The course had been changed close to race day and shifted to a completely different location, throwing in a lot of u-turns, speed humps, rain and the uncertainty surrounding a huge event. My goals the night before were to just bank a finish and hopefully get a result that I was happy with. I already had a qualifying time for the 100km World Championships, which are due to be held in Berlin in August 2022. Anything other than another DNF would be a success based on my headspace.

Well that changed when we started the race when another teammate (Clay Dawson) for the WC headed out at 3:50/km. I respected how brave he was. He beat me in my last 100km that I completed in 2019 so knew he would be a mighty challenge to run down. I anticipated running 4:10/km and just see how I felt when the sun rose (we started at 5:45am). I, too, with Barry Keem, were running around 3:55/km and I just felt good. 10kms down in 38:40 and Clay was still ahead of me. Today was looking like a fast one, even with all of the u-turns (we had 4 per 3.3km). That is, if we didn’t blow a gasket and struggle to finish in the second half.

20km down and my pace was still the same (38:20 for my next 10km split). The only difference was I was now out front, solo. Passing some of the other 15 competitors on course. The camaraderie on the course was next level. For a small but intimate field, everyone turned on the positive attitudes for one another. Now 42.2km done in 2:42.42 (according to my Garmin), I still felt comfortable and kept my pace at 3:49/km. I was now scared of succeeding more than I was to fail. How did I now find myself in such a different headspace? I don’t know but I wanted to bottle that feeling forever.

50km down in 3:12.40 I was still on Australian Record pace. But an even split is unheard of in an event of this size. I had my work cut out for me but was excited to keep trying my best, leaving nothing in the tank for tomorrow. 60km down, 70km down, my pace was flawlessly the same. I had my first 250ml bottle of flat Coke at 65km and kept chipping away. My race nutrition had been the best I’d ever had. Every 2 laps I would take my Hammer Nutrition sports drink mixed with water. Nothing else. 80km down and my pace was still on target but it was definitely much more effort. I went through 50 miles in 5:10:22 and breaking the Australian Record in the process by 6 mins.

By 86km I started to fade, my pace dropping to the high 4min pace. I walked for a minute or so around 90km, the longest I’d ever gone without walking by 6km. Then 6 hours in which was 92km or so, eclipsing the 85km Australian Record as well. By 95km I realised I was likely going to miss out on the 100km Australian Record but only by a whisker. I tried to keep motivated and pick up my pace from 4:20/km and got back down to sub 4:00/km.

The energy on course was electrifying. The volunteers, staff and competitors had a vibe and investment in my run I had never felt before. They had all inspired me, out there for much longer for me but still happy to see me finishing hours before them. A reason I love ultra running, the people are kind and generous beyond words. I clocked a finish time of 6:30:43 and the last 300m on the athletics track was a celebratory lap with cheers to a huge 33min PB over the distance. Missing the 100km Aussie Record by just over a minute.

In winning the event, I also became the 2022 100km Australian Champion. Needless to say I have an itch to try go a bit faster in the future. I’d like to thank the event organisers Gary Mullins (pictured, below with Dion) and the TRT running group and AURA for adapting to forever evolving conditions in our current world. It wasn’t perfect but it also was perfect at the same time. My sports dietitian Chris Rauch who had a plan and was a great sounding board after my previous attempt. He works in private practice – feel free to ask me for his details. My sponsors Hoka, Hammer Nutrition, Sports Beer and the Evolve Run Club family for all of the support en route to such a magical memory. If you’ve read this far, thank you. I better stop rambling now. Peace out and happy running to you all!

Dion, a happy (but sore) 100km finisher.

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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.