THE UPHILL CLIMB WITH 7 PEAKS IN 7 DAYS

Kate Dzienis • April 30, 2021

By Kate Dzienis

Because pushing himself beyond the limits isn’t enough, AURA’s Dion Finocchiaro earlier this month participated in the 7 Peaks in 7 Days challenge, hoping to raise awareness and funds for SANDS Australia with a group of other runners in the state of Victoria.

SANDS Australia is a volunteer-based organisation providing individualised care from one bereaved parent to another following the death of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth or newborn death.

Finocchiaro’s colleague Jay Bosanquet and his wife Naomi lost their baby daughter 5 months into their pregnancy back in 2020, whilst Finocchiaro’s twin brother lost his girl soon after birth.

On a personal level, this has hit Finocchiaro hard and when Bosanquet came to him last year with the idea of running to raise funds and awareness, he was all in.

So together with mate Eric Groulier, the three of them decided to challenge themselves and complete 7 Peaks in 7 Days over the 2021 Easter period.

So what was the concept?

7 Peaks in 7 Days is originally a cycling challenge through Victoria’s High Country that takes cyclists up winding mountain roads, around steep turns and past spectacular views right to the top of seven Victorian Alpine Resorts.

Finocchiaro, Bosanquet and Groulier decided to do without the aid of bikes, and instead use their running shoes.

Here’s a look at the daily mileage and elevation.

Day 1 (April 3)
Up Mt Baw Baw, a total of 6.71km with a moving time of 1h 01m, elevation of 750m.
Day 2 (April 4)
Lake Mountain Road Climb, a total of 21.05km in 2h 09m, elevation of 982m.
Day 3 (April 5)
Mt Buller Tourists Road Climb, a total of 15.23km in 1h 42m, elevation of 933m.
Day 4 (April 6)
Mt Buffalo Road Climb, a total of 20.62km in 2h 2m, elevation of 1069m.
Day 5 (April 7)
Mt Hotham, a total of 30.36km in 3h 33m, elevation of 1471m.
Day 6 (April 8)
Falls Creek (Bogong High Plains Road Climb), a total of 29.01km in 2h 57m, elevation of 1297m
Day 7 (April 9)
Dinner Plain (Great Alpine Road Climb), a total of 42.79km in 4h 11m, elevation of 1442m.

Finocchiaro explained that although it was the three of them for the entire challenge, multiple runners joined them along the way, with Bosanquet’s wife Naomi heading up to the top of the each mountain to do the same distance but without the elevation.

“There were no marked paths, no bike lanes, just ‘country’ roads where some parts were not that safe but not terribly busy either,” he recaps.

“All 7 peaks were beautiful to run on with nice weather, great company, and brilliant views; some of the areas we were running through were fire effected, whilst others had a lot of recovery happening.

“Logistically doing the 7 peaks in 7 days was a bit challenging because there was a lot of driving every day to and from the start or finish lines, plus going back home or changing accommodation.”

When it came to the elevation, Finocchiaro said running uphill was a much better choice than heading downhill.

“I was expecting to be quite bad when it came to soreness and recovery from going uphill,” he said.

“But it was actually okay because the impact was not really there; it was more so that we were tired and had to walk a bit so when the walking came into play we were tired in the glutes and hips, but impact-wise we were able to keep going day after day.

“Look it was never easy, but because we all knew why we were doing it, all of us with reasons to keep us going, and the fact we were doing it together, it kept us motivated that way; the physical strain on the muscles is so much better when you’re going up.”

Finocchiaro actually did a 13km recovery run the day after 7 Peaks in 7 Days finished, but he said he was a write-off afterwards for 8 days.

“When we started, I wasn’t sore at all but that day I couldn’t head out for a run for just over a week,” he recalls.

“Despite that, we always made sure we were recovering well after each peak whether it was ensuring nutrition was on track, getting enough sleep, and stretching the muscles.”

Approximately $12,000 was raised between the 3 runners, with Finocchiaro shaving off his well-known beard off on April 12 once he reached $5000.

Finocchiaro is getting back into the swing of things with his running following his trip to the US for the Hoka Project Carbon X2 last year, and is yet to set his sights on an A Race.

Pictured: Eric Groulier, Jay Bosanquet and Dion Finochiaro on Day 2 of 7 Peaks in 7 Days. 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.