TOUGH DAY OUT AT HERBERTONNE

Kate Dzienis • August 30, 2019

Contributed by Ness Hartge, AURA Treasurer

HerberTONNE 100km on Saturday, August 3, 2019 Qld

There is one thing that a race director cannot control and that is the weather. This year, the Atherton Tablelands have had an unusually wet winter. Even on Friday, we were all hoping that we’d get a morning shower, then a beautiful North Queensland day. Coming from a very dry Central West of NSW, the rain was a novelty (for a little while).

The small field of 100km runners and the 100km team runners for the HerberTONNE gathered while race directors delivered the briefing early Saturday morning. The sense of humour evident on the website, came through in their briefing. Laughter at a race briefing is always good to calm the nerves.

We started at 6am under headlamps and with a slight drizzle with a run across a suspension bridge. Our first loop – BarBurrum – was 18km, mostly fire trail, that looped out to the west then back into the village of Herberton.

Back at the Historic Village, it was a quick refill and then head out onto loop 2 – Wild Walsh. A short stint up to the Herberton Range Aid Station, refuel again, then head out for the remaining 18km of the loop which takes you over the Great Dividing Range, crosses rivers and through rainforest.

The drizzle wasn’t letting up and the track was now getting muddy. On a fine day, the views from the top of the range would be amazing and it was easy to pick which section the locals know as ‘where the wild things are’.

Back to the Herberton Range Aid Station for a coke, vegemite sandwich, chocolate and a sit and think about life (I’m sure I wasn’t the only one)!

I loaded up, stashing plenty of treats in my pack, and headed off for loop 3 – Mabi – along the old railway track and through the tunnel. This was by far my favourite part of the track. I am simply amazed at the engineering feats that were achieved without the use of technology. The clearing of the railway line and the building of the tunnel which is still around today just amazes me. The railway led to Carrington Falls and as someone who is scared of heights, scaling up the rocks and a steep, steep climb had me asking ‘how the heck am I meant to get up there’!

The mud made the track more like a slip-n-slide through the rainforest. I was happy to get back onto the fire rail and trot along into Plath Road aid station. Potatoes were plentiful and I was asked if I was going to continue. I looked at the fire, so welcoming and warm, but off I donned my headlamp and headed off.

It was during this stint that I decided I’d had enough. The mud and rain had taken its toll on me, although I could have slogged it out and finished but by this stage I wasn’t getting much joy out of running.

At Halls Falls I was greeted by the vollies and my brother, and after 14hrs and 72-odd kms I called it quits and then ate half a packet of jam drop biscuits. By the time we left, the vollies had convinced my brother that trail running was awesome and gave him details for the local running group.

We headed back to the village for the Sunday breakfast and presentation.

These small local events have something special that you don’t get at the big ones. The local Lions Club comes out to cook a breakfast, a local resident gave us a short history lesson of the area, and lumps of tin were given as prizes. It’s things like this that make these events memorable.

The race organisers and volunteers where nothing short of amazing. They came out in the rain and stood at junctions, manned aid stations, sat on and covered tarps on course in the rain to ensure we went to the lookout. There is nothing like seeing a smiling face and hearing kind words to give you a boost when you need it.

Some days, running isn’t about the finish line. I was happy to get to the start line. And happy to call it quits without having a broken body. I was fortunate enough in that I was spending the next week in the area with my brother and his family who live in Atherton. By Thursday the rain had stopped and I got to take my train mad son back to see the tunnel and it nailed one of my main reasons why I do these adventures. I love exploring new places, seeing things that most people won’t get to see, then be able to share them with my family.

As I trudged through the mud, I was vowing to sell some of my gear, and that 100’s and I would be breaking up for good.

But now the mud has been washed off my shoes, I’m already planning my trip back!

Pictured: Ness Hartge racing in the 2019 HerberTONNE. Photograph – Supplied/Facebook. Contributed by Ness Hartge, AURA Treasurer HerberTONNE 100km on Saturday, August 3, 2019 Qld There is one thing that a race director cannot control and that is the weather. This…

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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.