TOUGH TARAWERA BUT FLEMING CONQUERS HER RACE

Kate Dzienis • February 28, 2018

Contributed by Kelly-Lyn Fleming, AURA Member, Ultra Runner

I knew that the Tarawera 102kms in New Zealand on February 10, 2018 was going to be a challenge. I was confident I could complete the distance, but what concerned me was making the cut off times. My husband and I drove to Rotorua the day before the event, and it rained the whole way from Auckland, with the weather forecast predicting more rain. Last year (when I completed the 65kms event) we had perfect weather; the year before (87kms) it was rainy and muddy, this year we were going to have rain, mud and a more difficult course. Reversing the course meant that we had the easiest part first and in daylight.

We left Firmin Field, Kawerau at 7am. The vibe was awesome, even though we were wet before we started. The first 7kms, running through single track forest was fun, apart from the odd wasp sting.

I had eaten breakfast at 4am and just after 7kms I began to regret the fact I had not had my usual morning mocha drink and I started feeling the effects of no caffeine or sugar. I had also forgotten to take Tailwind to Rotorua, but was not overly concerned as I knew the aid stations would be well stocked. At the 10kms aid station, I filled a bottle with Tailwind (too watery) and had a Spring Energy gel. My pre-race nutrition plan was to have Spring Energy every 10kms, Clif Bloks when needed, and dates and cheese from my drop bags.

The next 19kms were hard going, more so mentally. I was questioning why I was out there in the rain, paying to do something that I wasn’t actually enjoying. When I got to Titoki (26kms) I decided to have Coke. I didn’t want to start drinking Coke so early, but I needed a boost of energy. At 29kms, my mojo suddenly caught up with me and I began to really enjoy myself. By now my feet were not only wet, but muddy. I had sand and mud inside my shoes and toe socks. Parts of the track that should have been easy to run on had become ankle deep mud pools. I was thankful I had decided to carry my poles from the start.

Passing the gushing Tarwera Falls was spectacular. My support crew met me at The Outlet (40kms), and I was really pleased as I was 20 minutes ahead of my predicted time. I had a drop bag there and after a quick restocking of nutrition I was on my way again. The scenery between The Outlet and Humphries Bay was spectacular, and took my mind off my feet. I had blisters on both feet and the sand in my socks felt like I was walking on sandpaper. I didn’t want to stop and change my socks because I knew my feet wouldn’t stay clean or dry.

On arrival at Okataina (58kms), I was greeted by my support crew. I decided to change my socks as by now my blisters were starting to throb. I made a teary promise to my husband that I would not sign up for the miler (a decision that I now regret). My feet were cleaned up, Fixomul was applied and after a few tears, cups of Coke, dates and cheese I was on my way.

From Okataina to Millar Road was going to be the longest distance between checkpoints (16.4kms) and also the most difficult terrain. I wanted to complete this stage while there was still daylight. I had resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t be running anymore (apart from over the finish line). With the mud, blisters and terrain, the going was tough. I fell a lot along this section as I was determined to complete this stage before dark and was pushing too hard.

A few kilometres out from the Okataina Aid Station, another competitor was lying alongside the path with a broken ankle. A lot of competitors had already pulled out at Okataina. Getting to Millar Road was a relief, I knew I only had 8.6kms to go until Blue Lake where I would be picking up my pacer. I was still ahead of cut-off, but by now I had abandoned my plan of completing it all in 20 hours and just wanted to finish in one piece. During daylight and without mud, this section would have been great to run through. About 3kms before Blue Lake, the path suddenly stopped and I didn’t know where to go. I heard a voice telling me to walk towards the light. I was not hallucinating!!

A huge tree had come down and was blocking the path. I had to climb over the tree trunk, and after negotiating the obstacle with the help of two volunteers, I continued in the dark. Suddenly I heard a crack and a thud. A tree had fallen down in the forest, but I didn’t know how close it was to me. As I was alone, I was really scared and this spurred me on. Going faster through the mud though meant sliding and falling more.

I arrived at Blue Lake just before 1am and was greeted by my pacer Olivia. I had not planned to stop for long but as my feet were really sore, I decided to change socks again. There were tubs of muddy cold water that I put my feet into in an attempt to clean them. After patching up my blisters, putting on dry socks and a quick Cuppa Soup, we were on our way. By now, each step felt like I was walking on razor blades. Walking along the bitumen made it even worse. Olivia was doing her best to distract me and I was trying to keep my groans to myself. This section, to Redwoods, was another long one (16.2kms).

By now, my nutrition plan was abandoned, I didn’t feel like eating anymore. Olivia reminded me to drink periodically, but by now I couldn’t tell the difference between water or Tailwind. Having the company really helped keep my head in the right place.

This part of the course seemed to go on forever, and I was really pleased when we arrived at the Redwoods Aid Station. I changed into road shoes and decided not to change my socks as I didn’t want to see the state of my feet. Tania joined us at Redwoods, and the three of us set off for the final 5kms. As Tania and Olivia had not met before, they chatted away and I could just listen without having to talk. We walked along most of the Rororua parkrun track and even though it was cool, walking past the sulphur pools made us hot. The sulphur smell added to the atmosphere and I knew that we were approaching the finish line.

As we turned the corner onto the road leading up to the finish, all the pain in my feet and the tiredness disappeared. Even though I had been on my feet for 22 hours and 48 minutes, I ran up that road and into the arms of Paul Charteris. The relief at finishing before the 24-hour cut-off was immense. I could sit down and enjoy a bottle of chocolate milk and a bag of chicken chips. This was the most physically and mentally challenging event that I have completed.

Would I do it again? Absolutely!

AURA member Kelly-Lynn Fleming (53) has always been an avid hiker. She began running in March 2015 and since then has completed many running events, including multiday events (Big Red Run 250km) and ultramarathons. She enjoys the challenge of pushing her mind and body to their limits. She is a run director at Lake Joondalup parkrun and encourages others to achieve their goals.

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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.