WEEKLY NEWS – 25/4/2018

Kate Dzienis • April 25, 2018

Coburg 24hr, Vic
Convicts and Wenches, Tas

Last weekend saw the running of two amazing events – the Coburg 24hr Festival in Vic and Convicts and Wenches over in Tas.

The Coburg 24hr provided a few options for participants with a 24hr run, 24hr walk, 12hr run, 12hr walk, 6hr run and 6hr walk, and fields were strong this year for the race at the Harold Stevens Athletics Track. AURA members represented well in most categories, totalling 22 out of 56 finishers.

Nikki Wynd from Lysterfield, Vic took first female in the 24hr run for the ladies having completed 503 laps of the track, resulting in 201.290kms. Following suit was Cheryl Symons (Murrumbeena, Vic) with 476 laps at 190.580kms and Annabel Hapworth (Annandale, NSW) with 286 laps at 114.457kms.

All three women in the 24hr run category were AURA members.

In the men’s 24hr run,Daragh O’Loughlin from St Kilda, Vic claimed victory with an overall first position, having finished his time with 543 laps at 217.250kms. Second overall was Kay Bretz (Cremorne, NSW) coming in with 531 laps at 212.660kms. Other AURA members also did amazingly well in the warm conditions – Stuart Hughes (182.372kms), Joel Claxton (164.717kms), Oliver Mestdagh (163.032), Philip Balnave (150.206kms), Peter Munns (144.650kms), Stephen Lewis (140.000kms), and Tony Wilms (100.000kms).

The 24hr walk saw 17 competitors and a big congratulations goes out to our AURA members who completed massive distance, including John Timms (118.844kms), Justin Scholz (111.808), and John Kilmartin (81.916kms).

Well-known WA ultra runner Bernadette Benson took out the 12hr run at Coburg, as did Victoria’s Lou Augello, in the women’s division. Benson saw herself pushed to do 202 laps at 83.769kms and Augello completed 145 laps at 60.448kms.

Malcolm Gamble from Mordialloc, Vic claimed first position in the 12hr run for the men, having done 332 laps at 137.763kms, and Ian Hoad rocked second place in the men’s 12hr walk at 61.780kms.

Congratulations also goes to Karen Mickle (Kensington, Vic) who was victorious with a first place finish in the women’s 6hr run after her efforts of 156 laps at 64.838kms.

For the men, Kevin Muller from Upper Kedron, Qld took home the gold with 196 laps and 81.414kms, while Andrew Ross (Prahran, Vic) followed suit in second with 69.046kms. It is believed Muller set a new age group record for the M45 6hr; it was 80.681kms set in 2016. This record is yet to be ratified and confirmed.

Annabel Hapworth, who claimed third in the 24hr women’s run, recalled the conditions of the events and said the later start meant heat only in the last hours of the day.

“It was warm (enough that Kay Bretz took account of the heat early on in what was an extremely disciplined race for a naturally very fast runner), and there was also a bit of a smoke haze,” she mentioned.

“Conditions settled by about 5pm, so people who had been slowed came to life.

“Nikki, Cheryl, myself and others who were on the Canberra 48 would have appreciated that at least it was not the brutal heat we experienced on that event; the later start at Coburg (midday) meant we were again aware of the heat in the last hour or two.”

Sunday saw the running of Convicts and Wenches along the shores of Tasmania, and the event also hosted a number of events, including a 50kms, 25kms, 12kms and 5kms.

AURA member David Bailey from Tollmans Hill, Tas led the way with first place in the 50kms, crossing the finish line in 3:59:16.

Congratulations also goes out to AURA Vice President Alexis Oosterhoff (5:56:51), David Campbell (5:58:10) and Steve Appleby (6:08:04).

With Australians today marking and commemorating Anzac Day, this Saturday sees the Lighthorse Ultra kick off with 12hr, 6hr and 3hr events in Woodvale, WA. The race is held the weekend of Anzac Day and was originally inspired by the sacrifices of those who have and are serving in the armed forces.

Feature Image – David Bailey taking the win in the 50kms event at Convicts and Wenches. Photograph – Supplied/Facebook.
Pictured – Cheryl Symons racing in the 24 hour event at Coburg. Photograph – Jane Sturzaker.

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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.