WEEKLY NEWS BRIEF – 18/3/2019

Kate Dzienis • March 18, 2019

Canberra 48 Hour, ACT (AURA National Championships)

The Canberra 48hr was held across the weekend, starting on Friday, March 15 through to Sunday, March 17 and it doubled as AURA’s 2019 48hr National Championship Event at the Australian Institute of Sport on a certified 400-metre track.

Also included trackside were the 24hr, 12hr, 6hr, 100km and marathon races and from all the social media posts doing the rounds from the ultra running community, the C48hr was a must-attend event.

In the AURA 48hr National Championships, it was a stellar effort by everyone who ran. Congratulations to mighty Mick Thwaites from Banyo, Qld who always impresses with his determination to go further and faster than any of his personal bests.

On the day, Thwaites finished 1st Male in the Championships and in the event itself with a total distance of 389.041kms.

Massive numbers were also clocked up by Dan Symonds from Taringa, Qld who ran a 362.213km race for 2nd Male, and Werribee, Victoria’s David Billet who took 3rd Male for the Championships with a distance of 275.673kms.

Results for the Championships in the women’s division were also impressive, and like a banner message written for her on the day to ‘Run like the Wynd’, Nikki Wynd from Lysterfield, Vic did indeed run like the wind as she secured a whopping 317.894kms to land her 1st Female.

Not far behind her, sturdy congratulations goes out to the two ladies who took podium finishes with their results, including Kerrie Williamson from Cashmere, Qld who totalled 305.284kms for 2nd Female, and Victoria’s Cheryl Symonds who ran 284.520kms.

Well done to everyone who ran in the 48-hour: Antony Sedman (269.742kms), Shephen Wright (268.004kms), Barry Loveday (254.400kms), Kris Ryan (252.880kms), Sabina Hamaty (248.163kms), Heather Christison (242.007kms), Duc Do (204.000), George Mihalakellis (200.400kms), Justin Scholz (187.065kms), John Timms (177.484kms), Jimmie Barnes (175.084kms), Tony Wilms (161.200kms), Gemma Worland (146.063kms) and Karen Chan (15.483kms).

In the 24-hour event, AURA’s very own John Pearson from Coolum Beach, Qld took away 1st Male out of all participants with his efforts to finish at 237.113kms while Wagga Wagga’s Rick Storrier’s running career just improves day after day after he secured 2nd Male with 216.11kms. Amazing running by all those who raced as AURA members, including Stephen Kiley (164.833kms), Kelly-Ann Varey (132.222kms), Steven Houldsworth (130.136kms) and Samantha Post (126.681kms).

AURA members were on fire at the weekend, because as we look at the 12-hour division, Kevin Muller from Wodonga, Vic secured 1st Male with 134.801kms while Malcolm Gamble took hold of 2nd Male (131.309kms) and Stephen Redfern claimed 3rd Male (125.634kms).

The women rocked the track as well – Tia Jones from Ipswich, Qld claimed 1st Female after a stunning effort of 123.247kms and Simone Hayes, whilst giving Jones a run for her money, finished in an amazing 113.632kms.

Well done to all those who participated in the 12-hour, including John Nuttall (77.496kms), Robert Boyce (72.000kms), Stephen Lewis (60.420kms) and John Shaw (41.600kms).

It doesn’t stop there though!

In the 6-hour division, national treasure Brendan Davies from Woodford, NSW took top marks as he took control of his race and walked away 1st Male with 81.319kms. Also looking strong throughout the event were Ewan Horsburgh from St Ives Chase, NSW who claimed 2nd Male (72.605kms) and Matthew Eckford from who landed 3rd Male (69.225kms).

Kerrie Bremner from Nicholls, ACT led the way for the women and took herself a sturdy 1st Female to land with 55.076kms.

The Canberra 48 Hour Race is an ultra running event that is simply not to be missed.

The next races on the AURA calendar include Duncan’s Run in Gippsland, Vic this Saturday, March 23 and the rescheduled Round 1 of AAA Racing’s Hill Climb Challenge, also on March 23 but in Beerburrum, Qld.

Pictured: Mick Thwaites taking on the 2019 AURA 48-Hour National Championships. Photograph – Supplied/Facebook.

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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.