WEEKLY NEWS BRIEF – 22/1/2019

Kate Dzienis • January 23, 2019

Australia Day Ultra, WA
Points competition summary

The running of the Australia Day Ultra was held on Saturday (January 19) down in the coastal town of Australind, just 160kms south of Perth. The race is known to feature many city and suburban Perth runners who venture down to race in either the 100km, 75km, 50km and 25km events, but conditions this year were extremely challenging, with temperatures soaring in the mid to high-30s.

The 100km started midnight Friday-Saturday, and it was AURA’s Margie Hadley from Henley Brook who put on a stellar performance and took First Female with 8:51:00 flat in the hot weather.

Karnup’s Jen Millum claimed third podium finish after collecting a time of 9:50:07 and looked strong all the way.

Big congratulations to all those who ran in the 100km including Andrew McLeish (12:26:08), Sue Robertson (14:01:23), Richard Avery and Julia Mackay-Koelen, and to those who entered the 75km – Graham Bell (9:04:41) and Sarah Farrell.

In the 50km event, Tony Smith from Tapping claimed First Male after a much sought-after and successful 3:27:22 finish time.

Smith has run the ADU since its inaugural year in 2015, and every year just getting faster. This year though, he says his race was completely different in comparison to all previous ones.

“Conditions for the start were perfect (3am start for the 50km), just cool enough to need a long sleeve top if you were spectating but just right for a singlet or t-shirt,” he recaps.

“My race plan was a little different from normal; I usually start off conservatively and then try and negative split, but after chatting with a few experienced ultra runners they convinced me to ‘roll the dice’ and go out hard for a PB to see what happens.

“The challenge was accepted!

“My previous PB for 50km was a few years ago at Bunbury with a 3:32 plus change. I’ve run close to it a few times, but never managed to break 3:30:00.

“ADU this year was one of those races where everything aligned and I was pretty comfortable to hold low 4min/km pace until almost the finish. The pace dropped a little in the last few kilometres but by then I knew the magic sub 3:30:00 was mine.

“It was a five minute PB and even more rewarding was going through the marathon distance at 2:52:00; none of this would have been possible without the organisers and volunteers that helped plan, organise and executive one of my favourite events of the year.”

Third Male went to Andrew ‘Felix’ Poli from Ellenbrook who finished with a time of 3:47:53 whilst First Female was claimed by Jackie Kellerman thanks to a strong run where she finished in 3:46:49.

Both runs by Poli and Kellerman were PBs for the distance.

Congratulations to all AURA members who ran the 50km including one of the ADU’s race organisers Shaun Kaesler (3:55:14), Andrew Cohen (4:24:38), John Nuttall (5:04:42), Frank Chauveau (6:55:21) and Sally Chetwin.

The next events on the AURA calendar include the SA 100km Track Championships in Adelaide, SA and the AAA Racing Hill Climb Challenge (Round 2) in Dayboro, Qld this weekend on January 26 and the Cradle Mountain Run in Cradle Mountain, Tasmania on February 2.

POINTS COMPETITION SUMMARY

Here is a summary of the points competition and the top 10 AURA members! Congratulations to everyone who put in amazing performances in 2018!

1 Brendan Davies $1500 cash
2 Tia Jones $800 cash
3 Stephen Redfern $500 cash
4 Kevin Muller $400 cash
5 Jennifer Millum $300 cash
6 Margaret Hadley $200 cash
7 John David Yoon $100 cash
8 Cheryl Symons $50 AURA store credit
9 Nikki Wynd $50 AURA store credit
10 Ewan Horsburgh $50 AURA store credit

Pictured: From left to right Andrew ‘Felix’ Poli, Tony Smith and second place getter in the 50km Ryan Shand. Photograph – Serendipity Images.

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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.