WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 05-07-2023

Kate Dzienis • July 6, 2023

Transcend Ultra, WA
Australian 24 Hour Track Invitational, ACT
Lakes Trail Festival, NSW
Upcoming Events

We are always on the hunt for your stories and reports, so with June Ultramag coming out in the next few weeks, send in your incredible tales to ultramag@aura.asn.au And remember, it doesn’t have to be about an AURA-listed event specifically!

If any corrections need to be made in any of the results listed below, please do so via email by contacting Kate Dzienis at kate.dzienis@aura.asn.au

TRANSCEND ULTRA, WA

The Transcend Ultra in WA was held on Sunday, 25 June with runners entered in either a 65km (solo or relay), 40km or 6km. The ultra distance saw participants race from Walyunga National Park to Cobbler Pool, with a fair amount of the course on private land.

In the Men’s 65km, top spots were awarded to Justin Hill (6:53:22), Alan Biletic (7:04:07) and Olly Morell (7:06:18).

In the Women’s 65km, 1st Female was won by Helen Morgan (7:56:55) whilst AURA’s Jessica Smith from Perth took 2nd Female with a fantastic time of 8:10:44. Georgina Beech took 3rd Female (8:23:31).

Congratulations to all our AURA members who ran in the 65km at Transcend, including David White (7:50:32), Colin Moulden (7:52:46), Yevhen Kovalyshen (8:14:36), Mitchell Crook (8:43:03), Claudia Seke (8:50:58), Robert Parsons(9:27:07), Andy Thompson (10:27:22), Jacinta Homann (11:32:23), Kate Ashfaq (11:53:03) and Harmony Waite(11:53:06).

For the full list of results, including the 40km and 6km, click here.

AUSTRALIAN 24 HOUR TRACK INVITATIONAL, ACT

There were incredible performances at last weekend’s Australian 24 Hour Track Invitational, held at the AIS in the ACT from 1-2 July. As an elite level event targeted at supporting record setting and PBs, the Invitational was strategically created to provide runners with the most ideal conditions.

Additional to the Invitational is an Open 24 Hour event run at the same time but in a different lane; ideal for no qualifying standards.

All runners in the Invitational were AURA members and some records were set.

In the Men’s 24 Hour Invitational, Michael Hooker from East Perth, WA held on to the lead and finished with a total of 260.401km, a fantastic effort! Joe Ward from Manly, NSW secured 2nd Male after finishing with 240.803km and Luke Thompson from Crace, ACT took home 3rd Male with a total of 234.432km.

In the Women’s 24 Hour Invitational, top spot was won by Allicia Heron from Theodore, ACT who completed her race with a grand total of 225.428km. Second Female was secured by Louise Clifton from Mt Victoria who finished with 221.202km, and 3rd Female was taken by Sharene Blake from Busselton, WA who completed 218.228km.

RECORDS (YET TO BE RATIFIED): Heron set two new W35 records – W35 200km 21:00:27 and W35 100mi 16:24:01; Clifton set a new W50 record – W50 200km 21:02:54

Big congrats also to Karen Mickle (191.331km), Ewan Horsburgh (66.000km) and Daragh O’Loughlin (24.400km).

The Open saw 5 runners (4 men, 1 woman) compete, one of whom was an AURA member.

In the Men’s 24 Hour Open, AURA’s Greg Wilson from Kyneton, Vic claimed 1st Male with a total distance of 175.034km and also claimed a new M70 record (yet to be ratified) – M70 100mile record of 21:47:42,

Ayden Boxsell took 2nd male (164.690km) and Jacob Garlick took 3rd Male (94.980km).

In the Women’s 24 Hour Open, 1st Female was won by Susan Marshall (161.528km).

LAKES TRAIL FESTIVAL, NSW

The Lakes Trail Festival in NSW was also held last weekend (1-2 July) and provided a variety of distance options for runners – 100km, 75km, 50km, 30km, 12km and 5km. The event allows participants to traverse the Great Lakes region of the NSW north coast, with the startline located at Hawks Nest.

In the Men’s 100km, AURA’s very own Richard Wales from Tumbi Umbi, NSW took home the top gong, coming in 1stMale with a brilliant time of 10:34:21. Second and 3rd Male positions were claimed by Jamis Turner (10:57:12) and Jacob Heggs (11:38:33).

In the Women’s 100km, all winning spots were won by AURA members. Congratulations to Melissa Robertson from Long Jetty NSW who took 1st Female with 12:22:07, Pam Muston from Wamboin, NSW who won 2nd Female in a time of 12:56:38, and Debbie Maher also from Wamboin, NSW who claimed 3rd Female with 13:38:04.

Well done to all AURA members who ran in the Lakes Trail Festival 100km, including David Campbell from Sydney who finished in a time of 12:05:52.

In the Men’s 75km, top spots were awarded to Ian Burke (10:09:36), Jason Weatherby (10:30:23) and Liam Stodart (10:34:25). In the Women’s 75km, winners were Georgia Guthrey (9:40:19), Kathleen Dalladay (11:57:00) and Mhairi Elder (12:33:08).

Onto the 50km event, where winners in the Men’s 50km were named Ryan Degan (4:51:29), Darren Cotterill (5:10:42) and Brendan Dedal (5:11:23). For the Women’s 50km, it was Camilla Clarke (5:34:58), Ashley Kearney (5:37:26) and Sarah Grealy (5:37:26).

For the full list of results, including the 30km, 12km and 5km, click here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The highly anticipated 3 Marathons in 3 Days starts 7 July also in Kuranda, Qld, and Ultra Adelaide by ioMerino in Adelaide, SA kicks off 8 July.

The Elephant Trail Race, always a spectacular event to be a part of, will see runners start on 14 July in Pembrooke, NSW whilst WA’s Yaberoo Trail Ultra in Neerabup begins on 23 July.

Kuranda to Port Douglas Ultra on 30 July in Kuranda, Qld kicks off 30 July, the last AURA listed event on the AURA calendar for the month.

Pictured: WA AURA member Sharene Blake at the 2023 Australian 24 Hour Track Invitational.

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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.