Weekly News Report 12-03-2024

Weekly News Report 12-03-2024

Kate Dzienis • March 12, 2024
  • Sandman 50, WA
  • Sri Chinmoy Road 100 (Championships), ACT
  • Belair Marathon, SA
  • Backyard Ultra Trial Series, Vic
  • Upcoming Events



WEEKLY NEWS REPORT FOR 12-03-2024

As always, we’re continuously on the hunt for your stories and reports for the next edition of Ultramag, so get those race reports and photographs in to ultramag@aura.asn.au with the following information:

  • Word document, single spaced
  • Include the name of the event, the date and the location anywhere in the report (just a bullet point at the top is great)
  • Please attach photographs to the email – do not put images in the body of your Word doc. You’ll just get me emailing you back asking for the photos sent in the correct way!
  • As many photos as possible. With our new website, it’s now easier than ever to include a nice gallery in each race report, and it looks amazing!
  • No PDFs please


And remember, it doesn’t have to be about an AURA-listed event specifically! You just have to be an AURA member for the 2024 year. Also too, if you’ve run in an AURA or non-AURA listed event anywhere on home soil or internationally, we’d love to include your race results and experience in our Member News items here in the weekly reports, so please do reach out to us via email to kate.dzienis@aura.asn.au

If any corrections need to be made in any of the results listed below, please alert me via email.

SANDMAN 50 (WA)

The Sandman 50 was held from Old Dunsborough boat ramp to the Busselton Jetty and back in the south west of WA, with runners racing on the beach just 3m away from the water’s edge, on (Saturday) 24 February. On offer was a 50km distance in Male Solo, Female Solo and Relay categories with 84 finishers in the solos combined.

In the Men’s 50km, top spots were awarded to Stuart Caulfield (3:31:52, a new course record), Jonathan Sammut (3:46:30) and Chris Martin (3:58:44).

In the Women’s 50km, winners were named Kirsten Buist (4:00:02, a new course record), Ans Vercammen (4:38:04) and Sarah Norton (4:42:37).

The Team Relay was won by Team Rick (3:36:25) followed by Team Guinness Gluggers (4:03:28) and Team MJs (4:04:19).

Congratulations to all AURA members who raced in the Sandman 50, including Mitchell Crook (4:08:00), Matthew Salinovich (5:07:39), David Giles (5:21:30) and Geoff Quinton (6:18:40).

For the full list of results, you can click through here.

SRI CHINMOY CANBERRA 100KM / AUSTRALIAN 100KM ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS (ACT)

The Sri Chinmoy Canberra 100km Road Race was held on the weekend of 24-25 February at Commonwealth Park, Canberra in the ACT. This race, hosted by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team, also doubled up as the 2024 Australian 100km Road Championships along a 5km loop course on the paths around Lake Burley Griffin.

This was the inaugural event of the 100km Road Race.

Please note, winners of the Championships – podium positions in both the Men’s and Women’s divisions – do not need to be financial AURA members. They simply need to win 1st, 2nd and 3rd to be recognised as Championship winners by AURA.

Out of the top 6 finishers (top 3 men and top 3 women), 4 are AURA members.

In the Men’s 100km, the top spot was awarded to AURA’s very own Wayne Spies from Brisbane, Qld who secured the win with a whopping time of 6:49:55. This performance saw him claim the M50 Australian Record for 50mi in 5:25:44 and the M50 Australian Record for 100km with his final time, as mentioned, 6:49:55.

Second Male was claimed by AURA member Benjamin Kuang from Carnegie, Vic who secured his incredible with with a time of 7:35:28. Third was awarded to Marcus Cockshutt with 8:37:59.

In the Women’s 100km, AURA’s Rhiannon Snipe from Forest Hill, Vic secured the top position following a strong race of 8:34:23. Christine Ta took 2nd with 12:18:42, whilst AURA’s own Pam Muston from Wamboin, NSW claimed 3rd Female following a finish of 12:51:19.

A big congratulations to all 6 athletes, especially our AURA members Wayne Spies, Benjamin Kuang, Rhiannon Snipe and Pam Muston who took their respective titles in the Championships.

Well done to every AURA member who raced at the inaugural event, including James Hewat (9:12:01 / 4th Male), Kevin Muller (9:30:56 / 6th Male), Michael Griffin (9:32:33 / 7th Male), Dan Symonds (10:07:22 / 8th Male), Greg Wilson (12:58:54), Ross Scott (13:46:39), Karen Chan (14:40:01) and Beck Myors (14:41:13).

You can access full results here.

BELAIR MARATHON (SA)

The Belair Marathon took place on Saturday, 2 March through Belair National Park in SA. Hosted by Ultra Series, this event has close to 1500m of elevation gain in the marathon distance, and offers participants choices of entering the 50km, Marathon, Half Marathon, 10km and 5km.

Kicking off with the Women’s 50km, the top spot for 1st Female was won by AURA’s Holly Ranson from Renmark, SA who crossed the finish line in 4:54:02. Second Female and 3rd were won by Sophie Shawdon (6:23:19) and Sheena Appleyard (6:36:14) respectively.

In the Men’s 50km, podium finishes were awarded to Joel Kittel (4:46:39), Brodie Hudd (4:58:09) and Christopher Johnson (5:08:38).

Congratulations to our AURA members who also raced in the Belair Marathon 50km distance, including Justin Brock (6:32:55), Anthony Parfilo (6:38:04), David Brown (7:07:19) and Barry McBride (8:17:28).

For the full list of results, plus results for all other distance, click here.

Images (below): James Raison

BACKYARD ULTRA TRIAL SERIES (VIC)

The Backyard Ultra Trial Series is a series held as one event in four locations every month for four months: 10 March in Wodonga, 7 April in Bendigo, 7 July in Wangaratta and 11 August in Echuca. Hosted by North-Vic Backyard Ultras, each event in the series is capped at 8 hours, making it the perfect last one standing race for beginners (and elites, alike!). Although not affiliated with the international backyard ultra format, all standard backyard ultra rules apply at the Backyard Ultra Trial Series.

The first of the events was held on Sunday, 10 March at Willow Park, Wodonga in Vic.

Twenty-three runners, many of whom had never tried the backyard format before, started. Lap 5 began to slow some of them down, with 7 runners completing the whole 8 laps and everyone acknowledging just how hard it was in the heat.

To register for any of the other Backyard Ultra Trial Series events in April, July and August head to northvicbyu.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS

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.

COACH’S CORNER - REDUCING FALLS RISK ON THE TRAILS BY STEVE MANNING

January 30, 2025
Steve Manning talks strategies for reducing trail running falls risk .

COACH’S CORNER - Tune Into Your Body by Zac Harris

January 30, 2025
Zac Harris is here to explain and encourage the use of the training tool, Rate of Perceived Exertion, or RPE.

COACH’S CORNER - Developing Downhill Running Skills by James Sieber

January 30, 2025
If you've ever run downhill, only to try to continue at the bottom but your legs feel like jelly, then you may need to practice the art of it a little bit more!
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IN OTHER NEWS

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.

COACH’S CORNER - REDUCING FALLS RISK ON THE TRAILS BY STEVE MANNING

January 30, 2025
Steve Manning talks strategies for reducing trail running falls risk .
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