WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 12-04-2023

Kate Dzienis • April 12, 2023

Go West (Qld)
Cairns 50 (Qld)
Tamworth Trailblazer (Qld)
Dead Cow Gully (Qld)
Upcoming Events

We are always on the hunt for your stories and reports, so with April Ultramag coming out by the end of the month, 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

GO WEST, QLD

Hosted by AAA Racing, Go West saw runners traverse the Flinders-Goolman Conservation Estate in Purga, Qld on Saturday, 1 April (2023). On offer were a variety of distances including a marathon, 30km, half marathon, 10km and 5km in near perfect conditions for most of the day.

This was Go West’s inaugural year and proved to be a testing course!

In the Men’s Marathon, top podium spots were awarded to Sebastian Betten (4:22:06), Kevin Angerer (4:38:26) and Lachlan Smeed (4:44:20). In the Women’s Marathon, winners were named Bonnie Van Wilgenburg (4:20:46), Kate Knell (4:45:46) and Robyn Robertson (4:47:02).

Congratulations to AURA member Kris Ryan from Pacific Pines, Qld who finished her Go West marathon distance in a fantastic time of 7:01:40 and AURA’s Paul Wood from Boronia Heights, Qld who completed the event in 7:39:58. AURA member John Grieves from Graceville, Qld acted as the marathon’s sweeper and finished in 7:58:37.

For the full list of results that include the 30km and half marathon, click here.

CAIRNS 50, QLD

The Cairns 50 was held the first weekend of the month, 1-2 April in beautiful Cairns, Qld but conditions were hot and humid! For the 50km 6am start, it had already hit 24 degrees with 93% humidity – temps hit a max of 31 for later finishers.

“The forest sections of the path along Freshwater Creek were cool and the first hour or so relatively pleasant…but those sections exposed to the sun were brutal,” race director Josh Duff explained.

In the Men’s Cairns 50, winners were named Rob Dendle (3:22:16), Bryan O’Mahony (3:49:58) and Levi Chalmers (4:01:28) whilst for the Women’s Cairns 50, top spots went to Sophia Vinecombe (4:28:00), Rachel Matthews (4:34:33) and Kryssi O’Hare Siplon (4:37:57).

“Male winner Rob Dendle from the Sunshine Coast took it out hard and led from start to finish for a big win and a course record by over 30 minutes,” RD Josh said.

“Second place Bryan O’Mahoney also broke the course record but still 25 minutes behind first.

“For the second year in a row, the female winner came from the Gold Coast, this time being Sophie Vinecombe. But it was a much tighter tussle than the men’s, with 3rd female and Cairns local Kryssi O’Hare Siplon leading until the 33km mark and Rachel Matthews coming through to take 2nd in the 5kms.”

There were 45 finishers in the 50km event.

Congratulations to all our AURA members who raced in the 50km, including Jo van Gorp from Mount Sheridan who finished her race in a fantastic 6:52:31.

For the full list of results (including the 30km, 10km and 5km), click here.

TAMWORTH TRAILBLAZER, QLD

The Tamworth Trailblazer in Qld was held on 2 April 2023 and provided a variety of options for runners, including a 10km, 15km, 30km and for ultra runners a 45km and 60km.

There were six finishers in the Men’s 45km, with podium positions won by Ben Stewart (7:07:29), Kody Fitzroy (7:23:11) and Sam Baker (7:35:27).

In the Women’s 45km, there were 2 competitors – Olivia Hulbert (7:23:11) and Nicole Hunter (9:37:07).

For the Men’s 60km there were a total of 4 finishers, with top spots going to Steve Bain (10:04:10), Alex Treglown (10:34:20) and Vince Villarosa (10:42:16).

In the Women’s 60km, there was 1 competitor – congratulations to AURA member Clare Palmer from Glenreagh, NSW who secured a fantastic finish time of 9:54:52. Well done on a stellar performance, Clare!

To view all results, including the 10km, 15km and 30km, visit here.

DEAD COW GULLY, QLD

All eyes were on the Dead Cow Gully backyard ultra last weekend from 8-11 April in Qld, where Ryan Crawford took the title of Last One Standing after completing a total of 42 loops and James Blanton the Assist with 41 loops.

Congratulations to our AURA members who ran in Dead Cow Gully, including Joshua Duff from Bentley Park, Qld (20 loops), Charlotte Roberts from Deception Bay, Qld (19 loops), Robert Knowles from Paddington, Qld (15 loops), John Pearson from Coolum Beach, Qld (14 loops), Adam Lusk from Auchenflower, Qld (13 loops), Carl Schodde from Carindale, Qld (9 loops) and Warren Ansell from Tamworth, NSW (7 loops).

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Irrational South 200 & 100 Miler is already underway in the Flinders Ranges, SA with the 200mi participants leaving the start line early this morning (Wed, 12 April).

This weekend (15-16 April) will see the Coburg 24 Hour Carnival, which is doubling up as the Australian 24hr Australian Championships, to be held in Coburg, Vic at the Harold Stevens Athletic Track. Next weekend (21-23 April) is the GUMBY – the Great Ultra Mediocre Back Yarder in Corree, ACT, whilst on 23 April is the Bottlebutt Bash Trail Run in Herons Creek, NSW.

The last weekend of the month will be the highly anticipated Down Under 135 from 28-30 April in Darley, Vic as well as the Lighthorse Ultra (29-30 April) in Woodvale, WA.

Pictured: 100 mile club at the 2023 Dead Cow Gully. Photograph – Dead Cow Gully/FB.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

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.