WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 15-07-2021

Kate Dzienis • July 15, 2021

3 Marathons in 3 Days, Qld
Elephant Trail Race, Qld
Brisbane Trail Ultra, Qld
Upcoming Events

3 MARATHONS IN 3 DAYS

Despite some rain hitting the trails, it was a fantastic weekend of running for the race directors, volunteers and participants of 3 Marathons in 3 Days, which kicked off its celebratory 10th year from 9-11 July, 2021 in Kuranda, Qld.

Because the entire event was held across 3 days, runners could enter as many races as they wanted but the majority of runners took on the 3M3D Grand Slam (a total of 126.6km) which consisted of a marathon run each day.

Grand Slam event results saw AURA’s very own Joshua Duff from Bentley Park, Qld take 1st Male with a cumulative time of 12:22:06 – marathon 1 (4:26:43), marathon 2 (4:18:43) and marathon 3 (3:36:40). Second Male for the Grand Slam went to Jeff Herbert (13:29:56) whilst 3rd was awarded to Luke Raffles (13:47:39).

In the women’s Grand Slam placings (cumulative times), 1st Female went to Sonja Schonfeldt-Roy (14:05:35), 2nd went to Helen Durand (14:06:44) and 3rd was awarded to Kalyra Thompson (17:56:13).

Congratulations to all our AURA members who participated in the 3M3D Grand Slam title, including Kelvin Marshall who had a cumulative time of 21:13:09 and Stephen Lewis with 22:11:52. The Grand Slam also allowed for a virtual running of the 3 marathons, and AURA member Pamela Williams over in Esperance, NSW was successful in completing that.

Most all participants who ran in the marathons were placed in the Grand Slam.

For the full results click here.

ELEPHANT TRAIL RACE

Earlier this month, Elephant Trail Race directors made the decision to split the event to accommodate those participants located in the NSW lock down, allowing for anyone unable to race to enter the ETR21 2.0 due to 1-3 October 2021.

The event was held 9-11 July 2021 with 50km, 100km, 160km and 200km ultra elite options.

Starting with the 50km Men’s event, top podium placings went to Nathan O’Sullivan for 1st Male (5:54:44), Benn Coubrough for 2nd Male (5:57:50) and Jamis Turner for 3rd Male (6:02:25).

For the 50km Women’s event, top female was awarded to Nicole Wilding (6:39:22), 2nd Female went to Michelle Love (9:33:21) whilst 3rd Female went to Annah Piggott-McKellar (9:36:45).

Congratulations to all AURA members who ran in the 50km event including Joe Hujs who finished in 11:07:12.

In the 100km Men’s event, 1st Male went to Jason Williamson (18:35:07), 2nd Male was won by Chris Fleming (20:07:47) and 3rd Male was awarded to Cian Durbidge (23:18:52).

For the 100km Women’s event, AURA’s very own Renae Brock from Wallsend, NSW took control of the race and claimed 1st Female with a time of 23:14:45. Second Female went to Alison Broughton (29:44:16) and 3rd Female was won by Jade Crim (29:44:17).

There were 7 starters in total in the 100km event.

The 160km event saw 5 starters with 2 finishers. Congratulations to AURA’s Dionette Sakova from Canberra ACT who took out the distance with her time of 31:07:05 and taking 1st Female. Brook Marton took 2nd Female with a finish time of 36:51:15.

It was tough going out there for the 160km course, so well done to AURA member Rob Lloyd who gave it a red hot crack.

For the full results click here.

BRISBANE TRAIL ULTRA

The Brisbane Trail Ultra was also held across the same weekend (9-11 July 2021) in Brisbane, Qld and offered a range of distances for participants including the BTU60, BTU110 and BTU100mi for ultra runners. The BTU110 also doubled as AURA’s National Long Course Trail Championships (with the Championships inclusive of all entered in the event).

We’ll kick off with the Men’s BTU110/Championships with winners being AURA’s very own Mike Carroll from Ainslie, ACT who took 1st Male following a fast finish time of 11:31:46. Second Male was claimed by Piotr Babis (non-AURA member) who took the placing just 6 minutes behind Carroll (11:37:16) whilst AURA’s Matthew Dunn from Prahran, Vic held on for a steady 3rd Male with his time of 11:52:40.

For the Women’s BTU110/Championships, top spots went to AURA member Jessica Schluter from Keperra, Qld who secured 1st Female following a finish time of 13:17:45. Second Female also went to an AURA member – Jen Millum from Karnup, WA who walked away thrilled with her completion of the course in 15:31:22. Third Female went to non-AURA member Hoa Banh who finished in 19:29:48.

Millum said she flew over to Qld without any intention of placing, but was ecstatic with her result.

“I went over just to see how I’d go, I never thought I’d place on the podium,” she said.

“I’d been wanting to do the Brisbane Trail Ultra for a while now because of its reputation, and boy was it tough. The steep ascents meant equally steep descents through rainforest, up lookouts, over mountain bike trails, across rivers and down muddy banks – it had everything!

“I’m so incredibly stoked; I felt great throughout the whole race, although I had a few tears when I got lost but then I reset at Checkpoint 5 with my sister giving me some hard love.

“It was so tough! And I’m so happy with my time too.”

Millum is now enjoying spring cleaning at home back in WA whilst she completes a 14-day mandatory quarantine.

Congratulations to all AURA members who ran in the BTU110 including Andy McConnell who finished 4th Male (12:13:08), Curtis Campbell (15:28:03), Darren Bianchi (23:19:51) and Cherie Rothery (27:52:37).

In the BTU60 Men’s event, top placings went to Matt Gore in 1st Male (5:32:07), Yun Phua in 2nd Male (6:04:11) and Andrew Hill in 3rd Male (6:29:34).

For the BTU60 Women’s division, top spots were won by Reesha Lewis (6:07:07) and AURA’s very own Patricia McKibbin from Jerrabomberra, ACT who took 2nd Female with a time of 6:37:43. Rebecca Idiens claimed 3rd Female (7:36:57).

In the BTU100mi Men’s event, 1st Male was won by AURA member Matt Crehan from Northcote, Vic who finished the event in a whopping ‘Speedy Gonzales’ time of 19:53:14. Second Male was awarded to Nicholas Bamford (20:05:32) and 3rd Male went to Rob Tabuteau (23:00:50).

In the BTU100mi Women’s event, top spot of 1st Female was claimed by AURA’s very own Maree Connor from Lambton, NSW when she crossed the finish line in 23:29:50. Second Female was won by Jacqui Bell (24:55:09) whilst 3rd Female went to AURA member Carmen Atkinson from Parrearra, Qld who finished in 26:18:51.

Crehan said he was over the moon with his result from the BTU100mi.

“I was hoping to go under 21 hours, so I’m thrilled about breaking 20!” he exclaimed.

“I had such a good day out there; still in recovery mode though (15 July). I felt good in the lead up in terms of training, but there was a lot of uncertainty with regards to getting to the race with the border situation; in the end we ended flying up thinking we may have to quarantine return, but luckily the status changed while we were up there.”

Congratulations to all our AURA members who ran in the BTU100mi including Ingo Ernst (25:42:00) and Joffrid Mackett (35:26:05).

For the full results click here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Tassie Trail Fest will be held from 16-18 July offering runners to race through the trails around the iconic Cataract Gorge in Launceston, Tas. On offer is a 100 miler, 100km, 45km, 23km, 12km and 2km kids run/walk.

The Glasshouse Series – Flinders Tour hosted by AAA Racing is due for 24 July at the Glasshouse Mountains National Park in Qld and offers a 52km ultra distance.

The first race for August on the AURA calendar of events is the Yaberoo Trail Ultra in Joondalup, WA held on August 1 on the trails of the Yaberoo Budjara and hosted by Ultra Series WA.

Antsy for Anstey will be held on 8 August in Tea Tree Gully with a 62km ultra option whilst Birdy’s Backyard is due for 13-15 August in Moddiarrup in WA. The Berry Long Run will be held on 14 August along a 70km trail in Lerderderg State Park, Vic and on the same day the Track Ultra WA will be held, offering the state’s only ultra track event, in Bunbury with 3hr, 6hr, 12hr and 24hr options.

More events in late August include the Cairns Port Douglas Trail Ultra in Qld (21-22 August), Bottlebutt Bash Trail Run in NSW (22 August), Run Larapinta 2021 (26-29 August) in NT, Bright Running Festival in Vic (28 August) and doubling up as the 2021 AURA Short Course Trail Championships, the Great Trail Relay in WA (28 August) and the Wonderland Run in Vic (29 August).

* All events as of 15 July 2021 are still listed to go ahead. Please keep a watchful eye on any events you are entered closer to the dates to ensure no cancellations or postponements have occurred due to the current COVID situation.

Pictured: Jen Millum from WA racing in the BTU110 at the weekend. Photograph – Supplied/Element Photo & Video Productions.

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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.