WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 16-09-2020

Kate Dzienis • September 16, 2020

Lighthorse Ultra Marathon, WA
Sri Chinmoy Canberra Trail Ultra, ACT
Barossa Run, SA
More News

Lighthorse Ultra

The weekend of Sept 12 and 13 (2020) couldn’t have gotten better for this year’s Lighthorse Ultra Marathon, which was postponed due to COVID-19 from its original April date to September. In fact, early morning runners for the Sunday got a bit of an advantage than in previous years, with the sun rising earlier than usual and a bit of light on the first 2.5km lap.

The Lighthorse Ultra provided a number of distances for entrants to choose from – a new 24hr format, 12hr, 6hr, 3hr and a 1hr.

Runners for the 24hr event received their own dawn service at Perry’s Paddock at Yellagonga Regional Park, Woodvale, WA prior to their Saturday, 6pm start. Another dawn service was presented to the remainder of participants who all started 6am on the Sunday.

And on Sunday, the heat went up to 24 degrees (felt like 28) so a tough day at the office for everyone.

The Lighthorse Ultra is an event where runners race on a 2.5km circuit of limestone, boardwalk and asphalt through the regional park, and every three hours turn to race the other way. The out and back section of the course (start/finish) to calculate each lap goes through what race director Shaun Kaesler calls ‘The Village’ – tents and aid stations with support crew are set up, and there’s an abundance of cheering as they enter and leave the area to start or finish their laps.

In the 24hr event, it was a massive contingent with 59 participants at the start line.

Phil Gore took out 1st male with his total distance of 215.11km.

AURA members Jon Pendse Kingsley and Kevin Matthews from Perth both looked incredibly strong out there on their loops; Pendse took out 2nd Male with a total of 198.23km whilst ‘Big Kev’ held on for 3rd Male, happy with his 192.55km.

For the women, Sharene Blake claimed 1st Female with 208.54km, while AURA’s very own Jen Millum from Karnup wasn’t far behind with 200.82km for 2nd Female – a smile on her face every time she passed through The Village.

Michelle Lane (161.96km) took 3rd Female.

Congratulations to all our AURA members who took on the newly introduce 24hr category for Lighthorse this year, including Michael Hooker (180km), Nicholas O’Neill (142.50km), Fee Salmons (138.13km), Sue Robertson(128.40km), Ian Dougan (127.44km), Jeremy Beauglehole (125km), James Coffey (115km), Bob Colligan (110.57km), Alexis Oosterhoff (100km), Julia Mackay-Koelen (100km), Shon Fry (100km), John Fisher (100km), Glenn Monaghan (85km), Harmony Waite (80km), Nick Swallow (80km), Richard Avery (70km), Nicola Walters(47.50km), John Stockman (27.50km) and Kerri Klumper (25km).

Thirty-three participants ran in the 12hr event which started 6am Sunday, and it was Henley Brook AURA member Margie Hadley who took out the top gong. With 1st Female, she secured 116.62km. Right behind her for 2nd Female was AURA’s Amy Glen from Como with 103.49km and Beck Hefferon from South Fremantle who finished 3rd Female with 95.018km.

A great result with a podium finish for all three spots belonged to AURA members.

For the men’s event, Mark Conway took 1st (109.77km), David Millington took 2nd (106.41km) and Stuart Beck took 3rd(105.64).

Congratulations to all those who raced in the 12hr including Doug Bartlett (92.51km), Peta Moore (82.81km), Andre Pienaar (50km), Glen Smetherham (47.71km) and Kate Dzienis (2.5km).

Seventy-seven starters hit the course for the 6hr event.

In the women’s division, 1st Female went to AURA’s very own Shaye Pett from Stoneville who secured 63.5km, equalling 25 laps. Upon spotting her pass through the village during various points of the morning, Pett looked incredibly focused and strong, her strides never failing her.

Second and 3rd placings went to Jessica Smith (63.22km) and Carly Bache (61.32km) respectively.

For the men, podium finishes went to Sam Pullin in 1st (73.97km), Matt Lyttle in 2nd (71.90km) and Michael Bellmon (67.51km).

Well done to all our AURA members who ran in the 6hr event including Adam Loughnan (63.06km), Rob Collins(60.22km), Jutta Kober (57.24km), Bryan Wright (55.99km), Myra Keep (55.08km), Mark Caldwell (48.42km) and Rosa Haywood (45.85km).

Sri Chinmoy Canberra Trail Ultra

The past weekend also saw the running of the Sri Chinmoy Canberra 100km Trail Ultra, which was open to all runners in Canberra and NSW only due to COVID-19 restrictions across the country. That, however, didn’t stop the event from being a near sellout, with record participation numbers of more than 94 solo runners and 100 teams.

The weather was generous on Sunday with it being overcast for most of the day to keep the heat down. Runners are taken on a 100km journey through the hills, nature parks and open spaces of central, south and north Canberra, starting and finishing at Rond Terrace at the foot of Anzac Parade on Lake Burley Griffin in the Parliamentary Triangle.

Well known AURA member Brendan Davies from Woodford took hold of 1st Male with a new course record in a time of 9:33:56. Dave Hardwicke claimed 2nd Male (9:45:49) whilst AURA’s Matthew Griggs from Torrens 3rd Male 9:52:43.

For the women’s event podium standings went to Gretchen Smith 1st (12:22:24), Ada Klinkhamer (12:29:57) and Mandy Smyth (12:40:18).

Congratulations to all our AURA members who ran in the 100km including Justin Hiatt who took 4th Male (10:08:03), Stephen Redfern who took 5th Male (10:37:19), Ingo Ernst (12:40:18), Pam Muston (13:23:43 and 1st in her age group), Akira Suzuki (14:01:15), Debbie Maher (14:45:30), Paul Mahoney (14:54:57) and Roylene Stanley(15:23:24).

Run the Great Whitsunday Trail

This event was unfortunately cancelled for the weekend, however race directors have reported it will be back next year even bigger than before.

Barossa Run

The Barossa Run was held on Sunday in Lyndoch, SA and 3 participants ran in the 42.2km event.

Preliminary results show 1st Male over the finish line was Robert Thonton (5:17:31) whilst AURA member Benjamin Anchor took 2nd Male in 7:27:19).

Suzanne McKeen was the only female and took 1st in her category with 3:38:05.

Coming up

The Butter 24 & 48 has changed its location to Boondall, Qld for 25-27 Sept with entrants ready to tackle a 6hr, 12hr, 24hr and 48hr track.

The last event for September on the AURA listed calendar is the Waterous Trail on Foot aka WTF on 26 Sept in Dwellingup, WA with a 100mi and 50mi option.

The USWA’s Haunted Pines Ultra, which was meant to be held on 2 Oct in WA, has been cancelled for this year.

The Brisbane Trail Ultra will go ahead as planned on 3-4 October in Qld and entries are still open.

Pictured: Runners take on another lap at this year’s Lighthorse Ultra at Perry’s Paddock, Woodvale, WA. Photograph – Marco Noe.

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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.