WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 18-05-2022

Kate Dzienis • May 18, 2022

Down Under 135, Vic
Kep Ultra V2, WA
Kieser Great Ocean Road Running Festival, Vic
Upcoming Events

It was an exciting weekend of racing the last couple days with amazing performances by AURA members in WA and Vic, and as always we cover the results with how everyone did.

As always, if you find any discrepancies at all with your timed result, or have noticed a name missing, please email kate.dzienis@aura.asn.au with the information required.

We are always wanting to publish your race reports too in our monthly Ultramag digital magazine, so please consider putting fingers-to-keyboard and emailing us your experiences – they don’t have to be about AURA listed events either. So long as you’re an AURA member, we want to hear all about it! Email ultramag@aura.asn.au to get into the May edition.

DOWN UNDER 135MI

Known as one of the Southern Hemisphere’s ‘gnarliest races’, the Down Under 135 was held across the weekend, from 13-15 May with runners traversing across the single trails of the Lerderderg and Wombat state forests in Vic – but there was only winner this year.

It was a spectacular performance by AURA member Thomas Dade, who hails from Mt Martha (Vic), claiming the top spot, finishing the gruelling distance of 135 miles (220km) in 53:07:53.

Well done to all the AURA starters who gave the Down Under 135 a red hot crack, including Damian Smith, former winner David Giles, Ben Nicholls, Isobel Ross, Mathew Schubert, Chris Wilder and Simon Neale.

KEP ULTRA V2

The Kep Ultra V2 was held on Saturday, 14 May with runners making their way either along the 75km or 100km course which run along the Kep Track and Heritage Trail between Woorooloo and Mundaring.

Six women and 10 men finished the 100km, whilst 9 women and 10 men completed the 75km.

In the Women’s 100km, AURA’s Margaret Hadley from Henley Brook took control of her race and led the way with a 1st Female finish, crossing the finish line in 9:26:53. Second Female was taken by Sophie Giles with a time of 10:31:01 whilst 3rd Female went to Veronika Kretzer in 11:38:36.

In the Men’s 100km, AURA member Kevin Matthews from Perth secured 1st Male when he completed his race in 10:07:54. Second Male was won by Tom Radonic in 10:37:19 while 3rd Male went to Trevor Bosveld in 10:40:37.

Congratulations to all our members who ran in the 100km, including Nicola Hibbert (12:14:05), Gabe Alves (13:58:30) and John Herzfeld (13:58:30).

In the Women’s 75km, AURA’s very own Kate Jenour from beautiful Donnybrook claimed 1st Female with a finish time of 9:16:37. Second Female went to Darlene Dale (9:59:50) and 3rd to Lara Louw (10:54:50).

In the Men’s 75km, 1st Male was won by Nathan Reeves (8:01:44), 2nd Male was taken by David White (8:03:57), and 3rd was claimed by AURA member Andrew Jackson from Winthrop, WA who crossed the finish line in 8:41:03.

Well done to the gorgeous Sue Robertson, our AURA member from Noranda, WA who completed the 75km distance in 11:11:15.

KIESER GREAT OCEAN ROAD RUNNING FESTIVAL

Almost 8,000 registered participants took part in the weekend’s Kieser Great Ocean Road Running Festival, marking the 18th edition of the event. There were nine distances to choose from, starting with the 1.5km all the way through to the ultra 60km.

AURA member Dion Finnocchiaro from Brighton, Vic took out the men’s 44km marathon, fresh from running at the 100km Championships earlier this month, whilst AURA’s Kirstin Bull from St Kilda, Vic claimed 1st Female in the women’s 44km marathon. Congratulations to you both!

In the 60km ultra event, the top male and female to cross the finish were Zac Beasley (4:05:22) for the men, whilst AURA’s very own Sarah Jayamaha from Fitzroy, Vic took out the women’s competition in a time of 4:41:59.

Congratulations to our AURA members who raced in the 60km at the Kieser Great Ocean Road Running Festival, including Jamey Pemmelaar (4:50:29), Kath Judge (5:07:50) and David Patterson (5:48:53). Eighty-eight runners in total finished the 60km.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The West Macs Monster kicks off 20 May and the Belair Marathon finishes off the month in Belair, SA on 28 May.

ULTRAMAG

We want your race reports and story ideas for our monthly Ultramag digital magazine. Without your tips and leads, there wouldn’t be an Ultramag, and there would be nothing for you to read, so please consider contributing at least once in the new year where you get a chance to share your ultra running experiences with other members! Plus you get a bonus point for contributing, in the points competition!

Email ultramag@aura.asn.au with either your race report or a story lead.

Pictured: The start line of the 2022 Down Under 135, with Isobel Ross in the foreground (left), and Thomas Dade (left) shaking hands with David Giles. Photograph – Down Under 135mi/Supplied.

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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.