WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 2-11-2022

Kate Dzienis • November 1, 2022

Heysen 105, SA
Ultra-Trail Australia by UTMB, NSW
Old Mates Backyard Ultra, Qld
Upcoming Events

Because there are so many names to check against in this week’s news report, 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. Please keep in mind there were just under 1000 runners in the UTA 100km and just over 1700 runners in the UTA50km. To go through them manually is quite a task, however if your name has not been listed and you would like a mention (because who doesn’t?!) please email me at the above address and we’ll get it sorted!

Also, our end-of-year edition of Ultramag will be coming out in mid-December and we want your stories! Race reports, race director wrap-ups, story ideas/pitches, tips and advice from coaches – we want it all to make it our biggest edition of the year! 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 our November-December bumper edition.

HEYSEN 105

The Heysen 105 was held the weekend of 22-23 October along the Heysen Trail in beautiful SA. Offering a range of distances for every runner out there, there was a 115km, 70km, 50km, 37km, 28km and 13km available – not to mention that this year, the ** doubled as AURA’s Long Course Trail Championships!

Please note that in the Long Course Trail Championships, even if a podium finisher is not an AURA member, they do present with top spot in the Championships; the event is not exclusive.

In the 115km, a total of 85 runners crossed the finish line (25 women, 60 men).

In the Women’s 115km, AURA’s very own Melissa Robertson from Long Jetty, NSW took claim to 1st Female with a fantastic time of 13:20:00 even. What a stellar effort, taking almost a 2hr lead over 2nd Female winner Sophie Shawdon who finished in 14:59:12. Julie Brock claimed 3rd Female with 15:04:36. A big congratulations to Melissa, well done on your well-deserved win!

In the Men’s 115km, top podium spots went to Jarrad Allen (10:53:42), Marcus Staker (11:47:23) and Brett Goldfinch (11:49:23).

Congratulations to our AURA members Peter Goss from Adelaide (17:55:43), Pete Sinfield from Tugun, Qld (20:47:36) and Dawn Parks from Marden, SA (26:48:28).

The 70km distance saw a total of 33 runners cross the finish line (16 women, 17 men).

In the Women’s 70km, 1st Female was awarded to Emma Burgess (7:43:27) whilst 2nd was handed to both Indi Zammit (7:43:55) and AURA member Amanda Meggison from South Melbourne, Vic as they completed the distance in the same time. Briony Weckert took 3rd (8:40:53).

For the Men’s 70km, top spots went to Rodney Angelo (7:29:10), Shaun Bennett (7:57:17) and Sebastian Silva (8:57:41).

Onto the 50km, where there was a total of 118 finishers (70 women, 48 men).

In the Women’s 50km, top spots were awarded to Dannielle Vanderheul (5:34:34), Bruna Lanzoni (5:40:37) and Caroline Bertrand (5:45:53). In the Men’s 50km, winners were named David Williams (4:52:58), Ryan Clark (5:25:36) and Dave Jongebloed (5:36:33).

Congratulations to our AURA members who took on the 50km, including Kay Heinecke from Myrtleford, Vic (7:47:33), Nancy Williams from Blackwood, SA (8:17:58) and Benjamin Anchor from Payneham, SA (11:43:37).

For the full list of results, including those for the non-ultra distances, click here.

ULTRA-TRAIL AUSTRALIA BY UTMB

There were 2 ultra distances on offer at Ultra-Trail Australia by UTMB, which ran from 27-30 October in the Blue Mountains.

In the 100km, with 1064 starters, 81 DNFs and 986 finishers…it would be a long process to check each name against our AURA membership database manually! So please bear with me and let me know if you’ve been missed!

Top podium finishers for the Men’s 100km were Reece Edward (8:10:11), Scotty Hawker (8:18:28) and Sam McCutcheon (8:28:08). In the Women’s 100km, winners were named Anna Mckenna (9:15:23), Erika Lori (9:41:02) and Naomi Brand (9:41:10).

Congratulations to AURA member Mike Carroll from Ainslie, ACT who secured himself 4th Male (and 1st in his age category MasterM) with a total time of 8:40:15. Another big congrats goes to AURA’s Dominic Bullock from Linley Point, NSW who finished 5th Male (and 1st in his age category of OpenM) with a time of 8:42:32. Also well done to AURA member Josef Mcgrath from Forresters Beach, NSW who secured 6th Male with a time of 8:44:23.

Massive kudos to all our members who ran in the UTA100km, including those who finished in the top 250 – Megann Coffey from Hillarys, WA who finished 5th Female (and 1st in her age category OpenW) with a time of 10:27:15, Aaron Dower (10:28:13), Brendan Davies (10:45:58), Mark Taylor (11:20:18), our very own president Ewan Horsburgh(11:28:04), Michael Molloy (11:30:57), Ben Duffus (12:22:57), David Campbell (12:25:12) and Hayden Pohio (12:52:32).

In the UTA50, there were 1736 starters, 49 DNFs and 1689 finishers.

In the Women’s 50km, AURA’s very own Patricia McKibbin from Jerrabomberra, ACT took out 1st Place with an astonishing finish time of 4:48:17. Second and 3rd placings went to Gemma Jenkins (4:55:34) and Gillian Turnbull (5:05:21).

In the Men’s 50km, top spots went to Ben St Lawrence (3:54:29), Ronnie Sparke (3:55:03) and Piotr Babis (3:55:32).

Congratulations to everyone who ran in the 50km!

For the full list of results for both the UTA100 and UTA50, plus all non-ultras, click here.

OLD MATES BACKYARD ULTRA

Queensland’s newest backyard ultra was played out over the weekend, Old Mates Backyard Ultra from 29-30 October, and saw 58 starters. Some interesting statistics include 493 total laps – 3301.1 total kilometres – 34.5 degrees maximum temp – 18 laps for the assist – 19 laps for the last one standing.

Last one standing winner was Adam Fox, who was a hot favourite after his 2nd place win at The Guzzler earlier this year. He finished with a total of 19 loops, which equalled 127.3km.

The Assist went to Gary Venz, who started the 19th lap but halfway through knew he wasn’t going to make cut-off and so walked in.

We are still awaiting the official starter’s list to see if there were any AURA members racing. If you are an AURA member and you ran, please let me know!

UPCOMING EVENTS

This month there is a buffet – or smorgasbord, if you like – of magical ultra events to get you pumped for the summer season ahead!

The inaugural Janssen Bondi to Manly in NSW kicks off on 5 November, as does Ultra Series’ Feral Pig Ultra in WA (5-6 November). Finishing off the weekend is the newest addition to the AURA calendar, the White Rock Trail Fest, hosted by AAA Racing, in Qld and being held on Sunday (6 November).

Further down the line, 2 events will both claim the weekend of 11-13 November, with the Great Southern Endurance Run in Vic and the Hysterical Carnage Backyard Ultra in SA.

Mid-November sees the Super Trail Mitchell River in Vic from 18-20 November, LOSER (Last One Standing Endurance Race) in Vic from 18-20 November and the Stromlo Running Festival in the ACT from 19-20 November. Rounding off the month is the Blue Goat Backyard in NSW from 26-27 November, the well-known and highly anticipated Coast to Kosci in NSW from 2-4 December, Bruny Island 64k Ultra in Tas on 3 December, GoodRunnings 6/12 in SA from 3-4 December, and the Fisiocrem GC50 in Qld on 4 December which will double as the Australian 50km Championships.

With that said, the rest of December will be here before we know it – the Narrabeen All Nighter from 10-11 December in NSW and the 6 Inch Trail Marathon in WA on 18 December.

Pictured: Runners hit a slight incline at the Heysen 105. Photograph – Sophie Geraghty.

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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.