WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 25-11-2021

Kate Dzienis • November 25, 2021

Great Southern Endurance Run, Vic
Hysterical Carnage Backyard Ultra, SA
Great North Walk Ultras, NSW
Upcoming Events

GREAT SOUTHERN ENDURANCE RUN

Always an event runners in Victoria look forward to, the Great Southern Endurance Run was held earlier in the month from 12-14 November, 2021 and offered participants a 100 mile, 50 mile and 28km option.

Kicking off with the men’s 100 mile, AURA’s very own Thomas Dade from Mount Martha, Vic completed the course and took home 1st Male with a finish time of 28:05:22. Second Male was taken out by Joel Read (30:38:57) whilst 2ndwent to Ross McPhee (31:49:34).

In the women’s 100 mile there was 1 finisher according to the event’s race results and it was Elizabeth Woodgate with a total time of 44:15:03.

Congratulations to all our AURA members who raced in the Great Southern Endurance Run, including Simon Neale(41:19:49) and Jonathan Ennis-King (44:50:39).

The men’s 50 mile also saw an AURA podium top spot finish, with member Justin Hiatt from Weston Creek, ACT taking 1st Male in a speedy time of 11:07:46. Second Male went to George Morton-Ramwell (11:42:51) and 3rd to Marcus Brownlie (12:03:55).

Not to be outdone, the women’s 50 mile was another event to see an AURA member complete the course and claim the title of winner. Gill Fowler from Rozelle, NSW took complete control of the women’s division and took a massive lead over 2nd Female Claire Healy (12:50:12) after crossing the finish line in 12:28:49. The 3rd Female win had two equal finishers, claimed by Leeah Cooper (13:59:36) and Leah Alexander (13:59:36).

Well done to all our AURA members in the 50 mile who gave it a go, including Andrew Bainbridge (13:28:57), Isabella Basaglia, Geoff Markley, and Jody Daff.

HYSTERICAL CARNAGE BACKYARD ULTRA

Gaining in popularity, another backyard ultra was held the weekend of 19-21 November, with a repeat of the battle of last one standing at Herdy’s Frontyard Ultra earlier in the year. The Hysterical Carnage Backyard Ultra saw participants from varying states arrive in Loxton, SA to take on the format, and it was an edge-of-your-seat weekend for everyone – from volunteers and participants, to those watching on the socials.

West Aussie and AURA member Phil Gore from Darling Downs, who won the 2021 Herdy’s, was the last one standing (and 1st Male) at Hysterical Carnage after a total of 38 laps (254.98km). Kevin Matthews, who took the Assist at Herdy’s, kept Gore on his toes as they went hell for leather, and ended up pulling out at 37 laps (248.27km).

Nancy Williams was given the title of 1st Female following a successful 25 laps (167.75km).

Congratulations to every AURA member who ran a lap, or two, or perhaps even a few more, at Hysterical Carnage, including West Aussie Chetan Sadhana (3rd Male, 36 laps or 241.56km), Tasmanian Ben Hirst (34 laps or 228.14km), the NT’s Simon Duke (27 laps or 181.17km) and South Aussie Tim O’Brien (10 laps or 67.10km).

GREAT NORTH WALK ULTRAS

The Great North Walk Ultras was held last weekend from 20-21 November, 2021 in Patonga, NSW and offered participants a variety of distances to choose from, including a 100 miler, 100km, 50 miler, 50km and the newly introduced 25km.

The course is known to be almost entirely single track and along fire trail, and is a favourite amongst NSW runners.

Starting with the results from the men’s 100 miler, the lead was taken by Zac O’Neil who took 1st Male (24:41:52) whilst 2nd Male went to Mark Firth (25:05:16). AURA member Damian Smith from Nowra, NSW held on to claim 3rd Male with a successful race campaign, finishing the course in 25:12:18.

In the women’s 100 miler, 1st Female went to Monika Georgieva (30:48:53) and 2nd went to Tatiana Nicholson (32:33:21).

Congratulations to all our AURA members who ran in the 100 miler and gave it their all, including Jeremy Rankin(29:35:10), Bernhard Freisler (34:33:11) and Akira Suzuki.

Onto the men’s 100km, and 1st male was won by Grant Brisbin (11:43:17) whilst 2nd was claimed by Tommy Morton (12:57:35). AURA’s very own David Campbell from Sydney, NSW took 3rd Male when he crossed the finish line in 14:23:55.

In the women’s 100km, Emma Brown took 1st Female (19:21:29), Sophie Shawdon claimed 2nd (20:32:55) whilst AURA member Diana Williams from East Lindfield, NSW finished her race in 22:41:30.

In the men’s 50 miler, top spots went to Michael Lough (9:08:43), Ryan O’Mara (9:26:22) and Ryan Degan (10:08:20) whilst in the women’s 50 miler AURA’s very own Stephanie Auston from Merimbula, NSW made a sensational run, claiming 1st Female in a time of 10:43:20 just ahead of AURA’s Melissa Robertson from Long Jetty, NSW who claimed 2nd right behind her in 10:54:07. Third Female went to Ursula Adams (11:17:55).

Well done to all AURA members who dug in deep for the 50 miler, including Tim Yendell (12:57:52).

In the men’s 50km, top spots were won by Josef McGrath (4:46:25), Zac Bissett (4:57:29) and Craig Simpson (5:13:26) while in the women’s 50km it was Monika Ludriks (5:59:11), Georgina Beech (6:28:48) and Alexandra Miller (6:29:30).

Congratulations to all who raced in the 50km, including Hayden Pohio (7:13:17), Scott Marden (7:28:28) and Taras Mencinsky.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Coast to Kosciuszko kicks off tomorrow (26-28 November, 2021) and will see participants traverse 240km from Boydtown Beach in Eden, NSW to Charlotte Pass, NSW. We have a number of AURA members entered to cover the distance as well as crewing and assisting.

Also this weekend, the Fisiocrem GC50 Run Festival will take runners 50km along the Gold Coast (27-28 November). The first race in the last month of the year will be the Bruny Island 64km Ultra due to be held 4 December in Bruny Island, Tas followed by the Narrabeen Allnighter in Narrabeen, NSW from 11-12 December, GoodRunnings 6/12 in Glenelg North, SA on 12 December and the last event for the year the 6 Inch Trail Marathon on 19 December in North Dandalup, WA.

KEEP US UPDATED

We love making mention of AURA members when they achieve incredible results at other races across the country and around the world, so if you or someone you know is an AURA member and they’ve had an amazing event that isn’t AURA-listed, email kate.dzienis@aura.asn.au and keep us in the loop!

Don’t forget that we are gearing up for our biggest Ultramag yet – our end-of-year bumper edition, but we can’t do it without you. We need your stories, your photos, your articles and your story ideas. Don’t be shy, send us what you’d love to share! Email us at ultramag@aura.asn.au

Pictured: West Aussie Phil Gore taking on the tough conditions at Hysterical Carnage Backyard Ultra in SA. Photograph – Ian Lilburn.

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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.