WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 27-04-2021

Kate Dzienis • April 27, 2021

Run Larapinta, NT
The GUMBY Backyard, ACT
Belair Marathon, SA
World News
Upcoming Events

Run Larapinta Stage Race

The Run Larapinta Stage Race brought the Red Centre in the NT alive as trail runners completed four stages of racing over four days through the West MacDonnell Ranges, starting on Wednesday (21 April) and finishing on Saturday (24 April).

A great number of 130 participants raced on the trails each day in the event, which was postponed from 2020 due to COVID-19 last year.

Featuring two different course lengths, the Malbunka had two stages of between 20km and 41km, whilst the Namatjira had stages of between 11km and 26km.

In the Malbunka long course female standings it was Erika Lori (WA) 1st with 14:55:16, AURA’s very own Hayley Teale from Tamborine, Qld taking 2nd with a finish time of 16:27:47 and Victoria Cole (Vic) in 3rd with 16:38:49.

For the male results it was John Robinson (Vic) 1st with 15:10:10, Gavin Green (Vic) 2nd with 16:23:43 and Thomas Cartledge (NT) with 3rd in 16:45:45.

Well done to all our AURA members who finished the Malbunka long course including Ina Schapiro (17:19:14), Andrew Ross (20:47:22), Darian Cairns-Cowan (20:53:44) and Lonneke Kefalas (22:13:49).

In the Namatjira short course female standings podium finishes went to Georgina Beech (NT) with 10:40:47, Kimberley Robson (NT) with 11:02:44 and Amy Stockwell with 11:04:47.

For the male standings in the Namatjira short course winners were Hansie Muller (NT) in 9:29:00, Thierry Morin (Vic) in 10:33:23 and Laurent Rossignol (Vic) with 10:34:51.

The GUMBY Backyard Ultra

In the ACT across the weekend was the inaugural GUMBY Backyard Ultra, a last one standing format event to see who can last the longest doing 6.7km laps on the hour, ever hour. The standard Canberra cold began to hit participants as they did their laps on Saturday, and there was also a GUMbaBY version – with runners doing 8 laps of the course, and the first over the finish line on lap 8 declared the victor.

In the GUMbaBY event, Ellen Bradley was consistent all day long and took line honours for the women with a brilliant final lap of 32:31 ahead of AURA member Allicia Heron (from Theodore, ACT) on 37:16.

Only 36 seconds separated the top 3 men. Jin Kato crossed first with a blistering 27:54, narrowly edging out Cian Gray (28:10) and Matt Shadwell (28:30).

Congratulations to our AURA members who ran in the GUMbaBY event including Stuart Munro and Tracy Watson.

In the main backyard event, Chris Wilder took the victory with 32 laps of the course (the last lap completed in 45:37), whilst AURA’s Matthew Griggs from Torrens, ACT assisted (31 laps).

Griggs’ last lap was completed at 51:11 and he said despite feeling battered and bruised on Monday, the day after, he was thrilled with how the weekend panned out.

“The downhill and rocky trail really took it out of me; after 200 kilometres the only thing I enjoyed was going uphill!” he said.

“I was really pleased to run over 200km (208km in total) with 5580m of ascent.

“This was a totally different challenge to my furthest ever run of over 240km in a 24 hour race; this time I set a time PB. I’ve never run over 24 hours and running 31 hours was huge for me.

“In the end, backyard ultras are really a mental game. I convinced myself I didn’t want to go into the second night with sub zero temperatures, and turned back to camp just after starting the lap at 3pm Sunday afternoon to officially DNF.”

Griggs said he was absolutely happy with his achievement.

There were a total of six of AURA members who ran in the GUMBY Backyard Ultra including Sabina Hamaty (21 laps, average lap time of 52:02), Justin Hiatt (18 laps, average lap time of 50:18), Joffrid Mackett (12 laps, average lap time of 53:12), Ingo Ernst (10 laps, average lap time of 52:23) and Michael Thompson (5 laps, average lap time of 51:47).

It’s worth noting that 13 out of the 62 runners who signed up for The GUMBY and GUMbaBY had never done an ultra.

Belair Marathon

In the Belair Marathon, held in SA at the weekend, we saw for the men’s podium standings Tom Elfenbein 1st (4:06:40), Rurik Symon 2nd (4:14:35) and Brett Merchant 3rd (4:39:58).

For the women, it was Lauren Rooke 1st (4:26:57) and AURA’s very own Amanda Meggison from South Melbourne, Vic take 2nd Female after crossing the finish line in 4:42:46. Third Female went to Jasmin Mallon (5:12:05).

Congratulations to all our AURA members who entered the Belair Marathon including Geoffrey Langhans (5:03:48), Dawn Parks (5:53:49) and George Mihalakellis (7:54:03) – Mihalakellis who just last week completed AURA’s 100km Australian Track Championships at the Coburg 24hr Carnival.

World News

Because AURA members love to know what’s going on with national and world records, we thought it significant to note that over the weekend two new records were made (yet to be ratified) – a new 100 mile World Best and a new 12hr World Best.

According to one news site, Lithuanian runner Aleksandr Sorokin ran an 11:14:55 (unofficial) World Best for 100 miles at the Centurion Running Track 100 Mile in England and carried on to complete his 12hr race entry, where he broke another World Best and ran a total distance of 170.309km.

The World 24hr Champion (2019 IAU World Championships, Albi, France with 278.972km) beat the previous records of 11:19:18 for 100 miles and 168.7928km for 12hrs, both set by Zach Bitter in 2019 at the Six Days in the Dome race in Wisconsin, USA.

The Centurion Running Track 100 Mile was a 15-person, elite-invite-only event held at the Julie Rose Stadium in Ashford, England.

Upcoming Events

The highly anticipated Lighthorse Ultra hosted by Ultra Series WA is due to be held this coming weekend 1-2 May in Woodvale, WA. A private dawn service is held in the fields of Perry’s Paddock before runners tackle the 24hr, 12hr, 6hr, 3hr or 1hr events on a 2.5km circuit of limestone, boardwalk and asphalt.

The Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra was successfully rescheduled and will take place 2-4 May in country Qld, featuring runners who will tackle 6.7km on the hour, every hour until there is only one left standing.

One of the biggest ultra events in the country, Ultra-Trail Australia will be held from 13-16 May in the serene town of Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, NSW. Over 4 days, runners will tackle a distance they choose from the UTA11, UTA22, UTA50, UTA100 and the elusive invitation-only field of 30 athletes who take on every one of those distances for the UTA951.

The Down Under 135 will also be held the same weekend as UTA from 14-16 May in Lerderderg State Park, Vic. Covering 217km in a single stage non-stop race from start to finish, competitors venture across the trails of the Lerderderg and Wombat State Forests.

The Great Ocean Road Running Festival is due for 16 May in Lorne, Vic offering 60km and 44km events for ultra runners along the Southern Ocean coastline.

Pictured: Matthew Griggs during the final few laps of the weekend’s Gumby Backyard Ultra. Photograph – Brendan Codrington/Facebook.

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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.