WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 28-06-2022

Kate Dzienis • June 28, 2022

Western Branch Ultra, Qld
Glow Worm Tunnel Marathon Weekend, NSW
Unreasonable EAST, NSW
Red Dirt Backyard Ultra, WA
Transcend Ultra, WA
Upcoming Events

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 June edition.

WESTERN BRANCH ULTRA

The Western Branch Ultra 100 was held the weekend of 11-12 June in country Queensland where runners could chose to run either a 100km or a 44km. Hosted by the team at Dead Cow Gully, it was received very well this year by all involved!

Starting with the 100km distance, the event saw 22 starters and 20 finishers.

Ryan Crawford took home the title of winner after finishing the 100km in 9:19:03. He was closely followed by Martin Monaghan in 2nd (10:07:17) and Rowan Cassidy for 3rd (10:34:42).

Congratulations to AURA member Craig Dodd from Enoggera, Qld who finished his 100km distance in a time of 12:29:51, placing 12th overall.

The Western Branch marathon 44km saw 33 starters on the day, with 32 finishers.

Nicole Jukes won the race after finishing the event in 3:47:45. In 2nd was Matthew Lee (3:48:41) and Tracey Thornhil in 3rd (4:06:45).

For the full list of results, click here.

GLOW WORM TUNNEL MARATHON WEEKEND

The Glow Worm Tunnel Marathon Weekend took place 17-19 June at Newnes in the spectacular Wolgan Valley and offered an entire weekend of races – a marathon (43km), a half marathon (21.9km), a mystery mountain dash and a 6km event.

Friday saw the Mystery Mountain Dash; Saturday runners participated in the half marathon, marathon, 6km and/or kids race; Sunday saw the half marathon take place – racers could also combine to enter the ‘Grand Slam’ which was the Friday Mystery Mountain Dash, the Saturday marathon and 6km, and the Sunday half.

In the Men’s ‘Marathon’ 44km, Daniel Caswell took 1st Male with 4:31:45, whilst AURA member Gerard Riordanfrom Mosman, NSW held on to challenge him and take 2nd Male with a finish time of 4:40:55. Patrick McNamara took 3rd Male (4:41:19).

In the Women’s ‘Marathon’ 44km, AURA’s very own Amy Daniel from Winmalee, NSW took the crowning glory, securing herself 1st Female with a time of 5:01:30. Behind her came Gill Fowler for 2nd Female (5:17:08) and Tania Mulvey for 3rd (5:28:34) – a whopping 16 minute lead for Daniel, congratulations!

Well done to all our AURA members who took on the Marathon at the Glow Worm, including Andrew Bainbridge from Singleton, NSW who finished in 4:45:27 and David Campbell from Sydney who ran across the finish line in 5:55:54.

There were 135 finishers in the Marathon.

For a full list of results, click here.

UNREASONABLE EAST

The Unreasonable EAST started on 21 June and only just concluded Sunday gone, 26 June. The newest 200 and 100 miler on the calendar, the event saw ultra runners traverse across the Blue Mountains, starting in Glenbrook and going via the 3 Sisters, Kedumba Pass, Narrowneck, Megalong Valley…the list goes on about the course’s beauty!

The first person across the finish line in the 200 miler was AURA member Thomas Dade, a name our ultra running community is strongly getting to know! Tom, from Mount Martha in Vic, finished the arduous course in an astonishing 57:38:57 – setting the bar for future Unreasonable EAST events.

Continuing on for the Men’s 200 Miler, Gerber Koster took 2nd Male (63:08:03) and Warren Rolfe took 3rd Male (67:01:24).

In the Women’s 200 Miler, top spot went to AURA’s very own Melissa Robertson from Long Jetty who secured her 1stFemale finish with a time of 65:59:56. Second Female went to Piera Kohout (71:10:20) whilst AURA’s Sarah Nivenfrom Manjimup claimed 3rd Female with her time of 73:56:50.

Congratulations on all our AURA members who raced at Unreasonable EAST in the 200 miler and gave it a red hot crack, including Kevin Matthews (73:08:34), Adam Darwin (75:12:32), Cian Gray (83:23:20), Kevin Heaton (85:42:26), George Mihalakellis (96:06:23), Jonathon Ennis-King (100:41:01), Harmony Waite (102:47:20), Peta Moore (109:15:40), Kirsten Maplestone (113:25:52), Ben Berriman, David Bennie, Mike Wilcox, Steve Fryirs and Nicola Walters.

In the Men’s 100 Miler, podium finishes went to Mark Green (20:25:40), Anthony Tuting (22:07:05) and Nathan Douglas (22:09:58).

In the Women’s 100 Miler, top spots went to Marijke Walshe (23:51:07), Kate Cush (25:00:31) and Eleonora Caudai (25:29:47).

Well done to all our AURA members who ran in the 100 miler, including Andrew Layson (28:17:59), David Campbell (28:52:14), Doug Bartlett (30:33:49), Malcolm Sleet (33:34:53), Julie Steele (34:17:28), Scott Heckmann (34:27:19), Chris Warren (36:30:48), Shaun Whitehouse (38:10:54), Ron Singh (39:15:46), Ken Shack-Evans (42:42:09) and Gretchen Smith.

For a full list of results, click here.

RED DIRT BACKYARD ULTRA

The inaugural Red Dirt Backyard Ultra was held over the weekend in Karratha, WA with runners racing in a cloud of red dust from Saturday, 25 June. But this particular backyard ultra was hosted with a twist!

All participants ran 6.71km on the hour, every hour but instead of until forever, they stopped at the 12hr mark. The first 6hrs were run as usual for a backyard, but in order to get down to the Last One Standing, there was e a 5 minute limitation added each hour after the 6hr mark, so the course got faster and faster and faster as the evening moved on.

Thirty-five runners took part in the inaugural Red Dirt Backyard Ultra, and the winner was Levi Winman, who completed all 12 laps for a total distance of 80.52km. The Assist went to Ben Lyon with 73.81km.

Keep an eye out for this particular event in the northern regional part of WA where it’s bound to get bigger every year!

TRANSCEND ULTRA

Successfully held for its second year, the Transcend 65km Ultra kicked off on Sunday, 26 June with participants getting a chance to run through the Avon Valley in parts not ever open to the public. Known to be one of the most technical and difficult ultras on the west coast, Transcend was held in beautiful sunny weather where conditions were rife for all runners.

The event catered to both solo and team runners.

In the Men’s 65km Solo, AURA’s Joshua Chugg from Hamilton Hill, WA took the top podium spot with a speedy finish over the tough terrain in 6:06:56. Second Male was Rudi Smith (6:34:31) and 3rd Male went to Mark Hollingsworth (6:44:48).

In the Women’s 65km Solo, it was an AURA podium box all around with AURA’s 2021 Young Female Ultra Runner of the Year Sarah Ludowici claiming 1st Female thanks to her outstanding finish time of 7:03:08. AURA’s Meghann Coffey from Hillarys, WA stayed right on Sarah’s heels as she secured 2nd Female with 7:04:53, and AURA member Claire O’Brien-Smith from Swanbourne, WA took control of 3rd position to claim the title in 7:59:16.

Well done to all our AURA members who ran in the Transcend Ultra (we don’t have individual names of team members but there were definitely AURA members involved in teams!), including Jessica Smith (8:45:06), Glenn Ross (8:58:36), Chetan Sadhana (9:03:07), Joshua Kuhn (9:06:13), Michael Hooker (9:06:16), Tim Pullin (9:12:49), Stephen Rowles (9:21:57), Beck Hefferon (9:23:30), Ian North (9:37:08), Tristan Cameron (9:47:08), Martyn Flahive (11:35:15) and Kate Ashfaq (13:37:51).

For a full list of results, click here.

MEMBER NEWS

Congratulations to AURA President Ewan Horsburgh and AURA Treasurer Simone Hayes who at the weekend both raced at the Western States Endurance Race in Olympic Valley, California, USA. A 100 miler event, Horsburgh finished in 23:15:29 and Hayes completed her distance in 25:31:48.

Out of 383 starters, 305 runners finished the event.

Well done to you both for stellar runs at one of the world’s most biggest and oldest 100 mile trail events!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Well, the middle of the year is DONE, and July is upon us so here are the upcoming events to keep an eye out for.

The Australian 24 Hour Track Invitational is on this weekend, 2-3 July and will be held at the AIS in Canberra, ACT. Hosted by Matthew Eckford, AURA’s Vice President, not only will we see the invited list of candidates battle it out in the 24hr on the track, but this will be the first time the event will have an open category.

Also this weekend is the Adelaide 6/12/24 Hour (2-3 July) in Adelaide, SA. Now named the Adelaide 24 Hour Festival, will see runners on a 2200m gravel loop to get to their designated goal.

What a busy weekend! The Lakes Trail Festival is also on this weekend (2-3 July) in Hawkes Nest, NSW. There are a few options for ultra runners, including a 100km, 75km and 50km and is an off road event.

Another event happening on Sunday, 3 July is the GOLD Coastal in Semaphore, SA where a 50km is on offer for registered participants.

With this coming weekend super busy with four AURA-listed events, the following Saturday-Sunday are also jampacked, with the Brisbane Trail Ultra in Kangaroo Point, Qld on 8-10 July offering a miler, a 110km and a 60km for ultras, 3 Marathons in 3 Days in Kuranda, Qld from 8-10 July providing 126.6km across 3 days, and Ultra Adelaide in Adelaide from 9-10 July with a 100km and 50km distance for those on the hunt for an endurance event.

To finish the month of July, we have Antsy for Anstey in Tea Tree Gully, SA on 23 July and Yaberoo Trail Ultra in Neerabup, WA on 24 July.

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: Thomas Dade, winner of the 2022 Unreasonable EAST, takes a pre-race photo with his bib number. Photograph – The Eventurers.

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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.