Weekly News Report 3-05-2024

Kate Dzienis • May 3, 2024

Down Under 135, Vic
Lighthorse Ultra, WA
Upcoming Events

WEEKLY NEWS REPORT FOR 3-05-2024

As always, we're continuously on the hunt for your stories and reports, so get those race reports and photographs in to ultramag@aura.asn.au with the following information:

Word document, single spaced
Include the name of the event, the date and the location anywhere in the report (just a bullet point at the top is great)
Please attach photographs to the email – do not put images in the body of your Word doc. You’ll just get me emailing you back asking for the photos sent in the correct way!
As many photos as possible. With our new website, it’s now easier than ever to include a nice gallery in each race report
No PDFs please

And remember, it doesn’t have to be about an AURA-listed event specifically! You just have to be an AURA member for the 2024 year. Also too, if you’ve run in a non-AURA listed event anywhere on home soil or internationally, we’d love to include your race results and experience in our Member Updates, so please do reach out to us via email to kate.dzienis@aura.asn.au

If any corrections need to be made in any of the results listed below, please alert me via email.

Down Under 135 (vic)

The Down Under 135 is one of the most demanding and extreme ultra races on the calendar, with runners required to cover 135 miles (220km) in single stage non-stop format from start to finish through Lerderderg and Wombat state forests.

Thirty-seven athletes took off from Blackwood for the 7^th edition of DU135 on Friday, 26 April 2024 with the aim of making it under the 55 hour cut-off. This year saw record numbers in both field size and female participated.

Most athletes made it through to the 42km checkpoint by nightfall on the first day and the leaders were stretched out 15km in front to Mt Blackwood Lohs checkpoint at 57km, led by eventual winner Grant Ward from Toowong, Qld.

At the MacKenzies Flat picnic ground turnaround point, there was a new race leader with Grant missing a marker and doing an extra 8km to get back on course in 7th, so it was Burt Kennedy who arrived in 20 hours. The trio of Chris McAuliffe, Tim Kacprzak and Guy Schweitzer wasn’t far behind.

However Burt didn’t return into the Lerdy. After being advised to keep an injury in check prior to DU135, he decided it was too much risk to return for the 112km it would take to finish.

As athletes came into the turnaround across the day, 2/3 would push through before the 4pm cut-off chasing another 30 hours of Lerdy trails.

The turnaround saw no better sight than Kate MacMunn and Claire Healy hug it out having spent most of the night together. According to race organisers, the maths was revealing that both women looked fresh enough and tough enough to be only the 2nd and 3rd women to finish DU135 ever. For those athletes in the back half of the event, they needed to meet time targets to be allowed to continue past checkpoints. Slowly across the second night, the DU135 course would start to devour the brave.

As the Sunday sunrise shone across the gorge, the DU135 followers would awake to see only 8 had survived past the Saturday night 9pm, 142km, 37hr cut-off. By this time Grant had turned around his race and had a sub 48hr finish clearly in sight. It was remarkable considering he had gone off course the previous day and was able to reset, refocus and turn it into a powerhouse display. He would go on to miss the sub 48hrs but still dominate the DU135 course.

In the end there were 7 finishers in total at Blackwood, with Kate MacMunn being the 2nd ever female to do so. These were Grant Ward (48hrs 15mins or 2d 00:15:00), AURA members Chris McAuliffe from Lara, Vic with a finish of 49hrs 42mins (2d 01:42:00) and Ben Nicholls from Timboon, Vic with 51hrs 46mins (2d 3:46:00), Tim O’Loughlin (52hrs 19mins or 2d 04:19:00), Chris Norris (52hrs 57mins or 2d 04:57:00), AURA member Tim Kacprzak from Bannockburn, Vic with a stellar time of 53hrs 13mins (2d 05:13:00), and Kate MacMunn (53hrs 28mins or 2d 05:28:00).

Big congratulations to Chris, Ben and Tim on accomplishing this insanely massive race!

above Images by Warren Maynard.

lighthorse ultra (wa)

The annual Lighthorse Ultra was held the weekend after Anzac Day, from Saturday 27-28 April 2024 at Perry’s Paddock in Woodvale, WA. It’s a timed looped course of 2.5km with runners tackling the 24hr, 12hr, 6hr, 3hr and 1hr options on limestone, boardwalk and asphalt.

In the Men’s 24hr event, 1^st Male was awarded to Callum Mason (200.900km) whilst 2^nd Male was won by AURA member Kevin Matthews from City Beach, WA who completed a total of 190.100km. Jack Brown won 3^rd Male (181.840km).

In the Women’s 24hr, top spots were won by Katie Richards (177.490km), Karyn Connell (143.360km) and Emmalene Head (141.700km).

A big congratulations to all our members who raced in the 24hr event at Lighthorse, including Malcolm Sleet (143.360km), Pamela Williams (133.130km), Louise Wallace (120.060km), Brad Halls (126.290km), Andrew Shaw (110.630km), Gabe Alves (109.620km), Peta Moore (107.110km), Andy Thompson (91.350km), Glen Smetherham (78.300km), Phil Gore (72.360km) and Alexis Oosterhoff (46.980km).

In the Men’s 12hr, podium finishes were awarded to Warner Newhouse (105.400km), Nathan Metcalf (104.400km) and Christopher Whitehill (103.490km).

In the Women’s 12hr event, we had two AURA members claim positions. Claire Slater took 1^st Female (109.910km) whilst AURA’s Karen Mickle from Ettalong Beach, WA won 2^nd Female following a finish distance of 101.820km and AURA member Fay Wells from Thornlie, WA took 3^rd Female after completing a total of 90.420km.

Well done to all our members in the 12hr, including Jason Simpson (66.750km) and Del Thompson (52.200km).

Winners in the Men’s 6hr were named Kyle Hughes (64.080km), Andrew Cody (62.990km) and Cole Bergersen (59.030) while top spots in the Women’s 6hr were Shelly Hughes (66.350km), Mandy Bull (56.890km) and Jaime Stevens (56.860km).

Congratulations to our members who raced in the 6hr, including Graham Tottey (52.210km) and Mitchell Crook (39.150km).

above image by outback paparazzi photography.

UPCOMING EVENTS

4 May: Dead Cow Gully Dead Cow Gully, Qld
5 May: Organ Pipes Classic kunanyi/Mt Wellington, Tas
8 May: Irrational SOUTH Heysen Trail, SA
16 May: Ultra-Trail Australia by UTMB NSW
17 May: No Time to Die LOS Victoria Park, SA
1 Jun: Coffs Backyard Ultra LOS Coffs Harbour Showground, NSW
7 Jun: Southern Sydney 24/48 Ultra / Australian 48H Australian Championships NSW
8 Jun: Adelaide 24 Hour Festival Memorial Drive, SA
8 Jun: Ultra Perth Sir James Mitchell Park, WA
15 Jun: Red Dirt Backyard Ultra Balmoral Rd Caravan Park, WA
21 Jun: Wild Dog Backyard Ultra Lardner Park, Vic
22 Jun: Transcend Walyunga National Park, WA
28 Jun: Brisbane Ultra Trail Brisbane, Qld
28 Jun: 3M3D Kuranda, Qld
6 Jul: Lakes Trail Festival Hawks Nest, NSW
6 Jul: Ultra Adelaide Elder Park, SA
20 Jul: Yaberoo Trail Ultra Yaberoo Budjara Heritage Trail, WA
20 Jul: Boyne Valley 50 Boyne Burnett Inland Rail Trail, Qld
21 Jul: Antsy for Anstey Anstey Recreational Park, SA
21 Jul: Karratha Trail Adventures Karratha BMX Track, WA

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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.