WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 31-08-2022

Kate Dzienis • August 31, 2022

Sink Or Survive 500, SA
IAU 100km World Championships, GER
Wonderland Run, Vic
Bright Running Festival, Vic

It’s been a jam packed week-and-a-bit in ultra racing re AURA listed events, so 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 – AURA members AND race directors – 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 September edition.

SINK OR SURVIVE

Another insane event hosted by the team at Ultra Series, Sink or Survive offered ultra runners a chance to run a 500km stage race either solo or as part of a team. From Saturday 19 August to Sunday, 27 August 2022, participants ran along the coastline on a point-to-point trail skirting the Yorke Peninsula in SA.

As its inaugural year, Ultra Series’ Shaun Kaesler said that for the future, he wanted to keep the event intimate, full of meaning and full of soul – which would mean from 2023 there would be an official cap of 20 solo entries and 30 team entries.

This year saw 6 participants take on the 500km solo event, with AURA’s very own Kay Bretz from Prahran, Vic take victory as 1st Male in an accrued time of 61:21:27 (3d 13:21:27). Second Male was Geoffrey Barnes with 78:36:12 (3d 06:36:12) whilst 3rd Male was named as Stewart Mason with 85:02:27 (3d 13:02:27).

For the women’s solo, AURA member Ronnette Davies from Adelaide, SA claimed a proud 1st Female after completing her SOS 500 in a total of 88:55:42 (3d 16:55:42) together with Julie Sager – a shared podium spot finish! Gayle Cowling finished 2nd Female in 94:05:53 (3d 22:05:53).

There were four teams participating in the event too – 2x duos and 2x trios.

Duo team Consistent WALE, which consisted of AURA members Harmony Waite from The Vines, WA and Andy Thompson from Mundaring, WA finished 1st with a total time of 65:39:10. Twalk The York duo team completed the relay stage race in 90:53:34.

In the trio teams, Morfey Madness finished in 54:46:02 whilst Gone Running Back Next Week finished in 58:28:53.

For the full list of results click here.

IAU 100KM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

AURA’s Aussie team of runners for the IAU 100km World Championships in Berlin-Bernau, Germany showed the world what they were made of last weekend, with the event held on Saturday, 27 August. The team, consisting of Clay Dawson, Clare Palmer, Anna Pillinger, Andrew McConnell, Dion Finocchiaro, Corrina Black, Greta Truscott, Michelle McAdam, Grant Schmidlechner and Jacqueline Kellerman, ran their hearts out in a competition that saw a total of 198 athletes compete (89 women and 109 men).

Floriane Hot from France and Haruki Okayama from Japan are the 2022 IAU 100km World Champions. Both athletes completed the distance in impressive times, Floriane in 7:04:03 and Haruki in 6:12:10.

In the Women’s Individual Competition, Camille Chaigneau from France (7:06:32) was 2nd and Caitriona Jennings from Ireland (7:07:16) took 3rd In the Men’s Individual Competition, Jumpei Yamaguchi from Japan (6:17:19) was 2ndand Piet Wiersma from The Netherlands (6:18:47) took 3rd.

The weather conditions and flat course were favourable for participants and allowed them to open and maintain fast pace throughout the day.

In the Team Competition, it was a very strong performance from the Japanese men who secured Gold. France and South Africa earned Silver and Bronze respectively.

The event saw a solid performance by the USA women’s team who secured Gold, whilst France and Japan earned Silver and Bronze.

Regardless of the podium standings, it was an incredible effort by the Aussies, with their performances second to none! Results are as follows:

Men:

Dion Finocchiaro 6:48:14 (21st)
Grant Schmidlechner 6:53:45 (30th)
Andrew McConnell 7:05:37 (39th)
Clay Dawson 7:40:52 (64th)

Women:

Michelle McAdam 8:09:08 (33rd)
Jacqueline Kellerman 8:28:14 (46th)
Greta Truscott 8:52:51 (59th)
Clare Palmer 8:59:23 (63rd)
Corrina Black 9:03:45 (67th)
Anna Pillinger 11:22:48 (88th)

For the full list of results click here.

WONDERLAND RUN

The Wonderland Run was held the weekend of 27-28 August at Grampians National Park in Halls Gap, Vic with the 65km ultra distance starting on the Sunday.

Top podium positions were awarded to Steve Buchanan for 1st Male (6:41:46), Oowan Davies for 2nd Male (6:53:44) and Majell Backhausen for 3rd Male (7:28:16). Robyn Hansen won 1st Female (8:53:06), whilst Ady Mckenzie and Toni Gracie tied for 2nd (9:47:06) and Rachel Balding received 4th Female (9:55:10).

Congratulations to all our AURA members who ran in the 65km Wonderland Run, including Lochie Ngo (10:26:55), Jonathan Ennis-King (10:55:20), Isobel Ross (11:10:04), Ron Tait (11:10:04), Jody Daff (11:18:31) and Tony O’Connell (12:25:17).

For the full list of results click here.

BRIGHT RUNNING FESTIVAL

The Bright Running Festival offered a 50km ultra trail event on Saturday, 27 August in Bright, Vic.

In the Men’s 50km, Macauley Jones took 1st Male (4:56:26) whilst AURA member Jamey Pemmelaar from Kensington, Vic held on for a close 2nd Male with his total time of 5:03:48. Brent Anderson claimed 3rd Male (5:15:21).

In the Women’s 50km, Mary-Louise van Dyk took 1st Female (6:18:26), Jackie Goudy took 2nd (6:33:25) and Tania Willey took 3rd (6:48:37).

For the full list of results click here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

First up for the month of September is the Cairns Port Douglas Trail Ultra from 3-4 September in Port Douglas Qld offering an 80km and 120km in the ultra distance categories. The GV Last Man Standing kicks off on 9 September in Shepparton, Vic whilst the Barossa Run starts on 10 September in the Barossa Valley, SA with an out and back looped course, loops consisting of 21.1km. There is a 50km and 63.3km on offer.

The Glasshouse 100, which doubles as this year’s Australian 100 Mile Championship, kicks off on 10 September in Beerburrum, Qld, and the same weekend sees the Great North Walk Ultras in Patonga, NSW.

The Sri Chinmoy Canberra Trail 100 starts on 11 September in Canberra, ACT and the following weekend sees the No Time To Die Frontyard Ultra (16-18 September) in Adelaide, SA as well as the Surf Coast Century on 17 September in Anglesea, Vic.

Rounding off the month of September is WTF from 24-25 September in Dwellingup, WA and the Yurrebilla 56km Ultra Marathon on 25 September in Athelstone, SA.

To see our full AURA calendar click here.

Pictured: The Aussie team for the 2022 IAU 100km World Championships, Germany. Photograph – Simone Hayes.

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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.