WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 7-06-2021

Kate Dzienis • June 7, 2021

Cleland 50, SA
Southern Sydney 24 Hour Ultra, NSW
LeFevre Coastal Running Festival, SA
AURA AGM Details
Upcoming Events

CLELAND 50

The Cleland 50 Festival of Run was held on 29 May, 2021 in Crafers, SA and was hosted by Ultra Series SA. It was the third event under the Ultra Series SA banner (Heysen 2020 and Belair Marathon 2021) but the first for race director Shaun Kaesler who was there in person. He said he was extremely humbled by the SA running community and looked forward to creating more events in the state.

“I’m so incredibly privileged to put on these ultra marathons and witness you all put your cards on the table and just give it your all to get to that finish line,” he said.

“This course was tough, nuts even and yet every runner came in under cut off and no one pulled out – you all have my utmost respect.

“One massive attraction to the way of life in SA is how chilled everyone is in everyday life – the rest of the country could learn from this.

“Thank you for making me emotional, thank you for embracing me and my passions and beliefs with open arms, and thank you for all those incredible heartfelt and stinky finish line hugs.”

Onto the winners of the 50km event!

In the women’s event 1st Female was won by Sonja Jansen (5:51:01) whilst 2nd Female was taken by AURA member Amanda Meggison from South Melbourne, Vic with a time of 5:53:01. Third Female went to Nancy Williams (6:20:51).

For the men 1st Male went to David Bailey (4:36:00), 2nd went to Jarrad Allen (4:58:51) and 3rd went to Scott Cameron (5:08:42).

Congratulations also goes to AURA’s very own Vicki Shaw who completed the 50km in a great time of 7:19:59.

The Cleland Festival of Run also held a 30km event, which saw AURA’s Geoffrey Langhans from Happy Valley, SA take home 3rd Male after crossing the finish line in 3:09:35. Other distances runners participated in included a 22km, 11km and 8km.

Amanda Meggison hitting the trails at the Cleland 50km and securing 2nd Female. Photograph – Anthony Ingram.

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SOUTHERN SYDNEY 24 HOUR ULTRA

So many eyes were on the inaugural Southern Sydney 24 Hour Ultra at the weekend, from 5-6 June. It featured a mass-load of events including the 24hr, 12hr, 6hr and 3hr as well as distances of 100km and 42.2km, and race director Stephen Redfern said everything went off without a hitch.

“We had some absolutely amazing results on the weekend for our first event, I was just so humbled at all the amazing runners out there,” he said.

“I’m so proud with how the whole weekend turned out, it was just flawless.”

Firstly onto the results in the 24 hour, and it was an AURA podium finish for all three top spots with Joe Ward from Fairlight, NSW taking 1st Male with a total distance of 242.627km, Dan Symonds from Taringa, Qld walking away with 2nd Male and 237.006km, and Adam Keighran from Helensburgh, NSW taking 3rd and a total distance of 203.706km.

Not only did the men’s podium finish with an AURA trifecta, but the women’s podium also saw AURA members take over the platforms, with Jenny Morris from Cammeray, NSW claiming 1st Female after completing 186.974km, Sabina Hamaty from Cambewarra, NSW taking 2nd Female and 175.441km, and Vice Hazdovac from Newcastle, NSW winning 3rd with 165.074km.

Congratulations to all of AURA’s 24 hour runners who hit the track and accomplished incredible numbers, including Marcus Cockshutt (168.41km), Colin Wiley (162.763km), Niboddhri Christie (152.621km), Peter Colagiuri (151.737km), Kevin Muller (140km), Heather Christison (132.535km), Paul Gay (129.767km), Andrew Meagher (128.028km), Paul Mahoney (122.689km), Rodney Foster (109.600km), George Ziogas (108.597km), David Chiew (104.400km), Scott Marden (100km), Cassie Smith (92.097km), Ben Berriman (70.400km) and Steve Fryirs (53.600km).

Onto the 12 hour men’s podium finishes, and it was AURA member Dominic Bullock from Linley Point, NSW who took the honours of 1st Male with a total distance of 146.277km. Second Male went to Scott Connolly with 126.171km and 3rd was claimed by Damon Lynch with 116.278km.

In the women’s 12 hour distance, top spot was won by Leigh Hawkes (97.995km) whilst 2nd and 3rd Female placings went to AURA members Leah Weeden from Dubbo, NSW with 91.617km and Lyndal Maloney from Winmalee, NSW with 86.283km respectively.

Well done to all AURA members who ran and finished in the 12 hour including Chris Warren (103.498km), Steve Robertson (88.867km) and Richard Crane (68.729km).

In the women’s 6 hour division, AURA’s Tia Jones from Springfield Lakes, Qld secured 168 laps of the track to win 1stFemale with a total distance of 69.774km, whilst AURA Treasurer Simone Hayes from Gymea Bay, NSW took 2ndFemale after a successful race with 66.188km. It was an all-round AURA podium finish with AURA’s Dianne Sheedy from Caringbah South, NSW landing 3rd Female with 58.216km.

In the men’s 6 hour race, Baiqi Cheng took the win with 69.517km. AURA vice president Matthew Eckford from Wights Mountain, Qld claimed 2nd Male after 159 laps, making it 66.03km whilst Glenn Gielissen took 3rd (63.429km).

Congratulations to all AURA members who ran in the 6 hour including Masanori Chiba (63.053km) and Greg Wilson(60.213km).

We are still awaiting results for the 3 hour event.

There was also a 100km distance event, won by Soonchul Shin in 9:45:27, followed by Rene Collins (11:52:48) and Taehyuk Lim (12:19:10).

In the 42.2, winners were Ian Richard (3:13:07), Andrew Tillman (3:43:37) and Rick Patzold (3:49:11) for the men and for the women podium finishes went to Karin Tapppouras (4:34:35), Tracie Scarlett-Arundell (4:38:15) and AURA’s Jane Trumper from Dee Why, NSW who completed the medal tally with a time of 4:54:55. Well done to AURA members Brad Boyle (5:18:33), Bob Fickel (5:53:52) and Ganesh Vengadasalam (6:14:29) who finished their marathon event.

As well as a 42.2 run, there was also a 42.2 walk event. Congratulations to AURA member Kevin Heaton from Pennant Hills, NSW who took 1st Male with a time of 5:31:57 after completing 99 laps of the track.

It’s worth noting a few things that happened at the weekend of the Southern Sydney 24 Hour Ultra too.

The 24 hour Male winner, AURA’s Joe Ward, achieved an A qualifying distance
The 24 hour Female winner, AURA’s Jenny Morris, said it was her first time racing in a track race
The 12 hour Male winner, AURA’s Dominic Bullock, achieved a new Australian Age Group record at the event, having never run more than 5 hours before and with the Southern Sydney 24 Hour Ultra his first ever track race; the new Australian Age Group record for 12hr M25 is 146.277km by Bullock.
The 6 hour Female winner, AURA’s Tia Jones, secured 2 new Australian Age Group records for W55 with 69.774km (6 hour) and 4:15:56 (50km).

For a full list of results visit here.

LEFEVRE COASTAL RUNNING FESTIVAL

The LeFevre Coastal Running Festival was held on Sunday, 6 June in Semaphore, SA, the event supporting both the Australian Cancer Research Foundatino and Bravehearts. It offered a variety of distances, including a 64km that saw 4 finishers – an even split of 2 men and 2 women.

In the men’s 64km, David Billett took 1st Male with 5:59:34 whilst AURA’s very own Colin Brooks from Semaphore Park, SA claimed 2nd male with 7:29:55.

In the women’s 64km, Gabby Tyler took 1st Female after finishing in 7:14:07 and Mihoko Kukuchi took 2nd (7:38:31).

There was also a 42.2km distance on offer, with 3 competitors (all male). First Male was Timothy Horton (5:26:39) whilst AURA member Chris Glacken from Port Adelaide, SA took on the race and held on for 2nd Male with a finish time of 6:30:11. Harley Harrer took 3rd Male (6:35:37).

AURA AGM OUTCOMES

The AURA AGM was held on Monday, 31 May via an online meeting service. The following committee positions have been elected:

President Ewan Horsburgh
Vice Pres. Matthew Eckford
Secretary Stephen Redfern
Treasurer Simone Hayes

The following members have stepped up for the roles as state representatives:

Qld Dan Symonds, John Pearson
SA Chris Glacken, Beck Butler
ACT Allicia Heron, Martin Fryer, Matt Griggs
NSW Jane Trumper, Ben Berriman, Kevin Heaton
Vic Donna Urquhart, John Yoon, Nikki Wynd, Isobel Ross, George Mihalakellis
WA Julia Mackay
Tas Amy Lamprecht

Congratulations to everyone returning to a committee or state representative role, and to everyone new coming into their positions.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The long awaited Irrational S.O.U.T.H 200 Miler starts this Wednesday, 9 June and concludes Sunday, 13 June from the historic river port city of Murray Bridge to the vineyards of the Clare Valley in SA. Hosted by Ultra Series WA and Ultra Series SA’s Shaun Kaesler and supported by Ultra Runners SA, this is the sister event to the Delirious W.E.S.T.

The Glow Worm Tunnel Marathon Weekend from 19-20 June is new to the AURA calendar, and how spectacular does it look! The course takes runners on an amazing journey that takes in the best sights of Newnes and the Wolgan Valley, with participants running across creek crossings, sections of long single trail, old mine cuttings, ruins and some long forgotten railway easements. The event offers a marathon distance, half marathon, 6km and a ‘Mountain Mile’.

GoodRunning’s River Run will be held at Onkaparinga River Recreational Park in SA on 20 June and will offer participants a 5km looped course for 60km, 50km, 42.2km, 30km, 21.1km, 15km, 10km, 7.5km, 5km, 2.5km and 1km.

Another new event on the AURA calendar is the hotly anticipated Transcend Ultra to be held in WA’s Swan Valley at Walyunga National Park and finishing near the historic town of Toodyay. The 60km distance is offered for solo runners or teams of 2-4.

The Wild Goose Chase Running Festival kicks off on 25 June and runs through to 27 June, with the weekend offering distances for all abilities from the 5km to the 100 miler.

Pictured: Jenny Morris (2405), Carmen Austin (2413), Marcus Cockshutt (2438) and Kevin Muller (2404) at the 2021 Southern Sydney 24 Hour Ultra. Photograph – Martin Cansell.

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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.