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Taking on a wild, wild earth

September 26, 2024

wild earth coastal high 50 - 31 august 2024 - gold coast hinterland, qld

contributed by riccardo messora, AUTRA member (bald hills, qld)

After the Brisbane Marathon this year, I was contemplating which trail event I would sign up for.

There are so many to choose from these days, and I generally am not one that like repeats as I always like to explore new places. I have volunteered at the Brisbane Trail Ultra in June, and while, awkwardly, in a very long line for the toilet I was chatting with one of the runners about to embark on the 60k race.

He told me that one of the best ever places and events he has participated in, was the Coastal High 50, stating that it was in a “breathtaking stunning national park”, and that was it… I was sold. I then checked with our special Trail Guru Connoisseur, Christy McFadden, (does she ring a bell?) and she was quick to confirm that it was definitely a MUST DO, that ticket was mine!

In July, I was having a yarn with Rodney about it, at the pub after the J2J and he decided, there and then, to come too (good call Rodney) Now the anticipation started building, I had already in program to train hard for …well, something coming up, so this would have been a good test for it.

When race weekend came up, Rodney came to stay at my place. We had to leave really early and that would have made things much easier for both of us, we had to be in Nerang by 4am to catch the bus to the start line, which takes 1 hour to get there.

In the 2 months prior to the event, I’ve had the biggest volume of running I have ever had and, while doing all the right things to stay on track (Christy may question that), I wasn’t in the freshest of form standing on that start line, but the excitement was big and I felt ready to tackle this beast of 2000 m of elevation.

After the race briefing, where we were told to be mindful of ticks - leeches - snakes and dangerous cliff edges, a violinist started a live performance of a momentum building melody to the countdown, and off we went.

All up hill for almost 3 k, that’s right, nice hey! We walked, I wasn’t going to be a hero and run up the hill and spend precious energy that I would have needed later, as some others runners regretted.

The legs were calling for merci, at many stages, and it took me a good 15 k to be on top of my briefing and warmed up, but the beauty around me kept me going and I took so many photos and videos, I constantly had the phone in my hand. There is so much I could say about the course, I could go on forever, it had it all, rainforest, single tracks and switchbacks, amazing views, creek crossings and rocky down hills, 900 unforgiving steps that never end and make you question why are you actually there, caves, spectacular huge waterfalls, slippery cliff edges (don’t look down!), stone walls, unshaded sections with no escape from the sun and lots of wildlife… and did I mention it was hot? 35 degrees.

There were many highlights during the journey, one being finding out that Linda White was volunteering on course, which was unexpectedly re energizing, a friend from the club and home turf definitely gives you a boost.

At another checkpoint, a woman recognised me and Rodney from the Dead Cow Gully, and we shared a few laughs; we ran together at the DCG and would tell me “looking fresh Ric” at the start of every lap and she complimented our new trail shirts ( this is the 4th time that we received good feedback while out on a course).

Lastly, I picked up a pair of sunnies by a creek, and carried them to the finish line, and asked the DJ to make an announcement that they were found. A guy came to collect them and hugged me saying he was so sad that he had lost them as they were his favorite and wore them on top of mount Everest.

That’s trails for you and that’s why we like it, when I got the the finish, I was exhausted and absolutely euphoric; probably the best trails I have ran so far. Only pity was, I missed the sausage sizzle as it was all gone by the time I got there, only a banana for me.

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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.