New Records

With thanks to our records officer, Jodie Oborne, we congratulate Bernadette Benson for setting a new Australian Women’s OPEN record in the 100 mile distance at the Sri Chinmoy 24 Hour Races in Campbelltown NSW and Marie Boyd for setting several new W70 age group records at the Across the Years 6 Day event in Glendale, USA

There is also an update to the Women’s open & age group records documents that can be found on our Records page.

The table below shows all Australian records awarded this year:

DateAthleteDistance/TimeRecord TypeVenueNew Record
30-Dec-18Marie Boyd48 hourAustralian W70Glendale USA151.760 km
31-Dec-18Marie Boyd200 kmAustralian W70Glendale USA2D:15:22:23
3-Jan-19Marie Boyd6 daysAustralian W70Glendale USA360.851 km
17-Mar-19Nikki Wynd48 hourAustralian W45Bruce ACT317.894 km
17-Mar-19Gemma Worland48 hourAustralian W25Bruce ACT146.063 km
17-Mar-19Dan Symonds48 hourAustralian M25Bruce ACT362.213 km
14-Apr-19Jeff Grey50 kmAustralian M55Canberra ACT3:35:36
16-Jun-19Bernadette Benson100 milesAustralian W OPEN
Australian W50
Campbelltown NSW15:24:44

Australian 24h Team Selection

Congratulations to the following athletes who have been selected to represent Australian at the IAU World Championships in Albi France on 26 & 27 October.  This is without doubt our largest and potentially one of the most competitive teams ever.

MEN

  • Matthew Eckford
  • Kevin Muller
  • John Yoon
  • Stephen Redfern
  • Ewan Horsburgh
  • Kay Bretz
  • John Pearson
  • Barry Loveday
  • Dan Symonds

WOMEN

  • Nicole Barker
  • Tia Jones
  • Nikki Wynd
  • Donna Urquhart
  • Simone Hayes

Club Rankings

With thanks to David Billett, the AURA Club Rankings documents have been updated and can be found on our Rankings page (under All Time Rankings / Club Rankings).  The Club Rankings list Australian runners who have achieved certain distances (100mi, 200km, 250km & 300km),  sorted chronologically according to date of entry into the club.

Hall of Fame

A huge thanks to Ian Cornelius for contributing a fantastic article this month docmenting the running career of Ron Grant. The article can be read here, and is also linked from our Hall of Fame page, where you can read about many other great Australian ultra runners.

Call for Volunteers

Back in April I wrote that Rob Donkersloot and myself are standing down from our roles in AURA at the end of the current term (i.e. April 2020).  We’d very much like to start handing over a number of the jobs required to keep AURA running, which include (but are not limited) the following. Now is an especially good time to start doing so, as several of these roles are most active over the next two to three months.

If you’ve the time and an interest in any of these roles, please contact myself or Rob — we’ll give you plenty of support in learning the job:

  • Awards & Trophies – order trophies for National Championships and Annual Awards each year, and distribute to NC events and recipients
  • Certificates – prepare, print and send certificates for Australian Open and Age Group records as they are ratified
  • Website Management – maintain the AURA (WordPress) website, performing regular software updates, monitoring backups etc
  • Website Publishing – update the AURA listed event pages
  • Membership Management – maintain the database of members
  • Insurance Coordinator – liaise with insurer to manage insurance for AURA listed events

New AURA Merchandise

We’ve had new shirts & singlets designed by local a pair of talented WA ultra runners (Shannon & Justin at OC Clothing), and are really pleased with the outcome.  They’re now in stock and available to order at the AURA Shop. Some sizes have sold out already – a new shipment arrived this Tuesday and we’ll have the shop updated with stock levels by end of the week.

National Championship Results

An update to our National Championship Results for 2019, with Cleland 50 (Short-Course Trail Championships) held in June.

2019 National Championship Results (female)

TitleEvent1st2nd3rd
48 Hour Canberra 48h
15/3/19
Nikki Wynd
317.89 km
Kerrie Williamson
305.284 km
Cheryl Symonds
284.520 km
24 Hour

Coburg 24h
13/4/19
Cheryl Symons
186.311 km
Karen Mickle
174.642 km
Kris Ryan
168.177 km
50kmCanberra Ultra
Marathon
14/4/19
Corrina Black
4:03:16
Alena Scurrah
4:14:48
Katherine Booy
4:31:04
Trail
(short)
Cleland 50
9/6/19
Hannah McRae
5:27:10
Ina Schapiro
5:39:53
Vicky Rounding
5:57:29
Trail
(long)

Hume & Hovell
12/10/19
Karen Mickle
4:24:33
Jodie Oborne
14:44:53
Leah Weeden
19:29:07
100km

Ned Kelly Chase 100
26/10/19
Rhiannon Snipe
8:09:58
Michelle McAdam
8:15:15
Margie Hadley
8:43:59

2019 National Championship Results (male)

TitleEvent1st2nd3rd
48 Hour Canberra 48h
15/3/19
Mick Thwaites
389.041 km
Dan Symonds
362.213 km
David Billet
275.673 km
24 Hour

Coburg 24h
13/4/19
Kevin Muller
251.605 km
John Yoon
219.245 km
Daragh O’Loughlin
208.705 km
50kmCanberra Ultra
Marathon
14/4/19
Ash Watson
2:59:40
Brendan Davies
3:08:28
Barry Keem
3:10:17
Trail
(short)
Cleland 50
9/6/19
John Csongei
4:53:38
Graham Tottey
6:32:05
Trail
(long)

Hume & Hovell
12/10/19
Andrew McConnell
10:11:28
Scott Richmond
10:43:01
Richard Storrier
10:47:14
100km

Ned Kelly Chase 100
26/10/19
Clay Dawson
6:54:03
Dion Finocchiaro
8:03:30
Kyle Weise
7:53:04