WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 25-05-2021

WEST MACS MONSTER

The incredible West Macs Monster was held last week, kicking off on Friday (21 May) with the last event starting on Sunday (23 May), along the Larapinta Trail in the glorious Northern Territory.

West Macs Monster provides a distance for every ultra runner, from the Sonder Monster 231km and Ellery Monster 128km to the Standley Monster 65km and Simpsons Monster 25km – something for everyone, as they say!

First up was the longest event, the 231km distance which started on Friday from Redback Gorge with 14 individuals in the solo event and 1 team of 4.

First Female and First Overall coming across the finish line at 56:52:02 was Elizabeth Woodgate while not far behind her came Mark Alexander for 1st Male/2nd Overall in 57:41:17.

Second Male/3rd Overall was Matt Salinovich with 59:01:06.

Taking on such an incredible distance is no easy feat, and even though only 3 runners finished the big beast, we would like to congratulations our two AURA members who did their best – both Allicia Heron from Theodore, ACT and Cian Gray from Barton, ACT made it to checkpoint 5 at Hugh Gorge in 30:29:00 and 30:32:00 respectively.

The 128km event started on Saturday with runners kicking off their race at Ellery Creek Big Hole. Podium finishes went to 1st Male Rodney Angelo (23:11:06), 2nd Male Stefan Krueger (24:39:17) and 3rd Male Bruce Dailey (25:55:25).

1st Female was Felicity Pidgeon (24:08:53), 2nd Female Katy Anderson (25:55:25) and 3rd Female was taken by AURA member Fleur Douy from Coburg, Vic who crossed the finish line of the 128km in 30:59:53. What an effort by all!

In the 65km division, 1st Female went to Holly Ranson (8:13:03), 2nd Female was Georgina Beech (8:40:21) and 3rdFemale was won by Greta Truscot (8:47:11).

For the men it was Alexander Marcus for 1st in 8:34:57, Jackson Bursill for 2nd with 9:24:49 and Mathieu Pangrazzi in 3rd (9:39:53).

A big congratulations to AURA member Zoe Kirkman from Alice Springs, NT who conquered the 65km Standley Monster with a time of 12:30:26.

TRAILS AND TAILS

The inaugural Trails and Tails was held over the weekend, where runners could race on a 7km loop course around Cairncross State Forest with their furry best friends – distances on offer were 21km, 14km, 7km and 4km.

In the 21km there were 3 starters so for overall results we saw Nicole Wilding come 1st (1:52:07), Blake Rosenbaum 2nd(1:52:38) and Rebecca Pope 3rd (3:01:14).

AURA AGM

A reminder that AURA’s 2021 Annual General Meeting will be held this Monday, 31 May by electronic meeting only. Members will be able to attend electronically using Zoom. Details on how to log in and access details will be provided on the AGM page about 7 days before the AGM. 

The AGM will run from 6.30pm WST, 8pm Central and 8.30pm EST. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Cleland 50 Festival of Run will be held on 29 May in Crafers, SA. An iconic ultra marathon on the Australian calendar, it has previously hosted the Australian Short Course Ultra Trail Championships. Now new distances have been added to the event including an 8km, 11km, 22km and 30km.

The inaugural Southern Sydney 24 Hour Ultra will be held the weekend of 5-6 June in Barden Ridge, NSW. It is the return of the 24hr track ultra to Sydney after finishing up back in 2019 and is now brought to runners by Ultra Running NSW, offering events of a 24hr, 12hr, 6hr, and 3hr plus a 100km and 42.2km. 

The weekend will also see the LeFevre Coastal Running Festival in Semaphore, SA on 6 June which supports the Australian Cancer Research Festival and Bravehearts, and offers 5km, 10km, 15km 21.1km 30km, 42.2km and an ultra 64km.

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

Pictured: The starters of the 231km West Macs Monster distance at Redback Gorge. Photograph – West Macs Monster/Facebook.