Two Bays Trail Run RD Report (AURA Short Course Trail Championships)

Kate Dzienis • February 26, 2022

Contributed by Rohan Day, Race Director, Two Bays Trail Run

Two Bays Trail Run, 16 January 2022, Dromana Victoria

The two biggest risks to any event are always nature and government.

A month out from Two Bays Trail Run 2022 it looked like both were going to be okay. Government were looking like they were over lockdowns and stringent Covid-Regs. Nature’s contribution of Covid wasn’t particularly widespread. Nature had knocked a lot of trees over on the Mornington Peninsula in November storms, but government (ParksVic and MornPenShire) were being very co-operative about clearing them up.

Then nature gave us copious Omicron, and government was still running with fairly expansive isolation regs. That was a quick way to bring the entrant pool down from a peak of 1650 entries to about 1220 finishers across both the 56km and 28km distances. Volunteers and suppliers staff were also dropping like flies, though fortunately never to the doomsday predictions of some that a third of the population would have Omicron, or be isolating.

In the end we had sufficient volunteers and supplier staff to pull the event off, and nature came to the party with good weather for setup days and actual race day.

Race day hit 25 degrees. Dead on the Mornington Peninsula average for mid-January, though it always feels hotter to the tail end ultra runners who’d been out in the sun for close to 8 hours. Ditto for the volunteers who’d been taking care of them.

Strong running in the women’s race saw Narelle Crozier and Simone Brick both finish well inside the overall top 10 at fourth and seventh outright places, with Matt Whitaker dominating the men’s race.

I know this should be about ultras, but I can’t help but make mention of James Laven who took a massive two minutes off the men’s 28km record. That record had been held by extremely well credentialed international runner Frédéric Tranchand, so keep an eye out for young James in the future. That was probably one of the most impressive trail running results we’d seen in years.

So in the end Two Bays 2022 went well, though nature had a little last laugh with a higher than usual about of runners having hit their heads on the lower tree branches of the last section approaching Cape Schanck (see photo of Oowan Davies for example, who despite this hit still managed a top 10 finish in the 56km).

AURA Short Trail Champs winners:

Female

View Top 100 Female

Pos	Name	Time	Net Time
1	Narelle CROZIER	4:38:27	4:37:09
2	Simone BRICK	4:44:10	4:42:52
3	Christy LAMBERT	5:26:30	5:25:11

Male

View Top 100 Male

Pos	Name	Time	Net Time
1	Matt WHITAKER	4:09:38	4:09:36
2	Joseph DORPH	4:30:36	4:30:32
3	Nick MONTGOMERY	4:32:14	4:32:11

Photographs – Supplied/Two Bays Trail Run.

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AUTRA Race Report 23-3-2026

By Kate Dzienis • March 23, 2026

Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, WA Gold Coast Backyard Ultra, Qld I'm Still Standing Sydney, NSW Trail Run Australia - Tathra, NSW Sri Chinmoy 48hr Track Ultra (Australian 48hr Track Championships, ACT Washpool World Heritage Trails, NSW Tamworth Trailblazer, NSW Upcoming Events WEEKLY NEWS REPORT FOR 23-3-2026 As always, we're continuously on the hunt for your stories and reports, so get those race reports and photographs in to ultramag@autra.asn.au with the following information: Word document, single spaced Include the name of the event, the date and the location anywhere in the report (just a bullet point at the top is great) Please attach photographs to the email – do not put images in the body of your Word doc. You’ll just get me emailing you back asking for the photos sent in the correct way! As many photos as possible. With our new website, it’s now easier than ever to include a nice gallery in each race report No PDFs please And remember, it doesn’t have to be about an AUTRA-listed event specifically! You just have to be an AUTRA member for the 2026 year. Also too, if you’ve run in a non-AUTRA listed event anywhere on home soil or internationally, we’d love to include your race results and experience in our Member Updates, so please do reach out to us via email to kate.dzienis@autra.asn.au If any corrections need to be made in any of the results listed below, please alert me via email.

2026 AGM Notice (15 April 2026)

By Dave Martin • March 14, 2026

AUTRA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Wednesday 15 April 2026

AUTRA statement regarding Snowies Trail Run Festival

March 12, 2026

AUTRA has been in direct contact with the organisers of the Snowies Trail Run Festival, In2Adventure, regarding a recent situation involving an athlete and the event’s in‑person safety briefing requirements. In2Adventure has confirmed that the situation was discussed directly with the athlete at the time. From In2Adventure’s account, and for the purpose of clarifying the public record, AUTRA notes the following points: At no stage was the athlete prevented from breastfeeding at the event. The organiser states that the following options were offered to enable the athlete to participate while still meeting safety requirements: a quiet and private space where she could breastfeed while still being present at the briefing; the option to receive the required briefing at the 30 km start line after the start; and the option to change her registration to the 21 km event, where the briefing is conducted on the start line. At no stage prior to event registration on Saturday night did the athlete contact the organiser to advise of her situation or request alternative arrangements, which limited what could be put in place at the time. Face‑to‑face safety briefings have always been a requirement for In2Adventure events due to the remote and higher‑risk nature of the trails. AUTRA was aware that in‑person briefings were used and had not raised concerns about that general approach. The organiser has indicated that this requirement is driven by safety, duty‑of‑care and insurance obligations, and follows previous experience where remote or online briefings resulted in athletes starting events without critical safety information. The organiser maintains that the event was not conducted in a manner that was intended to be non‑inclusive, inflexible or discriminatory, and that decisions made on the day were based solely on safety requirements that apply equally to all participants. AUTRA’s aim in issuing this statement is solely to clarify the context and ensure that the public record reflects the information provided to us by the organiser.