WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 07-08-2023

Kate Dzienis • August 7, 2023

Birdy’s Backyard, WA
kunanyi Trail Series, Tas
Rumble In The Jungle, NSW
Insider Updates
Upcoming Events

BIRDY’S BACKYARD

Birdy’s Backyard kicked off last week on Friday, 4 August at Lake Towerinning, WA (about 245km south east of Perth) with the Last One Standing Format. As always, every participant DNFs except for one.

This year, the title was earned and won by AURA member Margie Hadley from Henley Brook, WA who finished a total of 46 laps. What a stellar effort from Margie, congratulations on your win.

AURA’s very own Rob Parsons from Somerville, WA walked away with the Assist – an incredible performance.

On a side note, all runners experienced not only seriously freezing temperatures, but the shakes of a Magnitude 5 earthquake that was recorded near Gnowangerup (140 east of Lake Towerinning) at 5:34am on Sunday, 6 August.

Well done to all our AURA members who ran in Birdy’s Backyard, including Glen Smetherham, Tim Bond, Heath Watkins, Andy Thompson, Jessica Smith, Gabe Alves, Jagpawan Dhillon, Del Thompson, Nancy Williams, Rob Parsons, Brad Halls, Shaun Kaesler, Mark Lawrence, Frank Chauveau, Geoffrey Langhans, Tristan Cameron, Anya Mullin, David Patterson, Dave Romanin and Phoebe Hurliman.

KUNANYI TRAIL SERIES – TOLOSA HALF & QUARTER

The kunanyi Trail Series Tolosa Half (Enduro) and Tolosa Quarter (Sport) event was held on Sunday, 6 August in beautiful Glenorchy, Tas.

In the Men’s Half, 1st Male was won by David Bailey whilst 2nd Male was taken by AURA’s very own Andrew Gaskell from Lindisfarne, Tas. Third was won by Connor Ryan.

In the Women’s Half, top spots were awarded to Annabel De Jong, Bree Hunter and Anna Goodwin.

For more info, check out the kunanyi Trail Series Facebook page.

RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE

Rumble In The Jungle was held on Sunday, 6 August in Ulong, NSW and was hosted by Coffs Trail Runners. On offer was a 50km event for endurance runners, along with a 30km, 21km and 8km.

In the Women’s 50km, AURA’s Clare Palmer from Glenreagh, NSW took 1st Female with a time of 5:14:04. Kylie Salm took 2nd (5:37:09) whilst AURA member Melissa Robertson from Long Jetty, NSW claimed 3rdFemale when she crossed the finish line in 5:57:10.

In the Men’s 50km, top spots were won by Daniel Stein (4:23:00), Nathan Roberts (4:52:11) and Aaron Dower (4:53:20).

Congratulations goes out also to AURA’s Simon Turnbull, who finished his 50km in 8:59:32.

For the full list of results, click here.

INSIDER UPDATES

Race Directors: AURA are currently seeking applications from race directors who wish to apply to host National Championship events in 2024. Applications are now open and will close on 11 August 2023, with an announcement on the successful events on 18 August 2023.

Events open for applications include:

50km Road
100km Road
24 Hour Track
48 Hour Track
Short Course Trail (40-60km)
Long Course Trail (80-100km)
100 Mile Trail

24hr Team Announced: AURA has announced the 24 Hour Team for the 2023 IAU 24 Hour World Championships which are due to be held in Chinese Taipei on 2-3 December. This year, the selection committee had an incredibly difficult time with one of the highest scoring list of qualifying applicants ever. Congratulations to the following AURA members who are announced as team members:

Men: Kevin Muller (Captain), Michael Hooker, Matthew Griggs, Grant Brisbin, John Yoon, Joe Ward

Women: Allicia Heron (Captain), Sharene Blake, Cassie Cohen, Maree Connor, Jenny White, Chrissy Redwood

New Merchandise: All merchandise has been restocked, and we are now selling brand new women’s racer back singlets. Head over to our online shop at store.aura.asn.au to check out how best you can represent in the green and gold.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Berry Long Run will be held in Blackwood, Vic this Saturday, 12 August.

The Unreasonable EAST kicks off 22-27 August from Cairns, Qld and the long awaited Run Larapinta covers four days from 24-27 August in Alice Springs, NT. The Bright Running Festival finishes the month of August with its weekend of events held from 25-27 August.

Pictured: Margie Hadley becoming the Last One Standing at the 2023 Birdy’s Backyard. Photograph – Astrid Volzke.

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AUTRA Race Report 2-11-2026

By Kate Dzienis • November 2, 2026

Illawarra Escarpment Traverse, NSW Kunanyi Trail Series - Cascade Slide, Tas Harry's King of the Hill, Vic Upcoming Events WEEKLY RACE RECAP FOR 2-11-2026 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.