WEEKLY NEWS REPORT 28/06/2021

WILD GOOSE CHASE RUNNING FESTIVAL

The Wild Goose Chase Running Festival was held across a cold weekend in the Avon Valley, WA from Friday, 25 June to Sunday, 27 June.

There were a number of events spread across the three days, with many runners participating in a combination of distances to gain ultra numbers.

In Friday’s men’s 19km Hill Climb, 1st Male went to Simon Poli (1:53:31) and 2nd Male went to Dylan Bentley (1:55:58). Third Male was won by AURA member Adam Loughnan from Karrinyup who finished the event in 1:59:35.

In the women’s 19km Hill Climb, 1st place went to Nancy Williams (2:12:01) and 2nd to Raquel Rae (2:26:05). Congratulations to AURA’s very own Jutta Kober from East Victoria Park who secured 3rd Female with a total time of 2:29:02.

Well done to all those who ran in the 19km hill climb including Douglas Bartlett (2:00:13) and James Sawyer (2:14:38).

Friday also saw a 10km Hill Climb which saw 1st Male go to Radek Dzitkowski (00:58:41), 2nd Male to Nathan Reeves (00:58:56) and 3rd Male go to Mark Webster (1:13:41). For the women, 1st Female was won by Karin Ridley (1:31:59), 2nd Female went to Courtney Swarts (1:32:58) and 3rd Female went to Jacqueline Bromell (1:45:09).

Congratulations to our AURA members who ran in the 10km Hill Climb including Mark Audet (1:13:44), Wayne McMurtrie (1:20:55) and Simone Watkins (2:49:01).

On Saturday, the ultra distances made their mark. For the men’s 100km Wild Goose, 1st Male went to Rama Wieland (12:51:34), 2nd went to Dylan Bentley (12:51:34) and 3rd went to Raoul Oehmen (13:35:51).

For the women’s 100km Wild Goose, 1st Female went to Nancy Williams (14:00:23) and 2nd Female was won by AURA’s Jutta Kober who finished the distance in 15:22:47 and having just come off the 3rd Female placing in Friday’s 19km Hill Climb. Third Female went to Raquel Rae (18:38:59).

Congratulations to all our AURA members who ran and finished in the 100km Wild Goose including Andy Thompson(15:27:24), Douglas Bartlett (15:51:49), James Sawyer (16:44:19) and Adam Loughnan (17:47:20).

Saturday also saw the 50km event played out, and podium finishers for the men’s race were AURA member Glenn Ross from Hovea who took out 1st Male with a speedy time of 4:54:59. Second Male went to Nathan Reeves (5:29:19) and Third was won by Peter Male (5:30:48).

For the women’s 50km, it was Sanja Kolonic in 1st (5:41:23), Chailee Richards 2nd (6:34:38) and Kate Ashfaq 3rd(7:19:53).

Well done to all those who ran in the 50km including all our AURA members Mark Audet (5:48:43), Aimee Brown(7:24:51), Peta Moore (7:55:09), Louise Wallace (9:23:26) and Simone Watkins (13:35:48).

Special mention to AURA’s Frank Chauveau from Busselton who ran in the 29km Trail Race and secured 10th Place with a total time of 4:42:20.

And on the 3rd day there were more events, including the 42km Trail Marathon and 21km Trail Half Marathon.

In the men’s 42km Trail Marathon, 1st Male went to Dylan Bentley (4:13:23), 2nd to Troy Harris (4:44:07) and 3rd to Scott Rumbold (4:55:45). In the women’s 42km Trail Marathon podium finishers were Tracy Ebsary for 1st Female (5:33:17), Nancy Williams for 2nd Female (5:39:54) and Jessica Greig for 3rd Female (7:52:06).

Congratulations to AURA member Jutta Kober who ran in the 42km Trail Marathon and finished it in 8:22:06.

Finishing off the weekend and any combination events for runners was the 21km Trail Half Marathon. For the men, top spots went to Nathan Reeves for 1st Male (2:07:26), Will Hammond for 2nd Male (2:13:11) and Radek Dzitkowski for 3rdMale (2:15:05). For the women, podium finishers included Maddy Luscombe for 1st Female (2:23:26), Melissa Gildenhuys for 2nd Female (2:23:45) and Liz Hawker for 3rd Female (2:31:06).

Well done to all those AURA runners who completed the weekend with the half marathon including Mark Audet(2:28:49), Wayne McMurtrie (2:56:28) and Bryan Wright (4:27:17). 

As mentioned, some runners participated in a combination of distances.

The Duck’s Nuts included the 19km Hill Climb, 100km Ultra and 42km Marathon (the longest distance on each day).

A whopping congratulations to AURA’s Jutta Kober who was named 2nd Female to win the Duck’s Nuts having finished all three events (1st Female went to Nancy Williams).

The Loose Goose was a combination of the 10km Hill Climb, the 50km Ultra and the 21km Half Marathon (the shorter distances on each day).

Massive high fives to AURA’s Mark Audet who was named 2nd Male to win the Loose Goose having finished all three events (1st Male went to Nathan Reeves).

*All results are provisional as of Monday, 28 June and are yet to be ratified by the event director.

UPCOMING EVENTS

If you are registered to run in any of the following events, please keep an eye out on the event’s preferred method of communication to stay up to date with any changes resulting from the current COVID-19 situation across the country. The following information is correct at the time of writing (Monday, 28 June).

Unfortunately it was announced by race director Matthew Eckford on Monday, 28 June that the Australian 24 Hour Track Invitational, due to be held from 3-4 July at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, will be cancelled due to instability from current COVID situations across the country.

He said he was devastated to come to the decision but it was the most logical one to make.

“It kills me to make this decision,” he said.

“Last week it looked like most of our NSW partiicpans couldn’t attend but now after the weekend and today further, a majority of our participants are impacted or at risk.

“Right now it seems lockdowns, lockouts, travel restrictions and requirements are trending for the worse, and it’s time to look towards rebooking and rebuilding for July 2022.

“The quality and depth in the field this year easily made it the most competitive 24hr in Australian in a really long time, and I only hope that most of you can make it back next year so we can do it properly with everyone there pushing each other to run their best.”

The Lakes100 across the same weekend in Hawks Nest, NSW has also been postponed due to the current lockdown situation in the areas of Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour. The date for the Lakes100 has been moved to 30-31 October. According to race directors, all entrants will be sent an email with the option to either move to the new date or defer to 2022.

“We are absolutely gutted and were primed for the weekend,” race director Richard said.

“The medals are ready, the race t-shirts printed, course is confirmed, banners made, checkpoint food has been ordered, volunteers pumped, music prepped for the finish line – everything is in place ready for race day.

“We will hold on to it all ready for the last weekend in October; it will be a little warmer, a little drier and the days will be longer plus you’ll have more time to train.”

The Brisbane Trail Ultra is due to be held the weekend of 9-11 July and will be doubling up as the 2021 AURA Australian Long Course Trail Championships in the event’s BTU110 distance.

3 Marathons in 3 Days will be held the same weekend, from 9-11 July in Kuranda, Qld and is entering its 10th year. With routes for Day 1 and Day 2 changed, it will be harder than ever before.

The Elephant Trail Race, due to be held from 9-11 July has made the decision to split the event to accommodate those participants located in NSW lockdown zones. Race directors Mathew and Kerry made the announcement at the weekend that in a bid to not disappoint those who have trained hard for the event, those who live in an area that is under lockdown or in a hotspot on race day, those race entries will be transferred to what they are calling ETR21 2.0 due for 1-3 October 2021.

The Tassie Trail Fest will be held from 16-18 July offering runners to race through the trails around the iconic Cataract Gorge in Launceston, Tas. On offer is a 100 miler, 100km, 45km, 23km, 12km and 2km kids run/walk.

Pictured: James Sawyer racing at the 2021 Wild Goose Chase Running Festival. Photograph – Jacky Bromell.