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Episode 38: 2024 Wrapped Part 2!
351 Plays24 days ago
Happy New Year Peak Pursuiters!
This ep is hosted by Brodie and Sim as they bring you their (very subjective and at times biased) thoughts on:
- Aussie Female/Male Trail Performance of the year
- Worldwide Female/Male Trail Performance of the year
- Best Aussie Race Battles of 2024
- Most Improved Aussie Athletes
- Who to Watch in 2025
- What to look forward to in 2025
We hope you enjoy and we would love to hear your thoughts! Listen in next week for us chatting through all things 2025 on the Aussie trail running scene - It's going to be a big year ahead!
Thanks for listening and don't forget Peak Pursuit listeners get 20% off Bix products with the code PPP at checkout.
Thanks for a great year!
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Transcript
Introduction and Recent Activities
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 38 of the Peak Pursuits podcast. My name is Simone Brick and you've just got me and the lovely Brody Nankervis this week. How are we doing Brody? Yeah, pretty good. Thanks. I've been down in Tassie for the last week and it's been really nice and I'm just about to head back to Melbourne. So yeah, been relaxing down here.
00:00:30
Speaker
Good. and It is a good time to relax.
Reflections on 2024 Trail Running Highlights
00:00:32
Speaker
It is the crazy holiday season. It is what? We've got one day left in 2024. And for that reason, we are bringing you a different and, for me, exciting episode. I love reminiscing. ah Where we look back on 2024 and just try and sift through to see what we what we remember as being some of the best performances. the most improved athletes and all sorts of things on the Aussie scene to try and see where we went in 2024 and build some hype for 2025. Yeah, I'm excited for this. I'm super excited. this is i think I've been thinking about this a lot this week. ah It is really tricky, um but it is actually like ah ah with a reference to Inside Running podcast, which is a podcast about normal running or just running in general. Normal running, I love that. Track and road.
00:01:20
Speaker
I love their annual one where they get to talk about their best results for the year and therefore I'm looking forward to doing it myself and I think we have an added challenge of doing it in the trial world because it's maybe more difficult so there will be a healthy dose of subjectivity so please hold us to accountable but yeah hopefully it's an enjoyable discussion. Yeah it's like how do you compare a VK to a 100 mile to a ran very, very technical 50k to everything else in between. um Yeah, it's definitely not as cut and dry as a time on a road or in a well known race necessarily. So
00:01:59
Speaker
Yeah, we've got a bit of fun. We have asked for many, many people's opinions to weigh in so that we have an idea from both the general listeners that are via Instagram. And then I've reached out to some of the more um top-end athletes as well, just to get their thoughts on everything. But I suppose to get us started, Brody, how's your week been? Just quickly, give us a brief rundown. And what um what your bike, I think, you're more of a cyclist this week, again aren't you? Yeah, yeah yeah I actually was on Boxing Day sales and for the first time buying cycling gear rather than anything related to running, so I'm really leaning into it, which is which is good fun. um And i I was having a look at my Strava the other day to see if I was going to clock more Ks on the bike than running, but I just started probably a bit too late, so not quite. but um
00:02:51
Speaker
It's been a few a big three weeks. Did you do the Festive 500? Are we mid that? Yeah, well, it didn't really exist at as much this year. There was a Strava challenge for it last year that i when I searched for on Strava, I was i'd like signed up to that, but um I couldn't find it this year and then know people that I know that Cycle were doing it, so I didn't really do it.
00:03:13
Speaker
So, but I was actually got close to, I will get close to 500. I think I'm sitting at like 450 at the moment and tomorrow would be the last day of like the eight day period.
Cycling Adventures and Gear Talks
00:03:24
Speaker
Oh, surely you get that 50K in. Come on. I just, I did a hundred K today and tomorrow I've got work and then it's new year. So yeah, I don't know if I'm going to force myself to get out. I might just do my myself. We'll commute.
00:03:36
Speaker
But yeah, no, it's been fun. I ah thankfully, one of the orienteering club members of my orienteering club in Launceston had a bike that I could borrow, um which was great. um So I've been out on the roads on that, um maybe a slightly bit too small, so i'm a bit sore in a few weird places. But um yeah, it's been really fun to get out on the roads and and get some Ks under the belt over the last sort of seven days and yeah, enjoying the cycling. It's going well.
00:04:04
Speaker
Nice. Yeah, you might end up similar to me where I have a cupboard full of cycling gear that I acquired while injured that hasn't been touched in about eight months at this point. And I'm wondering whether I should just get rid of again. But yeah I'm actually thinking like when I get back into running, I will be probably take at least one complete rest day from running and I'll probably cycle on that day. And then depending on how long that lasts.
00:04:29
Speaker
Yeah, no, I'm actually I think I actually want to stick to it this time. We'll see, like you say. But ah and also probably factor in some cycling around my normal training maybe as well. But that's ah all the time basing like running is key. If you have extra time, you could add in some extra work on the bike. But um knowing me and making myself busy, I probably won't actually have that many opportunities. But umll Maybe hope buying this cycling gear will keep me accountable to getting out for my one day on the bike each week. That is so what I told myself when I bought really expensive power pedals that I have no idea how or why or what to use but I have a really good bike with really good power pedals with every other piece of equipment you could want on a bicycle
00:05:16
Speaker
And I haven't ridden my road bike in a very long time. And power pedals are expensive. I think I might wait to see if I actually commit to the riding before I get hot power pedals. That's probably a good a good call because I got them just for the interest of having the number in front of my face and without having any clue what it means or what to do with it. um So yes, I have very expensive pedals. It's great.
00:05:38
Speaker
But anyways, no, it sounds good, and I highly recommend keeping the biking in and the rest day. um I just yeah have told myself that a few times before, and it lasts until running's going amazing again. yeah yeah But yeah, there you go.
00:05:52
Speaker
Yeah, we'll see. I'll be on the bike for a little bit longer. I'm lucky sending me some measures that some sort of return to sport-ish measures. um He's gonna have a brainstorm and we'll work some out that depending on when I get back to running and that might be this week or it might be in a couple of weeks. So yeah, we're gonna come up with some criteria and then use them to guide when I get back to running. Nice. Good. Well, hopefully it is smooth ah whenever it is. That is that is definitely a Nice one. Cool. Well, yeah, I suppose my quick update is that Christmas week was I would did a very good job of probably having the laziest Christmas week I've had in years um because I kept trying to do this thing where I'd stay, try and stay somewhat fit for two bays and never pull it off very well ah because just training through Christmas killed me.
00:06:43
Speaker
And um yeah, this week I've enjoyed being very lazy and I'd only covered I think 31Ks by the weekend. um But then by Saturday, I very much wanted to get back into things. So did like a 15K into a 20K Saturday Sunday, which feels like it's kickstarted me a little bit back into gear. Also did get back in the gym last week and damn, that had me sore.
00:07:09
Speaker
It's been since October that I lifted anything and I was in the gym with Kate and Locky with Locky Check and Form and everything, which was lovely, but yeah, I felt that. um and I usually only feel the first one back though, but I'm hoping i'm hoping things continue to improve because ah having only run 20Ks yesterday,
00:07:29
Speaker
At a decent clip, because more because I wanted to get it done than anything, um I woke up this morning with actually sore legs just from a 20K 90 minute run. So yeah it's amazing how much a month changes things or three it's only been three weeks. so yeah And I did chuck back in first session, which went actually really well, had some speed there still, which was nice. And first gym back, 20K run. So it was overall a very um successful week, just the usual chaos of Christmas. And my dog was unwell only for half the week. Thankfully, she's come good. So happy days to hear happy days on the dog front. She's been since Saturday, she's been much, much better. and It was very touch and go for a while there.
00:08:14
Speaker
so Fantastic. And I saw you got it your long run was fairly speedy out on Yarra Flats. Yeah, so i'm I'm still at the stage where yeah I just don't want to see a hill. Don't put a hill in front of me. I'm bloody avoiding Anderson Street at this point. And so it's funny because I go from searching for all the hills to if someone invites me on a run and it's got hills in it, I'm like, no, I'll hit the road or I'll run along the bay. like i just I just really feel like I want that smooth, fast running for a little while and to feel really poppy again and nice.
00:08:46
Speaker
um and like I felt really good during that 20K. It's just so nice to get rolling and sit there, sit at a decent clip for such a long time. I haven't done something like that in a while now. So yeah, obviously good company. Like I was still chatting the whole time to the people I was running with. So it was good. And those runs on Yarra Flats always get going, I reckon.
00:09:07
Speaker
I think I've done one at like four or five before and it was like, that was too fast. Yeah, I've done I've done plenty like that. Yarra Flats, I spent an entire year running every Sunday with Trina Bissett and trying to chase her around there. And it was a quick every week. But I loved it. Like I still love it. It's just a good place to get rolling. So yeah yeah, that was that nice little bit of confidence boost after getting to after Boxing Day where I took a break and I'd obviously just been gorging on all the lovely Christmas food.
00:09:34
Speaker
I felt as unfit as I have in a very long time, so it's good to get back into it. But I reckon that's enough about us and we get started on 2024 Wrapped. Now, this is part two. If you haven't listened to part one from last week, go back. I have re-uploaded the edited version of last week's episode after accidentally releasing the first time round.
00:09:58
Speaker
the unedited version. I clicked on the wrong one to publish, my bad people. um That's what happens in the chaos. I think I did that on Christmas Eve. So um anyways, go back and listen to that if you
2024 Wrapped: Best Performances in Trail Running
00:10:10
Speaker
haven't. ah But this is part two of our 2024 wrapped. And the first question is a doozy. And what I reckon is actually the fastest one. But we're going to try our best to give what we think is the best Australian male and female performances on the trail.
00:10:28
Speaker
of 2024. I did write 2025 on the Instagram post too. Someone flagged that. Sorry, 2024. The year that hasn't happened yet. Brody hit me with something.
00:10:40
Speaker
Yeah, so there's so many. Like we're saying at the start, it's tricky to pick the best um ah when they're so diverse racing, different locations, different distances. um But we won't beat around the bush and we'll jump into it. I think in the in the women, um for me, I'm going to give you actually some commendable mention for BTU 30, which like looking at your season to me like that was a race where I was like I remember opening Strava because I wasn't up in Brisbane and going oh shit like that's so fast like Sims had a Sims had an absolute cracker um yeah so I think thinking for me like that was probably your personally your best race of the year but I think it also sits in one of the best Aussie performances of the year what do you think is that one of your best or the yeah definitely like that's the one I'm most proud of this year uh just because of obviously like I hadn't
00:11:34
Speaker
I had, there was my second race back off a very long break and um that whole, I had spent the previous almost 12 months wondering if I'd ever be back to good form and I am very proud of how I executed that race, the people I was around, the speed I had at the end and just Yeah, I went into it confident, but being completely unsure what my body would have for the day. And I got everything I had out for the day. And it it was, yeah, definitely over even overall, just one of the results. I'm most proud of everything that was around it. And yeah, I'm chuffed that it's in the conversation because I like me being me wouldn't have put it there because there's been so many amazing ones.
00:12:15
Speaker
But it's definitely my best for the year, for sure. um Yeah, no. And then I had to two, one other commendable mention, I guess, um for Kate Avery, who we are going to adopt as an Australian. Now, she had a pretty good season overall, but um for me, I think her race at Cozy, I think, is maybe her better race. I don't know which one she thinks is her better race, but yeah, her time compared to the leading men and and how she raced against a pretty high quality field. um Yeah, I think that was really good. But I'm gonna give the best race. And this is one where I was, I also remember opening it up and going, oh, whoa, like big big time, like big reaction going, I don't think I could do faster than that. It was la Lara Hamilton at the VK World Cup Final. um I don't know the, we don't have the exact time. I'm not sure I'll see if I can find it.
00:13:09
Speaker
40, 18, so very close to breaking 40 for a VK, which is super impressive. That also landed her in sixth place. um And I think, although VKs are all very different and some are faster than others, I think that is probably the quickest time for a male or female for a VK this year and maybe for the last few years.
00:13:30
Speaker
Yeah, i haven't I haven't, I know Ian Best was overseas doing a lot of EKs and I think he got to 43 minutes and obviously he's an incredibly good runner himself. But yeah, that for me is definitely performance of the year on the women's side. um Both that, ah I still think for Lara, that one's better than her 13th place at Golden Trail, but also her 13th place at Golden Trail is pretty high up there in terms of Aussie performances for the year.
00:13:58
Speaker
um Yeah, like I 100% agree on the V6 that the VK World Cup final though, that was an absolute ripper run. I will say that on Aussie soil, I'm also gonna give a like very commendable mention to Melissa, I don't know how to pronounce her surname, Melissa Hauschilt.
00:14:17
Speaker
I think is how I'm going to go with that. But Blackall50k, she had the outright win. She's new to the trail coming from being a two times, I think, Iron Man 70.3 world champion on her Instagram.
00:14:32
Speaker
so Coming from triathlon background, ah new to the trails this year as far as I can tell, but she won black all 50k outright. um So beating all the men in four hours 29 minutes, which for a 52k I think it is with about 1600 up and down in Brisbane is a bloody fast time. But that also her time this year would have won outright the last three or four years in a row, I think.
00:15:02
Speaker
the And also seeing previous winners, including the likes of Ben Duffus having run for 19. Yeah, to be within 10 minutes of times like that, I think is an incredible run by Melissa there and went under the radar a little bit because I missed it at the time, but it's looking back. That's why I love looking back, I think, because I was looking back at some of the top scores on intro and those things in 2024 and found Melissa's run. And yeah, it's a ripper. It's only from October. um So it is fairly recent, but Yeah, that's the other one I'd put up there for the women. have we um I should probably see what else got mentions on from listeners on our Instagram poll was Jess Jason's Hounslow. That got three or four mentions, which always nice to shout out our very own podcast host Jess. What else got to mention Brody? Did you
00:15:57
Speaker
see look I didn't look them in super detail, but like the one to a couple of other commendable mentions that I think is the Lucy coming 10th, that was like super impressive. um And probably, I think like I'm going to get to it a little bit on later on, but Anna McKenna's run at Buffalo, I think was also a very, very good. right yeah um and probably maybe her best of the season, I'm not sure. um So yeah, I'm excited to see what Anna can do next year, um but we'll get to that. Yeah, sure. Kelly's 17th at um Western States would be pretty high up there. There's just too many. Well, Kelly got a mention, a couple of mentions on the Instagram from the from listeners. So that yeah, there was it was many different ones, um but let's go across to the men's. The consensus from us is Laura Hamilton's sixth, yeah?
00:16:50
Speaker
Yeah, that's that like, I'm sure there'll be plenty of people that will disagree with us. But for me, that's probably the one I would pick. without doing crazy, crazy analysis. Yeah, definitely. ah Now, to throw it across to the men, there was one slightly more stand out just in terms of the Instagram poll and talking to people and the sort of athletes I've chatted to. And it was definitely one I put right up there. And that was Mikey Dimuante's at UTA 100. I think I can't remember how much you won by, but it was a lot, wasn't it?
00:17:26
Speaker
Yeah, it was close to I think it was close to an hour, if if not over an hour, but also the time was really impressive as well, just over nine hours. Yeah, yeah. um And then other other mentions definitely from me would be Blake Turner's Asia Pacific. Blake Turner's season as a whole, I think, was quite impressive. I know he didn't quite get where in Golden Trail national series. He didn't quite get where he wanted, but I think it was solid throughout. But then his run at OCC was impressive. But and then he finished the year off with what I think is his best run at Asia Pacific Trail running championships with his third place.
00:18:03
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. I think that was a, like you said, he had a really consistent season. All of his races this year scored over 800 on Itra, which is like, yeah, there's a bit of variation there, but that generally the trend seems fairly good on Itra. Um, and yeah, so I think that's it. That's he's had a really good season through golden trail. And then that really seemed to come to fruition in the, in the longer races of OCC and Asia Pacific.
00:18:31
Speaker
Yeah. yeahp And then one I had for just an overseas performance that when I saw, I thought was pretty damn impressive was Michael Dunstan's Ultra Trail Snowdonia, which is a UTMB race where he came third in the Mylar. I think it was 25 hours, 45 minutes. And this one's a gnarly one in Snowdonia with 10,000.
00:18:54
Speaker
up and down. I know the course, I looked at the course record was about 24 hours and he ran 25, 45, so like over a miler. not too far off. And um yeah, I think that was definitely an impressive run. And I can't think of what other overseas performances did we see that Aussies overseas on the men's side? Like Asia Pacific, I guess, again. Yeah, true. Mikey coming third, under guys having at two on the podium is also pretty good. Trying to think overseas. There's a lot of good domestic
00:19:29
Speaker
races. A lot of the Golden Trail series races in the men's side, particularly very deep and therefore the racing at the top end was really quite... Yeah, Leo's win at BTU, I think would be... Yeah, it was pretty impressive there as well.
00:19:46
Speaker
And Charlie Hamilton's UTA, I think. Yeah, yeah, we can't probably go past UTA 50 was really tight as well. and And Charlie had a really impressive race there, I think, beating his own time from the year before by like nearly 20 minutes. Half an hour almost. If not more, yeah. So is yeah, really good to see Charlie improve on that as well.
00:20:05
Speaker
But yeah, I think overall, like it's hard to go past Mikey at UTA. um I think he wanted more out of Asia Pacific. And I reckon if he had his day there, that may have been the race of the year as well. But I think his UTA performance was potentially a little bit better. And that's probably who I would give yeah performance of the year to. And yeah, it was a really cool chatting. We actually chatted to Mikey after he um won that race. So you can go back and have a listen. We did an interview with him.
00:20:31
Speaker
um And yeah, listening to him talk about his race, it seemed like, yeah, he was sort of in that flow state the whole way and it ever it was just his day and and it and it went really well. So yeah, it's an interesting discussion to have a listen to. And yeah, I think for me, that's performance of the year.
00:20:46
Speaker
Nice. I'm going to agree with you there. Well done, Mikey. We love it. yeah we've had We've had agreement on both so far. How about that? I know. I know. I feel like we probably wanted Vlad in here. We were hoping to have Vlad in, but it's New Year's and all these sorts of things. Jess is away. But I feel like he would have different opinions to us. We agree on a probably too much. yeah like after one sort of be I think especially this one is that the listeners also probably agreed with this one. so True, actually, because where I'm up with what everyone has said as which online, which is good, but the next one is just taking things a bit broader and what we think tops the list for worldwide performances. and For me, it's it's still very hard to pick because there's so many they're such a wide range. But my top two on the women's side um is the Katie Scheid double, which with the UTMB record and winning Western States, like
00:21:44
Speaker
That's insane. um But then one of my favorite and I think definitely one of the best performances of the year was Jasmine Parris at Barkley's first female finisher. That was just huge to me and to the try running scene worldwide. um So those those are my top two. Did you have any to add there? I think like they were pretty historic moments, probably both of them and and Katie shied breaking the UTMB record like sort of I think next year will be really interesting to see her and Courtney if they sort of race each other at some and I think they probably will somewhere. um So yeah, that that was really impressive and and like Jasmine Parris making history essentially. So that's super impressive. The only other one I was sort of throwing in there and it's I guess a longer distance line. There's so much female great female racing in the Golden Trail series as well.
00:22:35
Speaker
um But for me, yeah Tara Dower, who she broke the Appalachian Trail FKT, which is a very, well, as it's a 40 day FKT, so as competitive as 40 day FKT's can be.
00:22:52
Speaker
But there has been a lot of decent attempts across many years um And she broke the outright course record. So she's beaten all the men as well um Which I think is yeah super impressive and and she did it in 40 days I think that worked out to be something like 80k a day maybe but I'm not sure and it's pretty tough Really tough terrain as well. So yeah that one for me was when I um read about that. I was pretty um impressed Yeah, nice. Yeah, i'd I'd put that up there just just for one of the ones you go how, like how does that happen? You've done amazing. um There was a standout on the men's side on the Instagram and it's also the standout in my head and that is Elhuzin's win at the Golden Trail World Series final.
00:23:42
Speaker
Both in the prologue and in the actual final. I think both of them were incredible and El Huzin season to me is the best trail running season um for the year. ah But then also, I think you've got Jim Walmsley at Western States and Vincent Boyard at UTMB.
00:24:04
Speaker
um I feel like most years you can't go past the winner of Western States and UTMB just for how competitive the races are. like you can't like What makes a performance often is the people that you beat and they are what you have to do to get there. so um Both of those very big mentions, but then you had some other more niche ones.
00:24:24
Speaker
Yeah I think like the those ones would definitely be like there's so many again there's so many races and I really enjoyed actually watching um I was sort of a little bit off on Golden Trail not off because I had something anything against it but I just sort of got a little bored with it um I don't know why exactly, but the end of the Golden Trail races, the US races and and the final races were just so interesting to watch because they were just so incredibly close yeah over those distances. Like sprint finishes ah in 30k races or however 25k races that it was just like, and sprint finishes at like 245 pace, like it was just like
00:25:07
Speaker
so intense. So like, yeah, I really enjoyed watching that. And I think Ella's in to come out on top of all of those incredible athletes. um Pretty convincingly, really, in the end. um Yeah, it was pretty impressive. um The only other one I wanted to like, Vincent Bullard was probably like, for me, like the, the biggest, like, most interesting deep dive news story that I went into, because as many people ah that many other people, no one had really heard of him on the big scene. um And then he comes out and wins the biggest race of the year.
00:25:40
Speaker
arguably like UTMB is arguably the most and prestigious race of the year. So I found that really interesting to sort of dive into his story. Um, but I, yeah, I wonder if he was racing the best field at UTMB or like he's obviously, obviously incredible performance, but potentially not the best performance of the year. Um, I don't really know who to give it to. The other mention I had, um,
00:26:05
Speaker
ah was David Roach, who ran Leadville 100 and broke a 20-year course record, broke it by about 26 minutes. And his first-mile race, um had been he's been fairly good over the 40 to 50k distance, I think, or maybe even a little bit longer, but he hadn't done 100 miles before.
00:26:26
Speaker
um And he races with a really interesting approach of like just racing it like it's a fast running race and just going is like trying to try to be speedy, which is it like just a really interesting way to think of it. And then he came out and won Havelina 100 mile as well, which is a golden ticket race for Western States. I think he just missed the course record. It was like super hot.
00:26:46
Speaker
um I don't know the calculation. I think it's about in the 30s because it was like 100 degrees or just under 100 degrees Fahrenheit. um Yeah, good. But yeah, he sort of backed up and showed that Leadville wasn't just sort of flashing a pan and it'd be really interesting. And he's talking he's talking big things. He has a podcast. It's really interesting. Listen,
00:27:06
Speaker
Um, him and his wife have a podcast and it's, they talk about great science stuff, but he's also very much about sort of being bold and sort of saying what you're going for. And he he's, he's, uh, on the pathway to Western States next year, which I think it looks like it's going to be the best race of the year. Like it sounds like Jim Walmsley is going to be there. Peter Engdahl is going to be there. Killian's potentially looking at a golden ticket race to potentially be there. Like it's.
00:27:32
Speaker
I think, yeah, Western states, and I'm sure that the females race is going to be just as good. So that's going to be, yeah, I'm going to be trying to watch it this year. Yeah, I'll be there for the female race. That's for sure. Yeah. Love that. Awesome. I think that's a good summary. In some ways, there's going to be so many performances we've missed. Feel free for everyone to send in. Who are we choosing? Yeah. Who are we choosing? I'm choosing Elhuzine.
00:27:58
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's pretty good. I'm probably a little biased. And then Katie shied. I think like getting that double and also just crushing UTMB and caus causing a bit of carnage in the men's race as well. like yeah I think that was pretty impressive. So I'd probably give her the female. Even those are those other two super impressive historic races. I just think like her doing that double was super impressive.
00:28:20
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. For sure. I like that. Good summary. ah Now the best, this one's back to back on Aussie soil. um And I just love this one because this is what makes me really love following trail running because you get some incredible battles out on a trail um and they're different to your typical road race battles in the way that someone might be better on an up, better on a down. The course plays into it a lot. The weather plays into it a lot. And yeah, you can get some real ding dong battles out
Top Competitions and Battles of 2024
00:28:48
Speaker
there. So this was for the best trail battle of the year.
00:28:53
Speaker
or Aussie race battle. And for just some honorable mentions, and they were coming through on people I asked and on the Instagram poll. um There was one for, there was a few people following along the Matt Korean versus Ian Best four day battle at Four Peaks. They were trading who was coming first and second, and it came down to the last day. So there was a few people following along. It's such a great event to have that ding-dong battle. is Yeah. Because there's that like,
00:29:20
Speaker
There's that time to reflect after the first day and and then get hot for the next day. So I think those mouldy day races, like they if you can get a feel where you do have a ding dong battle, it's really interesting.
00:29:32
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. And like it was Macri and Ian Best are both like incredible runners themselves. So yeah it's ah it's cool to see them go. Ethan Pink came through as well. Yeah, I was going to say shout out to Ethan Pink who was also in the mix. um Yeah, especially on the last day coming with the win. Yeah, came right through. So yeah, that was that was one that definitely got to mention, another one that got to mention online and I absolutely loved this battle was Coast to Cozy. How long is it? 240k or so.
00:30:02
Speaker
And it all came down to about two minutes in the end. um And the top three were all within sort of, in the end, it was close to 20 minutes for the top three, but just Ben Coobra, Ali Caripio and Cassie Cohen were just going back and forth all day for who was in the lead, who was behind. And it was was just this three-way battle for almost 20, or for 28 hours.
00:30:28
Speaker
um which is a long time to battle and for it to come down to two minutes over 28 hours or less than two minutes, a minute 40 something. um Yeah, like that's a pretty, that that is the pretty much a sprint finish, but over a very long distance. um So that one's another battle.
00:30:47
Speaker
One that was mentioned and has been mentioned many times and I think is an incredibly cool chase, as Brody put it, it was less of a battle and more of a chase was Buffalo Stampede. Is that what we're going to put it down as, Brody? Yeah, I think so. like i wouldn't necessarily I think it would have been a really good battle if ah if there hadn't been that mishap at the start where people got lost.
00:31:08
Speaker
um But I think it was, I wouldn't so much call it a battle, but it was an incredibly captivating chase, I think. and And Buffalo did such a good job of capturing that on their socials. Yeah. It was yeah really interesting. It's interesting to talk to both Charlie and and Billy after the fact and their perceptions of of of how that race unfolded.
00:31:31
Speaker
um So yeah, it's ah yeah, I think Charlie did it like an incredible effort to chase and and Billy did a ah great job just to sort of win the race by sort of being like, OK, I don't need to do anything crazy. I'm going to hold this lead um and then finish strong. um Yeah, it was it was definitely a super impressive race to watch.
00:31:52
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. um And then I'm going to say the battler of the year for me is Tate, because there's two that he was involved in that I love following along. The more recent one being Tate Herpes and Benny St. Lawrence at UTK 50, just following along the gaps. And then even late in the race, I think Tate at one point had a five minute lead, but then at the last checkpoint, it was 50 seconds. In the end, it came down to about a minute or so um at the finish line. so It was just, yeah, what was it, a bit over four hours of them being super close um and yeah battling it out. So Tate Herpes and Benny St. Lawrence at that one. But then this, again, I'm totally aware that I'm biased here because I was there, I saw it, and it was just incredible to so sort of speak to everyone afterwards, I suppose. But it was Leo Peterson and Tate Herpes at BTU
00:32:46
Speaker
ah the Golden Trail National Series final where with 5Ks to go, like they're both running for the spot because they're both in the lead on their overall series and they're both running for the spot on the plane to Switzerland, paid trip, everything. um And there's 5Ks to go, there's 20 seconds separating them.
00:33:04
Speaker
But Tate is clearly redlining a little bit more and takes that wrong turn and collapses on the side of the trail while Leo goes ahead to take the win. But all day they were inside of each other until that point. And um yeah, just to have like, I think that race would have come down to seconds and the sprint finish had Tate not found the edge of the trail as a nice place to nap and taking that wrong turn so yeah one of those ones that the the finish could have been a lot closer than it was but the battle that happened out on the trail ended with one person napping on the side of the trail not in a good way for how hard they were both making each other work for it.
00:33:46
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, definitely. No, I think that was, that was like, I wasn't there, but following it on the socials and being like, what the hell was Tate gone and her team just disappearing? I think it was the same with like, everyone that was there, no doubt being like, where's Tate when everyone came in?
00:34:03
Speaker
But yeah, given the the caliber of that field as well, like that had Blake Turner in it, Billy Curtis, Ronnie Spark was running, like it was a deep field. And yeah, it was, yeah, that was it. I think that was a really good battle and really cool to see them still fighting um right at the end or on that last big climb. But yeah, in general, I think like we're getting better and better.
00:34:28
Speaker
competition at our races. um I will say just quickly because I realised that a lot of those battles we mentioned were meant male battles. And i one of my favourite on the female side was also Kate and Sarah Jane Miller were actually really close the whole day at UTA 50. I'm not sure how much back and forth there was, but just one of those ones for the gap. I think it only it was only two or three minutes by the end.
00:34:53
Speaker
um But the closeness there of Kate and SJ was really cool to see. um And then, oh, actually, even one of them, I just realised, Lara Hamilton started the year with a blast at Golden Trail National Series with Donna Double. Forget about that performance, it's amazing what comes out when you start to think about it. yeah But yeah, just those sorts of battles, there were so many close ones.
00:35:20
Speaker
as well um with um Juliet being real close to Abbey Hall at the end of the year was a fun little one too. Yeah, that was cool to watch. um I think, yeah, these sort of ti to come tighter battles, are sort of we're seeing more and more of them, although there's still a lot of events on the calendar, we seem to be, at least there's more depth maybe, so there's more people, more sort of top runners at modable events, but like a be a bit of a shout out to Golden Trail, we're a bit biased, we're both Solomon athletes. But um I think Golden Trail had some awesome competition this year in both the men and the women. um And particularly in that sort of top top 10, a lot of back and forth at all the races, um which I thought was really cool. And like I was a part of a bit of that at the start of the season, at Donna Double and Kmart and just like, toing and froing, um which is really fun. And I haven't had that
00:36:15
Speaker
and That was sort of the most sort of like competitive fundraising I've done um in Australia. So yeah, it was really cool. Awesome. Yeah, those ones are always fun. And this is the one, as I was rambling before, I had one on the tip of my tongue, um Jess Jason, our own Jess Jason and Julia Anderson when at Hounslow.
00:36:32
Speaker
um as another battle that I absolutely loved. And I loved hearing about it from Jess because they were really close all day. And yeah, couple again, a couple of minutes by the end. So some good ones. And hopefully, I'm really hoping that we get so even more because I think, like, we're going to go to what we're most excited for next year so soon. But um or just the growth of the competitive side of Aussie trail running, but especially on the women's side, obviously.
00:36:59
Speaker
slightly biased again, but it's just been so cool to see the growth. I think I've i've always seen these really good battles in the men's fields, and it still is the fact that there's there's more percentage of the field is male in a lot of trail races, and um at the moment, there'd still be more depth, but the women are coming through, and it is awesome to see. So they're jumping the gun here, but that's one of the things I'm looking forward to next year. Yeah, here's to more battles in 2025.
00:37:27
Speaker
Exactly, exactly. Cannot wait for them.
Most Improved Athletes of 2024
00:37:30
Speaker
Now, next on our list, most improved Aussie trail athletes. This one I love, because it's but it's also so hard to pick because there could be someone that is nowhere near our radar that's actually the most improved. um yeah definitely It's just where you started the year versus where you end the year. So to everyone that has improved PDVs, ran incredibly well incredible races,
00:37:53
Speaker
and done things this year that they never thought they could at the start of the year. You count as most improved. Let's put yourself in this category. But for ones that are on our radar um and people that we've seen sort of come onto the scene throughout the year, ah one I'm going to put up there is Toby Lang, the Under 23. I think he, for the age and the experience, he handled himself really well at Golden Trail Final.
00:38:20
Speaker
He then did really well at Asia Pacific and throughout the season just seemed to be getting better and better um from what I saw. And then another mention for me, and I think almost, almost pulled off what would have been sort of the icing on the cake for a brilliant year of improvement was Ben Burgess, um which he ended the year with GPT.
00:38:45
Speaker
Myla which didn't quite get to the finish line of because the race was cancelled but Ben has definitely improved in a big way this year and I'm i'm excited to see what he does next year. On the men's side as well, who else if who else do you reckon is most improved? Yeah, well I think there's sort of like two categories as like because sometimes the most improved are just people who are new to trails or of just have just sort of just taken on running and they're starting to get better. up And then there's also those people that have sort of been around for a little while but have really taken a step up this year, which I think it's nice to recognize both. yeah And I guess the first two are probably more in that first category. Someone who's maybe in that second category, I think like Tate was racing in 2023 and maybe even 2022. And I think he's really taken a big step up this year, even um
00:39:34
Speaker
uh leo as well um like i think those guys have got better um but yeah it's hard to put them in the most improved category it's it's tricky like which category do they fit into best um in the women i think Like there's so many now that are sort of getting better and better and some that are breaking onto the scene as well. Like I think Mia Noble was a um had some good results this year. um We also, even like Jess is really sort of improving as well. I think it's it's cool to see Jess's progression and even someone like Trish who um has been around the sport for a while. I feel like she had a really good year this year as well. So yeah, I've got a lot of, I think everyone's improved.
00:40:18
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. One name that was also thrown um thrown out on online and people I was talking to was Sarah Levitt. Yeah, ye after which I think she's she won to a UTA 22 before this year. But I just think this year she was having more, more battles ah up the front of races. um I'm also gonna put Maggie Lennox in that conversation. um Because I think her runs, she second half of the year, she's thankfully and lovingly very pregnant. um But she, um the start of her year was just incredible compared to where she had been, um because she'd only just been able to start focusing on the trail properly. So I think she had massive things in store, life had other plans. But the first half of her year was a huge improvement on anything she'd done before for sure.
00:41:09
Speaker
um I think Georgina Campbell is also in a really good season. um she sort of and I think she'll continue to improve as well. so yes She was not far behind Anna at Buffalo. Yeah, exactly. And then she was at Skiring Chance. Unfortunately, she didn't get to finish UTK. But yeah, I think she's had an impressive season. I'm keen to see where she goes next as well.
00:41:32
Speaker
Yeah. Watch this space. um Again, it's it's hard to pick out of so many people around the country. But those are a few of our most improved athletes. um I honestly don't think I could pick one because I think it's so hard to measure. um So we'll leave it at there's the group that we've we've thought about. And that runs almost directly into sort of who to watch in 2025 or who we're excited to see both where they go or what races they do.
Looking Ahead: Athletes and Races in 2025
00:42:01
Speaker
Um, and performance wise, I think again, there's almost two categories of the, who we're excited to see if they keep improving and just people that I'm always like in interested to see what races they choose. Um, and I noticed changes coming up, come being announced in terms of like, um,
00:42:20
Speaker
people moving to different brands, like those things, sorts of things are coming out on um on the socials. And so those I'm always incredibly intrigued by, um which I suppose, yeah. So for my list, um people I'm always intrigued by and want to follow along is Charlie. I love, I love everything Charlie does on the trail is I think he just, the energy he brings to it um and the race. ah You always know you're going to get a good a good lot of entertainment out of what he does. um Someone who I just, ah she ran amazingly this year at UTA 100 and then I'm not i'm not a ah not at all sure what else she's going to do on the trails, but Beth McKenzie. Someone who I'd be keen to keep tabs on in 2020.
00:43:03
Speaker
five UTA 100 might mean she's also doing CCC next year, she would have that qualification so I'm not sure what else. ah But yeah, who else? Who to watch in 2025? Mikey. Yeah Mikey. Of course obviously all the regulars we're going to keep our eyes on. Yeah, go to the other category.
00:43:25
Speaker
There's a few, well, there's a few still in that category that come to mind in the women's that you didn't mention. Like Jess, I think is yes on a trajectory of still improving. She sort of had injuries on and off. And ah I think like an entire year of good training, which is probably this year, um we'll see her looking pretty good in 2025.
00:43:43
Speaker
Anna McKenna is another one. I'm really interested to see what she can do. She had obviously that great race at Buffalo. I think she was she was going for that Western States ticket, didn't get it this year. um umm I'm excited to see what she does as well.
00:43:55
Speaker
um in the women. um Yeah, in the men, I'm trying to think. Who's who he's on my watch list? Yeah, obviously come on. going to be you I think Charles will keep improving. I'm excited to see who will, it's like Nate Pierce, like what will he do over the mountain distances? Will he continue, will he sort of, I think he had maybe not his greatest year this year, so I'm interested to see how he bounces back.
00:44:26
Speaker
Newcomers wise, in the men like Ethan Pank, um I'm excited to see what he can do in the trail world. He's an orienteer, but he's definitely focusing on trail quite a bit. um Toby Lang's another one, like you were mentioning before.
00:44:42
Speaker
Yeah, I think Ben Burgess as well. For the fact that, yeah, I'm sure he's got another race lined up because not getting to the line of the last one probably makes him real hungry for the next one to show what he can do um with a finish time. So Ben Burgess, I'd be yeah keen to see what he's doing.
00:44:58
Speaker
And in the women like newcomers, um I think Katinka Von Elsner-Welsey, I'm a bit biased because I train with her and and whatnot, but I think she has a lot of potential. She probably didn't reach it this year, I don't think, so be it would be great to see how she goes in 25. Lyra. I'm always watching Lyra.
00:45:23
Speaker
Lara is going for the Olympic team in schema for the winter. That's something to watch. So that is definitely something to watch everyone get behind Lara. I know she does have there's not much funding at all and and all these sorts of things. So I'm going to send everyone across to Lara's Instagram. She does have It's via the Australian Olympic Institute. She does have a bit of a fundraiser going trying to help her get to these Olympics um and train for them. So a bit of a shout out there for Lara because that is something to watch for sure. Schema was not the biggest sport in Australia because it's.
00:45:57
Speaker
European sport and it's very hard to access, I suppose, um in Oz. But ah yeah, that's why there's there's probably not as much support as some other things. So everyone can get behind Lara as she doubles up there. And yeah, I don't know. Like, I think for me, it's more that I'm excited for like, which is what we're going to get to next for different races that are lining up. Yeah.
00:46:18
Speaker
yeah Like, I'm excited to watch Golden Trail National Series. Then there's also... I'm going to pull you back for a sec. One sec. One sec. Go, go, go. Let's... We need to award the last three because we just talked about... Okay, quick fire. Best Aussie race battle before we get to the last question. Oh, I had that one. Leo and Tech. Okay, good. Good. That's the award. ah Most improved male and female.
00:46:43
Speaker
Who are we choosing? I'm going to go male. Look, I'll give it to Ben, I reckon. Ben Burgess. Yeah, yeah I think so. Yeah, I'm happy with that. And female. We podcast. We're only half of the podcast, but it's our awards night. Female, I really want to give it to Jess. Yeah, no, I'm i'm happy that with that. That's incredibly biased. but It is so biased.
00:47:09
Speaker
but
00:47:13
Speaker
i'm happy I'm happy to give that. Yeah, okay, nice. we got to The podcast is going to win one of the awards, so we'll tell you that one. Yeah, cool. We're given just that one, most improved. and then Who to watch is not an award. That's not an award. That's just a list, surely. Okay, yeah, that's a list. That's a list.
00:47:31
Speaker
like that. I'm good on that one. Awesome. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. Okay. like don't make What are we looking forward to? Awesome. What are we looking forward to otherwise? ah For me, it is the Golden Trail National Series. Seeing that pan out again, just I want to see more of those battles going on.
00:47:46
Speaker
um And just the fact that that people get to battle in one race as well as across a few races to um gain those points makes the final so interesting um at BTU again. So that's one for me. Also, they've already started coming out on socials and they're coming out.
00:48:04
Speaker
blasting which is Buffalo Stampede Marathon. just That one is looking like it's going to be a lineup and a half for the Buffalo Stampede Marathon. It was an Estes, Estes, I don't know how to say her last name. Sheilag, I think is her last name. Sheilag, Sheilag, Sheilag. That's a big name.
00:48:22
Speaker
Yeah, I think, and then what they'll have Jess, Jason, they'll have Juliette Sull, who else have I seen announce it? I can't even remember. Maddie Reynolds. Maddie Reynolds, she's in there. and Yeah, can we be? Yeah. ah didn't like umssuming There's going to be more and more that they announce, but yeah, that one's just a battle I'm definitely looking forward to. And um this there's two very, very outstanding ones on and like in um terms of what was mentioned online, and that is the fairly obvious ones of UTA becoming a major, having a miler, that big massive change, and then the effect of um GPT being a world trail major.
00:49:00
Speaker
um Yeah, I think that might attract some big names for both of those races. So yeah, it's gonna be really interesting to see how both of those play out. I think UTA, I don't know, I feel like that's um ah for some reason that I'm a little bit more excited about that than GPT. Maybe that's because I can maybe run one of the UTA races and I can't run GPT 100 miler.
00:49:20
Speaker
but um ah Yeah, I mean, I think both of those. But my number one is actually ah world champs being on again next year. um And seeing who puts their hand up for it. That's like, there's so much intrigue around that. And and the particular area I'm super interested in is we always There's always conversations about, oh, this fast runner is going to come run mountain running champs, or this person is going to come and run it. And I'm really excited to see if we're going to actually, like we're starting to see more and more of of ah track and road runners coming to run some trail races. I'm excited to see if maybe this year we get a few more that maybe go all the way and try and go to world champs. So yeah, watch this space. Mountain running champs in.
00:50:07
Speaker
South Australia in Adelaide in March. It's in Adelaide. it's one It's one of the Adelaide Trail Runners summer series events. um I'm not entirely sure which one I'm going to assume the 15th they have. yeah It's a Cleland. and But then the short course is 11.5 and then the medium course is 15.5. So, yeah and I can't actually find sure which one it is. Mine is specifically designed. Usually it's just a race.
00:50:32
Speaker
Yeah, but I'm just wondering if they make one specifically for this because of ah they've got the 2025 maps up on their website. OK, there you go. So and it's on the same date. So it's I'm going to assume it'll be one of those. um The 15K has 610 up and down and World Champs is 14 with 770. So like okay overall distance elevation wise, it's in similar territory. and Might not be as technical because Adelaide doesn't have what the Pyrenees have. But at the same time,
00:51:02
Speaker
um Yeah, I think the battles there could be awesome, especially if, yeah, like you never know who's gonna rock up. There is no, um we we we will chat about this a lot more next week. But the Australian selection policy for world champs has come out. and There is no automatic qualification anymore for the winner of national champs, which but might change things a bit. It might not um in terms of that. And it is, yeah, March 16th. Yeah, there's probably also no other races that you can do. Unfortunately, this and I think we can delve into this a little bit more next week. And I'd be interesting to chat more about it and maybe get the message out there there. There is no other races really.
00:51:40
Speaker
that you can do to try and get into the mountain running tent because there just isn't that distance race happening that often. I think in some ways yes and in some ways no. There's that distance race happening all the time in all these summer series in every single state. um All of them have this distance race. And not seen as a serious, not not seen not serious but not seen as like a highly competitive race. Yeah I think that's more, that's definitely somewhat more the thing but that being said like there are some other races that are within the territory. I'm thinking ones like Brights, Four Peaks. I'm thinking Bright, ah Buffalo, Stampede, 20k. I'm thinking Cununna, Mountain Run. Yeah, and the 10. I'm still like, races that are those that 25k distance, I think still play more um almost into the mountain running at times than, like even Donna Double. It's 20k, but it's got 1200 up and down. Like it's
00:52:35
Speaker
It still, to me, plays more into the mountain running than the short trail being 45, 50K. Definitely. Definitely. So there's I think there is still plenty of options for those discretion things. But we're getting into next week's conversation. just I'm feeling very passionately about it at the moment. I just feel like we're missing an Australian mountain running cup or something. like i just yeah Anyway, we can get into it next week.
00:52:57
Speaker
Yeah, fair. Very, very fair. But yeah, the um selection policy for that is out, which is super, super cool to see. We are going to next week give a big welcome to 2025 episode in which whichever of us is available are going to be jumping on.
Podcast Plans and Trail Scene Growth in 2025
00:53:16
Speaker
will but We'll talk you through sort of our seasons and what's coming up in terms of the what we're aiming for with the podcast. But most of all, we'll be running through what the selection policy for World Champs is. um There's definitely a few new things in there in terms of um races distance between the races. So there's I think there's a four to 12 week gap between different distances of races that you are not allowed to do before World Champs, which is new.
00:53:45
Speaker
um and does rule out anyone that does UTMB races from doing the world champs. So officially rules them out. So no one even has the option of doubling up there, ah which may change things for people. But um yeah, we'll be talking through that. We'll be talking through, yeah, I suppose just a bit of a rundown of what to look forward to in 2025 in more depth, um our race calendars for the year.
00:54:10
Speaker
But yeah, ah otherwise, what's your sum up of 2024, Brady? What are we thinking about the year? For some reason, the word Achilles just jumped into my mind. Oh, don't do that to us. Come no way. Leave that out of this. I'm talking Australian trail scene. Come on, man. I got selfish and thought about myself. I thought you were talking about my year anyway. No, Aussie trail scene. Let's go. like Just as a whole, what have you observed this year?
00:54:37
Speaker
Like just ah a lot of growth. Growth is probably the right word for it. Like there's a lot of things that have happened this year that will lead to long-term growth of the sport, hopefully, or there's a lot of initiatives that are coming in to sort of really focus on um increasing the number of people who are doing trail running as well as the the sort of ability and and performances of the top end. So yeah, I think that's the one for me. I like that. Growth is definitely a very, very good word for it. um and Yeah, for me, it's it's growth in so many aspects. There's been huge growth on the women's side of the sport, which lack has just been so cool to be a part of. That's probably one of the biggest ones. That's the most obvious one to me. like The women's field and the depth and the competition has just really increased quite a bit.
00:55:26
Speaker
Yeah. When we talk about like the elite side of things. Yeah, but I think on the whole as well, like you are seeing, you are seeing races. I'm going to shout out Kunanyu Mountain Run here as being elite, like and being really good on this front in terms of being more welcoming to females, even simple things. They've got sanitary products in every single port-a-loo. They've got a really lenient pregnancy deferral um thing. They've got, I think they,
00:55:53
Speaker
They're talking sort of childcare. All sorts of things are coming up that are enabling more women to be part of these fields. And I think it we are seeing an increase in the percentage of women in these races. Across all distances, I do think it is still slightly more biased towards the shorter distances.
00:56:10
Speaker
And in the longer distances, you do see a larger discrepancy um as you as the distances get longer. But it's getting smaller every year. And I think this year was probably one of the biggest years of growth, just purely from an observation standpoint. I don't have any statistics on that. um So I wish I did. That would be bloody cool to see. We'll bring some stats to next week's podcast. I'm not going to be able to find those stats. Don't make me do that. um I would go digging and find nothing I ever feeling. but I might find something you never know. But yeah, I think growth is a great great word for 2024. It has definitely been fun to add in this little podcast to a to our years and hopefully some of your years. We've ah accompanied some people people on plenty of runs, I hope, and
00:56:53
Speaker
Just built some more awareness around these Aussie trail runners and some of the names. So when you see them race and you see names pop up on a podium, you know who and a bit of their backstory. where There's plenty of more that we want to do next year in terms of that and making sure people know who is representing the country and the names of each of them and the backstory of each of them um leading into World Champs. That's definitely one of the big goals for us for next year.
00:57:17
Speaker
but just the scene as a whole. um We hope we've introduced you to a lot of people. And yeah, thanks for coming along the for the ride, everyone that's listening to this one and has listened so far this year. um It's been a lot of fun, I think. We made it to the end of the year. Yeah, exactly. An interesting year of ups and downs for all four of us on this podcast. We had the Intrepid Traveller in Vlad,
00:57:38
Speaker
We had the ever-improver in Jess. I feel like she was just the most consistent across the board. Brodie and his Achilles, let's forget about that. Scrap 2024. Scrap 2024 for Brodie. Now, you still did some pretty damn cool stuff, man, but, man, you need to get on top of that Achilles now. Yeah, that's a good one. Mine was a year of two halves of a horribleness and then rebuilding back and showing that, yeah.
00:58:03
Speaker
trying not to give up in all the horribleness that led up before the last six months. So we got there. We're starting 2025 in a much better spot. I think both of us, you for the smarts, less for the body. etc Me for the body compared to last year. but's so It's all up from here, hopefully.
00:58:23
Speaker
Hopefully, hopefully. And down, you know, there's lots of downhills in trail running, they're the best part. True, true. We like the downhills. Awesome. Well, I think that's a wrap. Is that a wrap? That's a wrap, I reckon. Oh, awesome. Good job. Thanks chabal so much for listening, everyone. And we will speak to you next year. Thanks for listening, everyone. Bye. Happy New Year.