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2025 Australian Mountain Running Championships Preview | Course Analysis, Field Preview & Predictions
328 Plays1 month ago
James Sieber and Brodie Nankervis dive into the key storylines, top contenders, and new team selection criteria ahead of the 2025 Australian Mountain Running Championships.
Timestamps:
- (0:00) – Introduction & purpose of the episode
- (0:56) – Team selection criteria
- (18:53) – Weather conditions & course preview
- (23:50) – Men’s field analysis
- (41:15) – Women’s field analysis
- (51:23) – U20 race preview
- (52:23) – Final Thoughts
Links:
Who are the favourites? How will team selection shape the national squad? And what does the future hold for mountain running in Australia? Tune in for our insights and race predictions.
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Transcript
Introduction and Oz Mountain Champs Preview
00:00:16
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Peepersuit podcast. My name is James Sieber and today I am joined by Brodie to preview the Oz Mountain Champs coming up on this week end.
Building Hype for the Oz Mountain Champs
00:00:28
Speaker
Brodie, how you going? Yeah, good. Thanks, James. I'm happy to chat. I'm keen to sort of discuss the the race coming up on the weekend and try and build a little bit of hype around it. Yeah, same. I think that's something that we really want to do this podcast is kind of celebrate and bring bit more attention to these style of events. And yeah, hopefully today going through people talking about the course a bit, we'll do that.
00:00:50
Speaker
Maybe it should be fun. Yeah, great. Looking forward to
Recap of Aura Becoming Ultra and New Association
00:00:53
Speaker
it. So i think first place, obviously, if people have been listening to podcast for a while, they might remember last year when Aura became Ultra, so the inclusion of Trail into the Australian Ultra and now Trail Running Association. And there was talk back then.
00:01:08
Speaker
And then obviously when the selection policy got put out, I think it was beginning of this year that the Ultra put out kind of how to get into these teams. um Again, it got recapped a bit, but I'm just going to go through a quick kind of recap of some of the key stuff. So anyone that's missed all those episodes understands really what we're looking at, and how a runner if you are looking at it, or someone you might know, we just want to follow along how you are going to get in.
Details of the Oz Mountain Champs Race Format
00:01:37
Speaker
So the race is coming up is the Oz Mountain Champs. This is for an under 20 and also open categories. And In the past they've had an uphill and an up downhill champs but this one is just a up down race so the race we'll get into but it's a 14k with 450 meters and yeah it's essentially more an undulating one than an up down but It's not just a purely uphill.
00:02:05
Speaker
ah There is no uphill championships for this
Team Selection Criteria and Concerns
00:02:08
Speaker
year. To get selected. So we can take teams of up to four athletes ah for both the men's, women's, ah for the mountain up, ah the up-down. And also we can take a team of four athletes for the men and the women for the junior races as well. However,
00:02:24
Speaker
the selection policy does stipulate that you have to have the ability to finish in the top 50% of the field. So there will be a, I guess, the discretionary element of whether you are perceived to be able to fit that criteria.
00:02:42
Speaker
There are other ways in which you can be outside of that top 50%. Obviously still competitive within the field, but get in. So if you benefit from international team experience, or if you can contribute to an overall team top five performance, you'll be considered for the position.
00:02:57
Speaker
But yeah, they really are looking for a top 50% performance. Brodie, what were your your thoughts when you saw this selection policy come out? Yeah, look, I think it's always hard to to make that call on who is top 50% and who isn't.
00:03:15
Speaker
um And we know how quickly the world of trail running is evolving. um And a lot of people in Australia wouldn't have had the opportunity to race overseas, but also race in the exact type of race that they're going to race in.
00:03:27
Speaker
um So I think, I don't know, I don't fully agree with popping something like that on because I think it's too discretionary. It's very very tricky to actually decide. um Especially in trial running where there's no times that you need to hit or something like that. Like the races are always different, the time is always different.
00:03:45
Speaker
um In maybe track or or road racing where it's the same distance. um there is benchmarks that are a bit more obvious, um but I think that benchmark in trail is much harder to define.
00:03:58
Speaker
So that's
Funding Limitations and Athlete Development Challenges
00:03:59
Speaker
probably the first thing. The second thing is I think like, yes, I can understand that level of policy if they've got limited funding that they want to use and they want to put it onto the athletes who they think can get into the top 50%, but there isn't funding available. This is self-funded teams.
00:04:15
Speaker
So taking the opportunity away from someone who could come maybe let's say in the top 75% and then develop to the point where they're coming top 30th, sorry top 30% in future years, I think is <unk> tricky. I guess that's maybe why they wrote that caveat in into determining ah that there is sort of like if you could benefit from international experience, but I would argue anyone in Australia would benefit from international experience.
00:04:41
Speaker
say Yeah, I don't know. I don't agree with it. I know people have different opinions on that sort of thing. But I think where there's no money going to the athletes, it's not like there's a small ah pot that needs to be shared around and and and they're trying to use this sort of the top 50% as a way of supporting the best athletes.
00:05:01
Speaker
um If that doesn't exist, then I don't think it's appropriate. But that's my personal opinion. Yeah, without being on the inside of Autra or AA, it's obviously tricky to always know exactly what goes into this, but I definitely would agree on face value that there's a lot of runners that could probably even get into the top 90% that would really benefit from that international experience.
00:05:24
Speaker
um And I think it would be good to see the green and gold filling up full teams if we have the capacity when you are paying for everything down to potentially the uniforms depending on which policy you look into it. So it's, um yeah, I think it is a shame that we might not send ah complete team.
00:05:44
Speaker
However, we will be sending some team. Hopefully. Yeah, hopefully. Well, yeah, we say hopefully because also these championships are not an automatic qualifier for the team. So if you were to win on Sunday in the men and women's or the juniors divisions, it is a result that will be held in favour, but it is not a qualifying performance. So I think that will also be, the exact wording is,
00:06:17
Speaker
performances at the 2025 Australian mountain running championships will be considered along with other relevant events. And i think that's personally a shame because we're trying to get in this case, the race is in Adelaide. So you're asking people to travel with the most part quite a long way for not to be guaranteed. Obviously, we'd hope that whoever win wins this would if they choose to pay their way to the championships get in.
00:06:38
Speaker
But yeah, I think that that is a shame in my opinion. And if we look specifically at mountain running champs ah team last year um or back in 2023, I don't think any of the men for the mountain distances were in the top 50%. Interesting.
00:06:58
Speaker
I think in the women, yes, Lara Hamilton ran really well. um she was She would have been within the top 50%. eighty percent um I think the only one from Oceana that was in the top 50% in the men was Toby Batchelor, who we know is a really good uphill runner.
00:07:14
Speaker
um And I think Jess Ronan might have been right on the edge of the top 50%. So like if you look it that way, maybe if if you were strictly using that policy, you wouldn't send a men's team. um So don't know.
00:07:31
Speaker
I'm comfortable with that policy if it's top 90%. or something closer to 90, 50%, I think is a bit rough. Yeah, and because we do, you don't want to be sending somebody that is going to be just going completely out of their depth.
00:07:44
Speaker
the there are obviously issues with that these races I'm pretty sure we're still going to have potentially not for the mountain running for the trail and for the long trail they will still have cutoffs to some degree they can't keep people out there all to all the time and we do want to put Australia's best foot forward um but yeah I think Jess came 57th so yeah it would probably be close that top 50% but if that's the only one it's yeah you're definitely saying Laura's in 28th so she was wearing but um Jess was yeah I think she was 67th in there that's the umly i think i was looking out there
00:08:16
Speaker
yeah um So, yeah. yeah Yeah. Anyway. A smaller side.
Debate on National Championships Format
00:08:24
Speaker
A smaller side. It's still hopefully going to be... Yeah, we know that this race is going to be... Like, I personally... it's Whilst it doesn't specifically say in the selection criteria that there is a...
00:08:38
Speaker
specific race. um It does reference directly this race. ah like There's no automatic selection for mountain running, ah but there is ah specific reference to this this race in the selection criteria. and And to me, of the races that are on the calendar,
00:08:56
Speaker
It is the most relevant. We don't have a lot of mountain running in Australia. like We don't do these races very often. That's a bit of a shame. I think we could do more, um but this probably is the most relevant.
00:09:08
Speaker
um So I think the selectors will be looking at it. And I liken this very much to the cross-country series. like um You're obviously down in Melbourne. I'm up on the border, but go down to the the Vic series. And to put on one of these style of events, you don't need a lot to do a local race. They don't take very long because they're short.
00:09:30
Speaker
They can be pretty grassroots style, but they can be great fun and you can do them pretty regularly. Because I was trying to think, one of the... One of my curiosities is, should we have a standalone national championships for mountain running? Or should we do in what's going to happen this year, but be a part of an existing event?
00:09:46
Speaker
And I was thinking to like, what other events in the first, because realistically, it needs to be in the first quarter of the year, because of when this when the there the championships always going to be through our winter, the Northern Hemisphere summer.
00:10:00
Speaker
So you've really got January, February, March to be looking at races like what else in this mountain category could you do? was thinking maybe Buffalo Stampede 10k you could put in there. um Do you think of anything else top your head?
00:10:15
Speaker
I think Kenyani Mountain Run again has a 10k that's got maybe not quite as much vert in it maybe like 400 or 350. I had a look at that one it's called the Foothills 9k and is yeah it's about but that's pretty similar to what we've got coming up this weekend anyway.
00:10:32
Speaker
Yeah,
Expanding the Race Calendar and Participation
00:10:33
Speaker
exactly. um It's probably a bit shorter and that race is not designed for this, but maybe it with some nudging, some races could be, could consider changing their some of their routes to be slightly more applicable.
00:10:46
Speaker
I agree with you. I think like Long term, it'd probably be good if we had an Australian Champs that sat alone by itself and we had open categories and age group categories like that. I think that would be that that would be really cool to see. Even a team competition between the states or however you wanted to put it.
00:11:04
Speaker
That's going to draw some attention. um In the short term, that may be less ah feasible. But I think the main thing is that we it would be good to try and get some more of these races on the calendar and I'm thinking that end of season is possibly good time as well in terms of we know this we know there's some people who are specifically targeting these sort of shorter races, so why not offer them something to do in October 2021 November, December, maybe you'll pick up some some ah runners in their pre-seasons for track that will do a ah race or two.
00:11:41
Speaker
um Maybe you'll see some people you doing it as a prep for races that they have in the following year. um I think something like that could work really well. I guess you've got four peaks is one that does sit there on the calendar and is probably the most relevant. But like you said, these races aren't incredibly difficult to put together. The one that was that I went to in 2022 in Canberra very much was, it literally felt like a grassroots event and I don't think they had much, and like it it wasn't a lot to set up I think once you get the permission to to hold the event and you have somewhere to park some cars,
00:12:23
Speaker
um you're probably okay and these races probably will start pretty small in terms of participant numbers which probably make them achievable to try and get a few off the ground. So I don't know, I think something like that could be really cool. Trail running does have, in from my perception of coming to trail running, this, ah for me, it's a bit of an issue of like everyone thinks that
Trail Running Popularity and Collaboration Opportunities
00:12:44
Speaker
they just need to run longer and longer and longer and that's sort of what's championed in the sport so whereas these short fast races are sort of just as exciting and and interesting and i think world mountain running cup is trying to sort of up the ante on what they're doing well the world mountain running association and they're trying to make their races look more attractive they're trying to sort of publicize them a little bit more maybe off the back of sort of golden trail stuff they're trying to sort of be more relevant um but i think there's a bunch of people like you said who do cross country over the winter
00:13:18
Speaker
um who maybe we can look at actually partnering with the organisation that somewhat supports us in other ways, Athletics Australia and and saying, hey look, can you can we market this to the people who do your cross-country seasons and can you try and can can we sort of co-op something and and try and get some people along to some some events that are similar with maybe just a little bit more climbing.
00:13:41
Speaker
Yeah, I think it'd be great. And I think it's bit longer, but Seth O'Donnell coming roller coaster and doing the 23K and like just the both incredible run. It was setting a course record a record in those conditions, but it also brought attention
Accessibility of Mountain Running and Mass Participation Events
00:13:56
Speaker
to the sport because like, and that would be the same, the guys that are doing the cross country, like you've got some of the biggest guys in the country where you've got literally the men's marathon record holder that just comes along to these races. And it would be it would be it would be would be an easier way to see a transition between or a ah connection between the trip the two sports but two it's two two sides of the sport. Because at the end of the day, it's all running.
00:14:22
Speaker
So why can't we see people yeah doing... doing their track and their cross country and then come across and do these 10k maybe 14k mountain races and then they use that for the strength early season or late season of their build it would be cool yeah it'd be interesting and and there's you can sort of see i think in trail running we see people transition to what between different races and do it effectively. So there's probably space to do that. And look, you've got people like Michael Kernaghan who set a course record at Donadouble on the weekend.
00:14:49
Speaker
He's an incredible climber. He's really good at climbing and he's a super quick runner. um and But he's he's not at that sort of top, top, top elite level in running but he very much is probably potential to be top of that in a mountain running race that's 14k that has a steep climb that he can do well and then the rest of it's actually like these mountain races are characterized by being a bit faster running so they do lend themselves to these sorts of runners, they're not quite as technical as maybe some of the longer trail races or things that we class as sky running or something like that.
00:15:23
Speaker
They are a bit more runner friendly. So yeah, we could be we could be gathering all eight more people and and bringing them in, maybe not forever, but they might just dabble in it and do a little bit of it.
00:15:36
Speaker
Listening to you say that as well, it also makes me think if we stop stop focusing on the front end of the field and you look at the rest, they are shorter distances and in the general scheme of things for trail and normally less technical. like They're a pretty good gateway into the sport, which yeah is really it would be really inviting.
00:15:53
Speaker
We also see these types of series doing really well. Like I think the the literally the series that this mountain running champs is a part of, um I don't know if it's the, is it the Adelaide trail runner series? I think they have two different trail running series, but their trail running series ah fantastic example of mass participation on a regular basis as well. So if we look at it from a,
00:16:15
Speaker
If you look at it from more a business point of view in terms of generating income for the sport that can then be used for development and high performance and all that sort of stuff, potentially these sorts of things, if they can be run by an organization rather than a private company,
00:16:31
Speaker
potentially can generate ah income that can assist the sport as well, as well as increasing the participation base, which is also very important. So yeah, I think there's a lot of scope in this area.
00:16:43
Speaker
um Being able to run a fort, like we know the running boom is here. Those people who are running 10Ks, half marathons, trying to run their first marathons, at some point I imagine some of them will get bored of that.
00:16:57
Speaker
ah So this could be the next thing. like this And it does have its own place. we We all know how nice it is to get out into nature and and run in nature. And there's literally science that says that's good for you.
00:17:10
Speaker
So like... there is a lot of scope to get more people running trails, especially if we're putting them on shorter distances, more achievable trails. um So not only the top end, like you're saying, like the participation side of things is an untapped potential and I think some places are doing really well to start tapping into that, including Adelaide and I think Perth do similar stuff over there.
00:17:31
Speaker
Sydney Trail Running Series, there's one in Melbourne, So there's there's things that are doing it, but again, they're private organizations. So I wonder how in the long term, if that sort of stuff can then come under an organization, generate income for a national or state organization that can then start doing more development and doing more high performance support.
00:17:53
Speaker
Yeah.
Course and Weather Conditions for Upcoming Race
00:17:54
Speaker
right it's a fellow we with We're 18 minutes into this and we barely started talking about the race. I'm careful going to too many tangents, but like i I do. I'm involved in event management for mountain biking company and they do essentially, they're the event directors for state championships. so It doesn't need to be the the national state body kind of owning the event, but they can be done in collaboration with, and but it but it's a whole series.
00:18:20
Speaker
And so it's like, that's where you go to do this through across country over this period of time. um And they yeah, guess the whole the whole field turns up. But anyway... have to see if we can keep all that.
00:18:31
Speaker
We'll put a disclaimer in the podcast notes to skip to 18 minutes if you want to just hear about the race. Yeah, yeah exactly. Well, hopefully if if that if that does all stay in and you've listened to this bit up to now, you now have a good understanding of yeah the selection for it, kind of what mountain running itself it is and maybe what could be done with it that could fun but let's move on uh let's talk about the weather and then like the course profile so how do we look at the weather it's looking like it's going to be very wet and like depending where you look high teens low 20s 80 humidity raining so that's going to add in a fun challenging element to it
00:19:14
Speaker
Brody, you know a bit more about the course than me. So you want to run us through kind of the, yeah, the course info that you've got? Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So the course is part of the Adelaide Trail Runners Summer Series um and it's the medium course. So they have a short, medium and long, but the medium course fits the a definitions of mountain running classic distance probably the closest.
00:19:42
Speaker
um So it's 14, it's in the Adelaide Hills starting at Cleland. There's like a nature reserve thing in the hills, pretty close to the top but not quite at the top um and it sort of sits down the hill from Mount Lofty which is one of the sort of tops of the hills up above Adelaide.
00:20:01
Speaker
So the course is fourteen k with of, this is using the Strava file, of um ascent and disscent um so that a Yeah, that's that's the sort of course profile.
00:20:21
Speaker
um The actual course itself has um first a sort of probably the steepest climb up to the top or towards the top, it doesn't quite top out at the top of Mount Lofty, a descent back towards the start and then a bit of sort of undulating to downhill around a sort of big gully and then a descent down into the bottom of the gully, climb back up to the finish.
00:20:49
Speaker
So yeah, it's got a bit of variation in it, I think. knowing having run sort of on a bunch of those trails before it's going to be pretty lightning fast um and it's it's not ah super steep. So there is there's bits in the climb, I think it probably tops out in sort of percentage at sort of 24 but most of it's sort of 10 to 15 I think and then the last climb is more like a ah an average of sort of yeah between 5 and 10 percent so
00:21:23
Speaker
The first climb is a bit steeper, the downhill is a bit more gradual than the climb and then there's a sort of undulating section that's I guess overall downhill and then drop down climb back up to the finish.
00:21:36
Speaker
So yeah, it's a I think it's ah it's a good course. It could probably have a little bit more vert in it. um I think it'll suit the faster runners.
00:21:47
Speaker
um But again, we do know that at Mountain Running Champs, those courses and the mountain running races are quick and they do suit the runners. So it's it's probably ah good race for that. Definitely. And I think it was it was Austria in 2023 that the course was two loops.
Comparison of Oz Champs and World Championship Courses
00:22:03
Speaker
from memory. And so yeah not being like the 2022 Champs you're talking about, which was just ah an up turnaround comes straight back down, like they don't have to be that course. So I actually haven't looked at the profile for the for this year's races in Canfrank, but the the style of event being that sort of undulating kind of steeper climb and that last climb coming up, it's not particularly steep, but The pace that you've been hitting that race up to there, just come downhill for the last few K, that's probably going to separate people a bit to finish off with that last, yeah essentially just the last three K is all uphill, um which i think will be, im not sure fun's the right word, but it will be something.
00:22:40
Speaker
Yeah, and I think it'll still be quite high pace at that point as well. So um I was just having a look at the the the World Champs course. It's 14k, 775 metres of climb, so it's a bit more climb.
00:22:56
Speaker
um And I'm just having a look. I think it's it is, again, one up. ah Sorry, it's two loops of the same climb. I think it's two loops are the same, or at least there's two loops through a central central bit. Yeah, it's two loops are the same.
00:23:10
Speaker
So yeah um it sort of it fits fits that quite nicely, probably just being a little bit less steep. then And I think that's mostly that middle section, which is,
00:23:21
Speaker
sort of this fire road that sort of contours around. It's a little bit undulating like out of some of the gullies, a little bit of descending into the gully, but mostly not to not too steep. So I think it's mostly that part of the course.
00:23:38
Speaker
um But I think overall, it's yeah it's going to be a nice course and it's going to be <unk>nna be fast and there's a lot of fast runners
Key Contenders in Men's Race
00:23:45
Speaker
run iss going. So um yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.
00:23:50
Speaker
Likewise, and I think we might well just get get straight into it. We'll start with the men's and there's, To me, there's two names that really stand out, but then definitely with a couple that will I think we'll be pushing it through there. But the first one, Nathan Pearce.
00:24:08
Speaker
We just saw him come second at Dona Double Warburton Trail Fest last weekend. So obviously racing with last weekend. it was last weekend, wasn't it? So right racing with with that in his in his in his legs, um but a very impressive run. Yeah.
00:24:24
Speaker
We've obviously got him on the um on on the series, so if you want to hear more about Nathan, go back and listen to the the Trail 2 series for the Golden Trail National Championships. An hour 53 for a twenty two k with meters,
00:24:40
Speaker
give or take straight up straight down
00:24:44
Speaker
pretty Pretty impressive one there. Yeah, no, he was, I think he, if you listen to the other podcast, he's had a little bit of injury issues and whatnot, but he seems to be coming back from them pretty well.
00:24:56
Speaker
um I don't think the Donner course suits Nath really, really well. So I think the time that he did on that was pretty good. so um I think on the flip side, this course does suit Nath really well. So um i think we could see him run really well. The flip side will be how much has Donna taken out of him.
00:25:15
Speaker
um But I think, yeah, this is this these are the sort of races that um probably, Nath coming from his running background, he's really good climber, um the smoother running, allowing him to sort of make the most of his good running economy. I think this sort of course will we'll suit him and he has done a little bit of this racing overseas last year when he was doing the Circa Series in the US of this sort of distance um and this sort of type of course so I think um yeah he's possibly the most experienced in the field for that sort of race.
00:25:51
Speaker
Yeah, and you go to I'm assuming the people that are turning up to this is because they want to get into the team. It's not just because they're going for for the event. And so, yeah, like he's been over in the States racing last year, had some really strong performances at short and sort of more medium distance in the Golden Trail World Series stuff. So it's It's going to cool. He's a low 30 minute 10k runner.
00:26:15
Speaker
think when we talk about being quick over this style of course, that's definitely going to put you in a good stead sir yeah to resend it. The other name that really stood out to me is Fraser Darcy, um who has just literally come off the back of running a fourteen sixteen at the South Australian State 5k, which is very impressive.
00:26:34
Speaker
um And From what I can tell, looking at Strava, it's training up towards Ballarat marathon. So the moment, he's faster than he's ever been and his engine is going to be very strong. You look back at Strava and it's very impressive. His bars, he basically looks like pretty much uninterrupted running training for the last 12 weeks from 150 to 200 Ks a week. So the guy's fit, um which I think will be a really fun...
00:26:59
Speaker
introduction dig fraser versus nathan more home territory for fraser less travel involved he hasn't just done a 20k mountain race the weekend before uh i think that's going to be a very interesting interesting matchup and came first at last year's sorry 2023 was mountain champs so he's he's's not not a stranger to these races Yeah, definitely. And Fraser's... I think that was when it was the World Champs year as well. So there was a bunch of people at that one in Orange.
00:27:32
Speaker
um I'm not sure who was second that year. Was it Ewan maybe? 2023 was, yeah, Jingler, then Leo, Pearson. Yeah. Yeah, and like you've got.
00:27:43
Speaker
And we know how good Leo is. So like I think that he's definitely had a good race there. um And like you said, he's in fantastic running shape. If you compare him and Nath,
00:27:54
Speaker
on paper in running now, he's comparable. Whereas maybe like before these this recent sort of increase in sort of running shape over those road distances, Nath would have been a little bit quicker.
00:28:07
Speaker
But 14, 16, I think maybe that's even faster than Nath PB over five k so I think Nace is around that in the teens again in the 14 so that's yeah that's going to be i think Fader's going to be hard to beat. He's very good on those Adelaide trails as well, he's run them a lot um and I think he has course records or wins at pretty much all of them so um I think home ground advantage plus his shape at the moment, for me, he's probably going to be the leading contender.
00:28:39
Speaker
um But yeah, it be it will be good to see how that plays out. Yeah. who Who else in the men's is kind of standing out to you? Yeah, the other two that stand out to me, I put my orienteering bias on, but you and Shingler, who were just talking about there, came second at the Mountain Running Champs in Orange in 2023. He was in the World Champs team. um He is, I think he's in fairly good shape at the moment. I don't know if he's in sort of best shape of his life, but it's probably similar to what he was
00:29:13
Speaker
last time um and ewan's a really good descender um so potentially he can sort of get a little bit of a gap before the final climb i think if it finished with a descent maybe he might have a little bit more chance um and george like he's one of the people i've been running with who i'm like i think he can descend better than me and there like I pride myself on being a really good descender.
00:29:36
Speaker
um So he's his descending is really good. um But I think this sort of course might not be the one that he can make the most of that in, but I still think he'll be he'll be up there. He just might not be right at the front.
00:29:50
Speaker
I, given you have been on these trails, like, do you think anything here is a steep enough or be technical enough to actually really favor a downhill runner? Probably like they have to still be a good all round runner. Like I think if, if you. and so let's say Ewan's in the pack with Fraser and Nathan at the end of that sort of fire roady, more undulating section.
00:30:14
Speaker
And then I think at that descent, I'm pretty sure I've done it, it goes you go down into the gully and then you climb back up on sort of like a fire road. But I'm pretty sure that descent is ah a little bit single track, a little bit rocky.
00:30:26
Speaker
and if you can like you can make 30 seconds up there so okay if if you can make a break make 30 seconds and then hold it on the climb but i i don't think it's sort of like don a double where you can make up minutes on the descent which is which is a fantastic race for a descender um but it's it's it's not like that so maybe 30 seconds max is what you can get on that sure but even then i know nace been working on Like Nath, maybe when he first started a trail running, you might have been able to get 30 seconds out of him. I don't know if you can, you might be able to get 10, but I think Nath and Fraser probably have done enough trail running that the descent's probably not going to lose him that much time. and I don't really know if Fraser's descending actually, he might be really good. Yeah, that that would be worrying.
00:31:12
Speaker
and We've got nothing. ah Okay, you said there was a couple. Who's the other one that stood out? Yeah, so the other one, Ethan Penk, he's a local, lives in South Australia. He's also an orienteer, but he's been doing a bit of trail running, especially over the last sort of twelve months um He was at the Asia Pacific Trail Running Champs last year, came second um in the under-23. Had, by all accounts, pretty good race there, I think. Toby Lang, who's also, we know he came third in the Donner Double over the weekend,
00:31:48
Speaker
and we know he's a young runner who's doing really well as well he was third in that same race so Ethan was ahead of him um and Ethan's pretty quick as well he's got his he's got his speed up he's got his 5k time down I don't know exactly what it's sitting at but I'd say low 15s so I think he's definitely got the he's got the shape that's Like I think, yeah, low 14s is a big jump from low 15s, but I think when it comes to trail and this sort of distance, that starts to even out a little bit. I think if we were talking high 15s, it's a different question. Like if I was racing this, I think I would struggle because it's probably too quick, not enough descending.
00:32:29
Speaker
for me who's probably more around a 1530 at the moment to compete but i think ethan probably has the legs that he can compete i wouldn't i don't i don't think he'll win but i think he'll be around pretty close yeah i i have his 5k down as 1508 yeah yeah yeah how to quickly how much like compared to fraser and nath he probably hasn't put in the sort of specific training for a 5k so he's probably got potential to go sub 15. i don't think he's he's not a he's not a low 14s like like they are but he's probably yeah i think if he put a bit of
00:33:05
Speaker
specific focus on it and he's he's still young but even at the moment if he let's say he's done a six-week build into it i think it would be surprised me if he went under under 15. but yeah i think he he's been doing fairly good training um he runs regularly in the hills in those areas um so i think he will have some level of home ground advantage um i've heard that he's had some tactics in his mind he didn't want to tell me what they were
00:33:34
Speaker
i'm I'm excited to ask him about it afterwards. yeah But yeah, I don't know what his tactics are, but ah he he has tactics, which means he knows the course. So yeah, he I think he's my dark horse pick.
00:33:47
Speaker
Okay. I did – you know quite how much to read into it and it might not be relevant now, but did see on his driver again sort of end of February, he had an ankle roll, but he still did the South Australian orienteering champ. So don't know whether it was – it was enough to mention it.
00:34:01
Speaker
Yeah, and he was racing in WA on the weekend with me over in the National League and, like, I don't think – I think he'll recover faster than someone who did Dome and Double, so I don't think that's it negative, but he ran – He ran quite well. Like, unfortunately, he a few things not go his way on the first day, but then he had quite a good race on the Sunday morning and won by maybe like 20 seconds over like a pretty tight field at the moment. So, yeah, I think he's, I don't think it was so much of an, I think he's maybe got through that maybe.
00:34:31
Speaker
But yeah, I don't know for sure. Maybe it affected a little bit of training. ah You never know. I find fine if if someone says something about it, it's normal. I pay attention to it. um If I was racing against him, I would be holding a lot of hope against it. But yeah. ah Cool.
00:34:47
Speaker
And is there any was there anyone else that sort of stood out to you? Yeah. No, like there's some other names in there that I know, but I think for me, they're the probably the, of the names that I know and the people I've raced against, they're probably the top, top picks. But I think you had a few other names down that are probably worth mentioning.
00:35:05
Speaker
Yeah, the there's probably two others that, yeah, like you said, are worth mentioning. The first one is Etienne Blumstein-Jones. um He was eighth at last year's champs, but he's but he's been around for a while, but came he came sixth both days on day three and four at four peaks last year.
00:35:26
Speaker
which see the one's uphill, one's up down essentially. Seventh at UTA 22. ah he's yeah he's ah don't think he'll be quite up there with the likes of Nath and Fraser, but he also could be if he has a really good really good day. He's coming in kind pretty fit. like Looking at his training, it looks pretty uninterrupted since sort of August of last year. and Also, he's someone that's raced lot overseas, put himself into pretty technical and steep...
00:35:55
Speaker
races like ah there was one that he was a 14k race with 450 meters of climbing so very similar ah um she got a fourth place in over i think i was in in france so yeah definitely definitely could be one to watch like i think he'll be just a little bit back but could be up there and the other one adding definitely adding to the depth of the top end you'd still you still class him as a sort of top end of the field definitely which is great like this is what we want from these races is to have the like a bunch of people who might not be podium like higher chances but they're like an outside chance and they're in the mix and I think that's really good to see yeah and when we we circle back to our 18 minutes of tangent earlier it's like if we want to see this get bigger and you want it to be either a standalone event or we want it to be a real national champs you want it to be and national champ for the state competition involved like we need
00:36:49
Speaker
we need to be looking at the start list and recognizing 20 names, not recognizing five. um So yeah, I think it's it's great. when We've seen, seeing these guys make the trip across to do it. The other one is a name that's new to me.
00:37:02
Speaker
um hi called, I hope, I hope I'm saying saying this right. It's a Bink Hannes from what I can tell. I think he's from Mike Manley area.
00:37:13
Speaker
He came third at last year's champs. I, I've looked through his Instagram and a wins a lot. Just going back through 2024, he had a, well, he's just, he's just won the whale, whale rock trail around 17 K again, not one I'd heard of, but did 17 K on the trails in 66 minutes. So that's pretty quick.
00:37:36
Speaker
And he was four minutes ahead of someone. I do know Henry Huggman, who is, i think he was, he first, I've got, hold on second. I've got it here. He was first at Cosi 30k this year, third at Hounslow, sorry, last year, third at Hounslow, fourth at UTA 22.
00:37:50
Speaker
So no slouch. I think that's that is a very impressive year. I don't know how Henry went on that day, but assuming they both went pretty normal decently, that was a pretty good result. And then, yeah, he's a first at Budai Coastal run, run Shelby 10k, sort of 33-minute run.
00:38:07
Speaker
Rafty's Coastal Run, Snowy Mountains, he keeps to the shorter distances. So 21K is the longest that I've seen him do, at least last year, um which again, I quite like he because he's a guy in the thirty thirty nine category. He's not just going for the long stuff.
00:38:20
Speaker
um I don't know if he, where his fitness has moved on from last year, if he's done enough to take that third towards the second or a first, but I think that's a ah dark horse pick as such that would be be a good one to watch.
00:38:35
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. And it's cool to see a name that we don't maybe immediately know. And I'm sure there's probably a couple others in there that we don't know that will probably be up in the top top five or top ten at least.
00:38:47
Speaker
um So, yeah, na and it's good to see... Seeking coming along. And I think 33.15 for a 10k, I don't know anything about that 10k race.
00:38:57
Speaker
But even if it was a quick race, that's still not a bad time and puts him in the mix, I think, when you when you convert to trail. Those other guys are probably, like you said, closer to... closer to 30 but even like that's not far off my 10k PB and I'd be wanting to be at least competitive in this race. I wouldn't see myself as as winning but i would I would want to be in the mix so I think it definitely puts him in the mix.
00:39:23
Speaker
Yeah. And it, just because you can be a fast, you've got a fast 10 K does not mean that you're going to be first or fastest over the trails. yeah even of course like this, which does suit fast runners. It's yeah, I think it's the still one that if you've got that specificity, that strength is gonna could launch you forward. Like you said, it would for you.
00:39:42
Speaker
Um, But yeah, that's really that's really who I see for the men's. I think is' going to be it's going to be a good race. Like I said, I think there's definitely two, potentially six names that we could see pushing for that first place. And I guess I'm kind of focus focusing on first, thinking that first probably will get into the team as long as they do apply. So that's really what I'm looking at um as opposed to a podium performance. But Yeah, I think it's going to be a good run.
00:40:10
Speaker
Yeah. And it's interesting, like when you mentioned that, like, because I think Yes, I think first because there is enough it's a competitive enough, but there's also ah bunch of people who I think might be considering Mountain Team who aren't going to be there. So it's, unfortunately, it's not going to be like the defining race of the selections and you can be like, okay, well, whoever's top three, they're probably going to be in the team and that sort of stuff. but like It would definitely be good for their resume.
00:40:36
Speaker
um But there's people that aren't going that aren't there that that are also probably going to be throwing their hat in the ring. So I think it's going to be difficult for the selectors. um But yes, i think I would agree that if you can win in that field, you put a pretty good step forward to getting into the team.
00:40:53
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. And when we're talking about people that we might put into that top four position, yeah these guys are names that we would automatically think of so it's not yeah it's a name that we would want to see there and and seeing them actually at this race i think is i like to see that because that is putting the national champs on people's profile more so than if they didn't they weren't there all right let's move on to the women's team bro did you want to kick us off with someone that you've you've picked out from there Yeah, I can start with my favourite then, like who I would picking as
Key Contenders in Women's Race
00:41:25
Speaker
a favourite.
00:41:25
Speaker
So I think Jess Ronan is running um and Jess, I have been in a team within Skyrunning, I know her relatively well, but also she's been in this mountain running team before we were talking about her before being I think just inside or just outside that top 50%, so a really good result at World Champs.
00:41:49
Speaker
um So she's a seasoned sort of mountain runner. um and she has she has the capabilities to to do really well in this race um and from what I can tell she's been training pretty well as well. So um i think Jess, Jason was also saying she's sort of done a run with her recently and she looked like she was moving really well. So um that's my inside scoop. I think Jess probably has to be my favorite just based off her previous experience over these sorts of races um and that she appears to be training pretty well. And I actually think like she's done some sort of longer trail races but I think this sort of distance suits her really well. She even
00:42:31
Speaker
she she even An example of that is what she, remember that when the Australian, sorry, the world cross-country chants were in Australia in Bathurst.
00:42:42
Speaker
They had this sort of like golden ticket race the day before that the Australian, all the best Australians essentially that didn't get in the team had a chance to sort of get this golden ticket to race in the official race. And Jess actually won one of the golden tickets in the women's and got to run in the,
00:43:00
Speaker
in the Open World Champs race. So cheese she's got credentials over that sort of... She's she come to trail running from a running background and she definitely has credentials over that in in the running space and and she's I think she's really good over this sort of distance.
00:43:16
Speaker
um So yeah, I think she'll be hard to beat. No, I i agree. will go the rest of the field, but I think looking at looking at who's there and what they've recently done, what Jess's results are, and yeah from hearing from RGS Jess Jason about her training,
00:43:34
Speaker
it did put Jess Rowan really on that pedestal of, okay, you are you're the person that people will be targeting for this race. And she's had some incredible incredible performances at that sub, we'll call it sort of half marathon and below on the trails.
00:43:47
Speaker
um She's done longer, but yeah, I think that's definitely where she seems to shine, at least for now. The other name that... I saw was Eleanor Stevenson, who she got a second at the 2022 Oz Champs behind Simone.
00:44:04
Speaker
She is, however, only two weeks removed from coming 18th at the Xiamen, I'm going to say that, by UTMB 53k. Don't know about you, but 53k two weeks ago in my legs, I'm probably, no matter how my recovery is, i'm I'm going to feel that to some degree at this intensity of a race.
00:44:23
Speaker
Would you agree there? Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how she bounces back um from that race. But yeah, she does have experience, she probably has more experience running over this maybe sort of distance and than than the 50k.
00:44:40
Speaker
um So potentially she was in she was in the running team with Jess and Lara. um in 2023 I believe.
00:44:51
Speaker
yeah um So she's definitely, yeah, she's she's got experience in this this sort of race and I think she, for me, she's the and close closest contender and will give Jess a run for her money.
00:45:04
Speaker
But yeah, it will be interesting to see how she backs up after the 50k distance and and and how much of a toll that takes.
00:45:16
Speaker
definite Yeah. And ah if she's in form and she's recovered well, she had a fifth at Dona Double last year and then a fourth at KMR, third at Coastal High 50K.
00:45:27
Speaker
She's very much... ready and has the capacity to give Jess Ronan a real push. So I'd love to see that. I just hope that she's coming in ready to do ah performance that that would make the front of this race is really interesting.
00:45:44
Speaker
um Yeah, well, I guess we'll we'll find out on Sunday when when the result results come up. ah anything Anything else to say on Eleanor? No, no.
00:45:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think, yeah like I said, I think she'll be the, probably, I'm guessing the closest contender. And it's good to have, again, it's good to have not just one leading lady, it's good to have her. and And there's probably a couple of others as well.
00:46:10
Speaker
um I think you'd you'd put another person in there, but I saw, um was it Danny Vanderhoel is also Vanderhoel? is ah racing and she um she has, I think she's from South Australia.
00:46:27
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, so she might have a little bit of a home ground exit um advantage. Did you have some results for her? i had where The thing that I had was from 2021, think maybe...
00:46:40
Speaker
So without knowing the story, again, there could be so many reasons why, but I cannot find a result from 2024 for Dani. And looking back at her Strava until sort of six months ago, it was very patchy throughout 2023 and the first half of 2024. Now, the runs that she did put up didn't strike me as somebody that was coming back from an injury because they were more someone that might just come off Strava for a bit.
00:47:05
Speaker
um But yeah, so I cannot find 2024. 2023 though, she had a sixth at Surf Coast Century 50k. She came first at the Five Peaks in South Australia, fifty eight k And she came fifth at ah Buffalo Stampede. I'm pretty sure that was 2023 well. um so yeah, as well. So ah If she's in shape, she could kind of be a bit of a surprise one.
00:47:31
Speaker
um yeah Most of her stuff is on the longer side of it. So so unless she's really switched up her training, you'd definitely say this is her stepping out of her normal lane. um but then, yeah, i haven't because there haven't been any races last year, for all we know, she's been really pushing this style training and could surprise us all.
00:47:50
Speaker
Definitely. And she was in the she was in the World Champs team um in 2023. But like you said, for the short trail, not for the sort of mountain running distance.
00:48:01
Speaker
So yeah would be it's a bit of a switch up from what we've seen her do in the past. um But yeah, like you said, we don't you don't know exactly what she's been up to. So potentially um she will be ah pushing those other girls at the front.
00:48:16
Speaker
Yeah. And the only name other name that kind of came across from looking at the past championships results is Emily Bartlett. um The name is new to me, but she came third at last year's Oz Champs. She's got sixth at...
00:48:31
Speaker
Ultra El Cozzy 2023 27k and the same year as 7th at Buffalo Stampede 20k. Can't find anything much more ah about her ah and I don't think she's she's been ah there's nothing more recent than those results on UTMB or ITRA pages but she's already had a podium at these championships once. So you you never know, there could be a ah surprise performance. its Like if you go off ITRO indexes, she's she's definitely a bit below the other girls, but we all know those indexes and by no means perfect. So yeah yeah you can never really take them for too much gospel there. But there is ah those are really the only names that that I could find in the women's field. I think it's as as it often is, and and I really wish it wasn't, but the women's field is at least for the names that we recognize and can find ah
00:49:22
Speaker
less deep than the men's field. um I think that's, yeah, we could could go into things that potentially could be causing that, but regardless, it's still going to be a competitive race, especially between Eleanor and Jess at that front end. And yeah, Danny and Emily could very much feature in that as well.
00:49:42
Speaker
um I think I agree with you. I would say Jess Ronan's the one to beat. um the men's i think is a bit less clear cut would you would you put put favorites on on one of the guys i think i'm still putting my money on fraser i think he's going to be hard to beat um again i don't know how much this is a focus race for him it might just be a training and it's good opportunity because it's in the hometown and the focus is really on ballarat so potentially that's that's a factor but i think If I just went based off what I know and I don't know his perfect sort of what what goals and stuff he has for this race, I think he's on paper potentially the the favorite for me.
00:50:21
Speaker
Yeah, I think I have to agree. um as As good as Naif is and probably will be better than his Donner double performance on this course, I think donna having Donner in your legs is going to have some impact. I can't imagine you you'd be um on your firing 100%. And even if he was, I think he'd have to be to take it to Fraser on this course. um When you look at last year,
00:50:47
Speaker
It was, Ewan was only 10 seconds behind Fraser, sorry, two years ago. um My guess from kind of hearing you talk about him is is Fraser from a speed perspective has definitely moved forward, but Ewan's also, he had a fourth and a fifth at four peaks, days one and two this year. So can definitely climb. He was 66 minutes up um the big World Cup Buffalo, which is not by no means a slow time for a top five. So I think would be, it's yeah, for me it's Fraser, but i think there will definitely be some some strong competition on his heels.
00:51:20
Speaker
but Definitely.
Junior Contenders and Event Growth Potential
00:51:21
Speaker
Yeah. Definitely. ah Awesome. So we do also have the under twenty s championship on the short course. This one is a bit hard to find and think about it. I think part partly because of the age of these these races, a lot of them don't have histories. But there's two returning names. One in the men's, Robert Shannon, who came second at last year's champs in the juniors. And on the women's side, Michaela McLean, she came first at last year's champs.
00:51:50
Speaker
Started this year around an 1845 5K, which for 16-year-old is pretty good going. So... Then very well, maybe some more names in there, but yeah, those at that age group, the names aren't particularly familiar to me. Um, but just wanted to give them a shout out as well, cause we do want to see how our junior team team goes. Those guys are probably going to be the the names we're reading out in a few years time for the, for the main, the main race. Uh, but yeah, apart from those two, there was nothing else that really stood out to me there.
00:52:20
Speaker
Um, awesome. Anything else? Any thoughts? Anything to leave us with? No, not really. I think we covered most, like covered a lot at the start. Like you said, would be great to see this championship grow and be more competitive.
00:52:34
Speaker
It's a busy time of year with um Donna um just being on and then in two weeks, the the big weekend with Buffalo and KMR and then there's that Orange ah Running Festival that was Mountain Running Champs last year also so on.
00:52:53
Speaker
um So, yeah, there's a lot going on and um and I think yeah those are the things we discussed in terms of the focus on a lot of people is not these sorts of races so yeah hopefully over time some there's probably a little bit of work to do to increase the profile of these races as well and make them more attractive um and and then uh yeah we might see the fields being a little bit different but I think regardless it's it's good to see the championship happening and it's good to see um some people headed over to support that and and that there is at least ah there is a race that's going to happen and there's going to be some competitive racing at least at the top end so um I think that's a big positive.
00:53:35
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I think that probably says everything that I would say. The only last thing I'll leave you with is that if you are interested in hearing more from one of the better blogs on ah from Australia, Fraser Darcy, think I think his website is literally FraserDarcy.com. I do enjoy reading his articles. He does really long, detailed, interesting articles.
00:53:57
Speaker
recaps of races. So I'm sure that there'll be one coming up for this one, uh, regard, hopefully regardless of how it goes. So yeah, for anyone listening that wants to go a bit deeper or into him, I would definitely recommend you, you head that way. He does it in a really cool style.
00:54:08
Speaker
Um, But yeah, otherwise. And Fraser's often sending things into the podcast about things that are happening over in South Australia. So very many thanks to Fraser. And it might be good to get him on.
00:54:19
Speaker
Maybe if he gets the win, we'll we'll see if we can get him on for a little interview and hear about it, but also hear about his other exploits in running at the moment. Definitely. I think I'll be a very interesting person to hear from. But yeah, I think it's obviously this is the first time that there's a national championships happening with ultra being a thing. So hopefully this is just the start of some good growth for both trail running, mountain running and and ultra running and in general.
00:54:47
Speaker
Yeah. Thank you everyone for listening to our preview show and we'll catch you next time. Thanks all. you later.