Lots of racing to catch up on over the weekend and the Internet was burning with armchair warriors, all offering their two cents as to whether Hardrock race leader Xavier Thevenard should have been DQ’ed for taking aid outside of an aid station.

First up, he admitted to taking aid, whether it was a bit of water or a complete bag change, he took outside assistance. Sorry, but it’s a pretty basic rule of ultra running.

Second, his crew car was parked on a road closed to the public – that in itself could place the entire race at risk when organisers have to explain it to the relevant authorities. A lot of armchair warriors appear to have glossed over this fact. It’s a pretty darn important point and a race director’s nightmare. They’re the ones having to explain matters after the race.

Third, was the DQ too harsh? Not really. Every single race director I’ve spoken to would have done the same thing. Why? Because offering time penalties is far too subjective and leads to more warriors keyboarding their thoughts. Make it clean and make it clear – it sends a message and sets a precedent now.

If only they could do the same with drugs and life time bans hey?

Anyway, enough of that. We should be celebrating the results and the win of Jeff Browing, who only just over a month ago was finishing fifth at Western States, capping a remarkable double, which he’s now done twice. Congrats also to Sabrina Stanley who took out the ladies race, another one mentioned in our preview who seems to perform well at both WSER100 and Hardrock, and indeed across the board of milers. These are special breeds of athletes.

Big hand also to Andy Hewat and Roger Hanney, both well-known on our Aussie ultra circuit. Andy is now the ‘newest’ Hardrock veteran with five finishes and becomes the first Aussie to have completed this achievement. Andy finished the race with just under four minutes to spare and if the video at the end says anything, he left his whole body out on that course.

You Yangs

A little more local to home and the You Yangs series of races took place this weekend. In the miler, another highly consistent performance, Malcolm Gamble won the miler in a time of 18hrs 34mins, with Cheryl Symons winning the ladies event in 25hrs 48mins.

Second place in the ladies went to Ann Burchfield in a time of 28hrs 32mins with no third placed finisher. In the men’s race, second was Bruce Miller in 20hrs 11 mins and third was Mike Cardiff in 21hrs 21mins.

In the 100km event, Campbell Craig and Michaela Mcdonald ran out winners in their respective races. Campbell won the mens in 10hrs dead, while Michaela ran a time of 11hrs 10mins. Second in the ladies was Annabel Hepworth in 13hrs 49mins and third was Kelly Bennett in 14hrs 51mins. In the mens, second was Mike Manders in 10hrs 25mins and third was Ben Clark in 10hrs 34mins.

Elephant Trail Race

This new race took place this weekend too, with 100 miler, 100km and 50km options as far as ultras are concerned.

In the miler,  Jade Crim took out the ladies race, finishing in 25hrs 7mins. Second was Jill Thompson in 30hrs 8mins and third was Roylene Stanley.

In the men’s miler, first was Phill Dernee in 29hrs 16mins, second Dillon Rinn in 35hrs 4mins and third  Anthony Metcalfe in 35hrs 10mins.

In the 100km event, Simone Hayes won the ladies in 18hrs 14mins, while Kay Bretz took out the mens in 13hrs 3mins. For more results, check out the link here.

Like our articles? Take a second to support Ultra168 on Patreon from as little as $1 a month!

Dan

I'm a mediocre runner who can bat above his average when I train hard. A man of extremes, I do enjoy everything life offers and consider it an absolute pleasure just to be able to put one foot in front of the other and let my mind wander somewhere different.