Wow! 🤩 🤯 What an Event! BTU Records smashed 🏃♀️ ⛰️ 🏃♂️ Best feedback ever!
Wow! What an event!!!!! The feedback has been fantastic!!! Incredibly positive! Records were smashed, runners saying it was the best-marked course, with the BTU Festival getting bigger and better each year, thanks to Wild Earth Australia! The BTU has put Brisbane on the international Trail Running map and had live coverage of the event hosted by Jodie Oborne, Tom Batty and supported by event MCs Steven Jackson and Ben Dennien. If you’d like to re-feel those feel-good-feels, click on the link below to watch all the action.
The Brisbane Trail Ultra, renowned for being beautiful and brutal is the ultimate test for an ultra-endurance marathon runner!
You have to be fast, strong, agile, able to run the road, and intelligent. The Brisbane Trail Ultra course isn’t just a circle where you can mindlessly run. The course is also a test of your mental skills, follow the correct nutrition and hydration plan so you can make the right decisions at critical intersections on the course. This is Shona Stephenson’s old training ground, she takes you into her world of chasing vert and topo lines, on an adventure into the Brisbane Hinterland, for you to experience the BEST views and most stunning rainforest trails possible in any distance you choose. Those runners who make it to the finish line become immortals! Fighting against themselves and the elements, with winds so strong they ripped the core flute off the Start and Finish line Arch and broke sponsors’ flags in two. Runners who make it to the finish will forever be known as the best in Australia, deserving enough to be part of the Spartan Trail World Championship. Any runner who can finish the BTU, will be able to compete anywhere in the world at their chosen distance.
Piotr Babis, BTU100Mi Winner and record breaker
The BTU is proudly the most generous Australian Trail Running event, following the ethos of the STWC to support those elite athletes to continue their passion for trail running. This is only possible with the help of our sponsors and Partners, Spartan Trail World Championship, Queensland Tourism and Events, Australian Expatriate Finance, The Expatriate Australia, awarding prize money, Suunto Sports Watches, offering $10K+Suunto Watch Prizes, Wild Earth Australia a major sponsor plus awarding prizes, plus rego partner, sponsor of our Wild Earth Training Camps and bringing the festival to the finish line with Smartwool amazing socks that handled RD’s Shona’s feet for the weekend without changing and a shower 😂, plus awarded prizes at our training camps, podium prizes and more, Saucony, for amazing support throughout the year, podium prizes. T8, for ongoing support with our training camps and providing amazing podium prizes. Hammer Nutrition Australia for stocking our aid stations and helping to keep our runners safe. Of course, we all love those Bush Heritage Australia socks, we are proud to donate $3.00 of every entry to Bush Heritage Australia to help restore our wild spaces to good health. Without our sponsors and partners, our event would not be a success.
We can’t thank them enough. We will be thanking all the volunteer groups in our next newsletter, written by the Ops room, for the behind-the-scenes report of the event.
Stay tuned to see what went on behind the scenes.
This year, legends were created, becoming immortals and writing themselves into our honours list. With three, time BTU podium, Polish 🇵🇱 Born, now a guide between Northern Territory Larapinta Trail and Tasmania, Piotr Babis stepped it up from the BTU30 in 2022, BTU110 in 2021 to the BTU100Mi to take a massive chunk out of international runner, Matt Crehan’s impressive time 19:53:14 finishing with a stellar result of 18:59:58. He was followed by local legend and previous BTU100Mi record holder Noelis Renault, with an wonderful PB by 30 minutes in a time of 20:15:47, ahead of Kiwi 🇳🇿 Runner Benji Patterson 20:25:45.
The Queen of the BTU was Swiss-born🇨🇭 Cecilia Mattas, (coached by BTU Commentator Jodie Oborne), who also smashed the Maree Connor 23:29:50 BTU100Mi record by over an hour, finishing with 22:23:25. This was also her first 100Mi event. She was joined on the podium by previous BTU110 podium winner, and local Jessica Schluter 23:30:04, only a few seconds off Maree’s time. Robyn Koszta transitioned from Spartan OCR to show she is a complete weapon and one to watch in the future, with 1.3:05:03. All three women were stepping up to the 100Mi distance for the first time!
The biggest story of the day for the BTU100Mi was Kiwi 🇳🇿 Veteran Runner, Julie Williamson, who fell at 40km, broke her nose, was treated by our standby QAS Ambulance by over an hour, then rejoined the course and finished with an incredible time of 1.7:36:45, with two black eyes. Yes, the RD used her discretion and awarded her an elusive “Gold Buckle”, even though she technically missed the 30-hour cut-off. She was treated again at the finish line by QAS and received the best possible care before her flight back to New Zealand. Her result epitomised the courage and, strength, determination required to complete the BTU100Mi, #ISURVIVED with only 42 proud finishers. We asked Julie if she had any pain receptors left, and she said, “Yes, that hurt like hell.“ She is a legend forever!
How much do you want a finish the BTU100Mi?
To much surprise of the RD, newcomer Kiwi 🇳🇿 Jordan Nuks, 13:08:17, won the BTU110. Jordan strategically attended the BTU-Wild Earth BNE Gear night and picked the brains of RD Shona about everything Nutrition, Hydration, Mandatory Gear, Capra App, High Vis Vests and more! We loved seeing him in the top position and can’t wait to see how he develops as a runner. Now he has a Sunnto 9 Peak Watch that will last the distance of his event.
He was joined on the podium by Giles Penfold, 13:41:31, Brendan Verrier, 13:45:14. The top three males were within 45 minutes of each other.
New South Welshman’s Chantelle Smith, coached by previous BTU100Mi 2nd place 2019 Jenny Morris, took out the top spot on the brutal course with 5000+ vertical gain and loss with a solid time of 14:28:32. In second place was Wild Earth Australia South American born, Buha Bali, 16:09:19 who also picked Shona’s brains at the Wild Earth GC Gear Night. Sarah Ryan was only 3 minutes behind Buha to take out the 3rd position on the Podium.
The BTU60 is an extraordinary event. One that is the perfect stepping stone to make the leap to the 100 distance, with enough climbing to be harder than most 100ks and enough technical trails to keep it fun! The standout section of the BTU60 is the “Black Cockatoo Trail”, a re-claimed trail where Cora, and with the help of SES “garden”, this year. Runners must climb through numerous fallen trees and obstacles to test the runner’s agility and skill while moving fast. This year French 🇫🇷 gun runner Eric Concé 5:28:17 beat Matt Gore’s Course Record of 5:32:07 (change to the finish line, Ben Duffus's previous Course Record 5:21:18 without the BTU-Suunto Stair Climb). Eric was followed by Lachlan Jamieson, 5:50:54, with a MASSIVE 30-minute PB, a podium winner at the BTU since 2020 in the BTU30 and 2022 in the BTU60. Liam Mackenzie was only 5 min behind with a solid time of 5:56:09.
The women’s field was HOT! Cairns Port Douglas Trail Ultra CPTU40, Tropical North Queensland Winner Montana McAvoy was 1st over the line 7:11:46. She was followed by Team BTU Runner and BTU110 2nd place 2022, Ursula Adams 7:53:40, and rounding out the podium was Annabelle Carey 8:10:23
Race Director Shona Stephenson, MC Benny D, Member for Cooper Jonty Bush.
When the Member for Cooper, Jonty Bush arrives to start the BTU30 you know it is one special event. You could hear a pin drop before the countdown for the premier “short” distance Spartan Trail World Championship race. The lineup was stunning; not every elite will make it onto the podium which is what makes this event so electric. The prizes and prize money attracts the best the country has to offer.
This year, Ben Duffus took out the podium, and set a “New Course Record” with an blistering quick time of 2:36:11. The course was 4km longer with the infamous Wild Earth Kokoda Climb and the start of South Boundary, as a warm-up. There were more trails, and a much more challenging course which makes Ben’s time remarkable. He was pushed until CP6 by VIC runner Nathan Pearce, 2:39:23, who suffered cramps at Bowman Park, stretching his usual distance, who only narrowly beat Italian-born 🇮🇹 , Gabriele Fior 2:40:26, who placed 5th in the BTU30 2022. What a fantastic run on the new course to claim the final position on the SWTC podium.
The women’s field was equally stacked with legendary names. With late entry, Elena Stephenson Australian Mountain Running World Championship Team ( maybe a long-lost relative of RD Shona Stephenson 😂), backed it up from the GC Marathon the week before. Triathlete and Hammer Athlete Courtney Gilfillan and Victoria Beck. Anyone of these three ladies could have taken out line honours. In the end, Courtney was 1st, setting the New Course Record with a fantastic time of 3:02:08, followed by Elena, 3:06:00 and Victoria Beck, 3:14:25.
Runners seen sneaking away with their take-away pizza’s 😂
This year we changed the start time of the BTU20 to 3:30 pm so that MORE Runners could enjoy the finish line Pizza, Chips, Beer and Vodka Pineapple Mixer.
The tab was eaten pizza 🍕 🍟 🍺 🍸 and drunk by 9:30 pm, and we had to extend it to make sure it was open until 10 pm! This impressed the BTU20 podium winners! YUP! The BTU knows how to throw a PARTY!
Jeremy Hunt had another win with a time of 1:24:42, breaking his own course record by over 1 minute. He was chased by another Hammer Nutrition Australia Athlete, also making the transition from Triathlon to the trails Andrew Leach 1:33:16 and rounding out the podium was James Sieber, 1:40:33.
The BTU20 women’s field was super quick! The podium finished within 1 minute and 15 seconds of each other. The first woman to cross the line was Channa Marsh, 1:41:16, also breaking set by accomplished marathon runner record by Anna Munro 1:41:30; she was chased by Shivonne Sieber, 1:41:24, also coming under Anna’s time, with New Caledonian 🇳🇨 Runner, Deborah Kaboer and previous BTU30 podium winner, with a time of 1:42:30.
Taking out the BTU10 podiums was David Bailey from Tassie, 0:46:17 setting a Course Record to win the Suunto 5 Peak Watch. Diego De Leon, local runner, 0:48:19 and
Joshua Kersevani, 0:54:06. The women’s field was led by 3rd place BTU10 in 2021 Fiona Leyden, this time claiming the win in the women’s field with a PB, 1:06:26, 2nd Liz Boughton, 1:07:50 and Lisa Mathison in 3rd 1:09:02.
David Bailey 0:08:01 and Shivonne Sieber 09:39 took out the BTU-Red Bull Climb to win a slab of Red Bull each. Shivonne Sieber also won the Suunto Stair Climb, 0:02:45, with James Sieber, taking out the men’s Suunto Stair Climb with a time of 0:01:55. Yes! They trained hard together to win those Suunto watches! The newest edition to the Brisbane Trail Ultra was the Wild Earth-Kokoda Climb. The ultimate test of VO2 max was won by Ben Duffus at 0:11:08 and Courtney Gilfillan 0:13:08.
On a more serious note, there has been much discussion on course marking. Race Directors Shona and Cora mainly completed the course marking at each critical intersection. Intersections were checked and made obvious with Bunting and BTU Tags to lead runners the right way. In some key intersections we also added in arrows with CPs signs saying which way to go. The wind is always an issue on the BTU Course, this year flag poles were snapped in 1/2, and signage ripped off arches; therefore, we also use 5m Bunting at key corners to direct runners in the correct direction on a loop 1st, or key intersections throughout the entire BTU Course. BTU Course tags are placed on the bunting so you can identify that they are part of the event. Below is an arrow blown off the zip tie in the wind, on Bunting leading runners up a hill, with more BTU markers to confirm the direction of a tricky corner. Only one runner made this mistake. This corner was marked by RD Shona and checked by Cora when she marked this intersection.
Along with careful course marking, the Capra App, was made part of the mandatory gear, to help with course navigation just in case there was course tampering, high winds, extreme fog or rain. We specifically had the Capra team split the “out and back” lines to show the runners the correct way to go at each corner, partnered with the distance and course profile, which meant that we only had a few runners make incorrect decisions at intersections. We also had written instructions at these intersections to ensure the runners knew how to go. Cora and Shona also tested these directions while marking the course. This map could be saved and used “offline” with a Blue Arrow to show you the correct way to go. You can jump on and scroll over the profile line to find the distance and direction to run.
Runners who did not make those right decisions at intersections, we discovered, unfortunately, did not have the Capra App on, (RD Shona was installing it on one runners phone, while taking a lost runner back to the course), nor were they contactable via phone. BTU protocol is to wait before calling an elite runner to be fair to those other runners on the course as they are racing for outstanding prize money and sponsored prizes!
The Capra App was very important this year through Suncorp stadium as well. There was an event on during the day that didn’t finish until 1pm on Saturday and the Suncorp staff were only to put the markers up once they had finished. In this case, many of the early runners were advised to follow their Capra App through this section to navigate correctly towards Kangaroo Point Cliffs.
We know all the “dead spots” on the course, we boost this area with “Starlink”, so there are few “dead spots” throughout the entire course. We do this for the safety of all runners throughout the entire 160+km. Those runners were in the 3G area, which was backed up with the GPS Trackers moving and showing that they were moving off course. Race rules specifically advised runners NOT to have their phones in flight mode, and unfortunately, those that did, ran much further in the wrong direction than if they had followed the Rules in the safety briefing. Technically, they did not have their mandatory gear, plus non-contactable via phone, and could have lead to a DQ, but we didn’t and did our best to put the runner back on the course so they could finish their races.
We do everything possible to ensure the course markers are correct and visible. Course tampering in the past is why we made part of the Capra App mandatory gear this year. Both Cora, Shona and the Capra Team spent days ensuring the maps and directions were precise. There were no reports of tampering for the event in 2023. The BTU Team worked extremely hard to engage with the community to ensure the markers stayed in the correct position.
Capra App is part of the mandatory gear. After discovering that many runners had yet to fully install the app with the maps downloaded offline, we requested the CP managers to Check each runner on the course for their Capra App. The Capra app was also the method of communication in the event of an emergency for the runners, where we would “push” a notification to each runner on the course in the event we have to cancel the race mid-event, like in the event of an extreme weather event, like storm, wind, rain. We implemented an extra layer of safety to keep our runners safe, and it was a free item in the mandatory gear list for every runner.
The Capra App has proven an excellent tool for an event like the BTU. The feedback from the community has been highly positive. Whenever a runner was confused at an intersection, they pulled out their app and found the right way to turn. It will remain part of our mandatory gear list in the future.
We are so proud of how the event was managed. We worked extremely hard behind the scenes. Employing QAS Ambulance, Mr Paramedic at our checkpoints, supported by All American Wheeling, and two timing systems with Onetime Timing, Track Me Live. We also rely heavily on the experience of other races directors like Alun and Susannah from AAA Racing and Coaching, Geoff Russell from TRAQ, Leigh Richmond, Sam Moore, Cheryl at CP3, plus the experience of all our checkpoint managers from Brisbane Trail Runners, Bunyaville Trail Runners, Bunya Belles, Springfield Runners Group. Stay Tuned behind-the-scenes account from the view of our Ops Room Team.