6 June
Results:
100km First Male: Alex Stuart (9:11:19)
100km First Female: Kate Sommerville (12:05:30)
75km First Male: Chris Wilson (7:27:13))
75km First Female: Leah Glass (7:44:04)
Read the full race report here.
2 June
Well the Kep Ultra is finally here. Race day is Sunday!
If you're not running, or volunteering, and have a few hours on Sunday, come along and support the runners. Check out one of the aid stations, or go to the finish line at the Perth Hills National Park Centre, near Mundaring Weir village. We should start seeing runners hit the finish from around 1pm, and they'll be coming through until well after 9pm. Approx times at aid stations:
Start in Northam: 7am
Clackline: 8:30am - 9:45am
Wooroloo: 10:30am - 1pm
Mt Helena: Noon - 3:30pm
Bellevue: 1:30pm - 7:30pm
Live Race Updates
If you can't make the race, you can follow it on the web. Rolf will be publishing race times as runners go through aid stations. He reckons updates should happen about once an hour.
The results will be published here: http://kep.rolf.id.au/ You can also get there from the www.kepultra.com site.
Soup and cakes for sale
75km runner Emma Firth is using the Kep Ultra to raise funds for an orphanage in India. Her sister will be selling soup and cakes at the finish.
Kep Ultra on Channel Nine News
I was contacted by a sports reporter from Channel 9 yesterday, and they are shooting an interview with last year’s 100k winner Alex Stuart later this afternoon. If all goes to plan, the story should be on Nine news either tomorrow night, or on Friday. I will try and let you know beforehand if I receive confirmation when it is going to air.
15 May: Entries close soon, and info update
If you haven't got your Kep Ultra entry in yet, now is the time to get it happening. Entries close next Saturday, May 22. Enter now by clicking here. We've had a great response so far, with 21 runners already confirmed to start at Northam onJune 6. It was great to receive Alex Stuart's entry during the week, confirming he'll be back to try and defend his 100km title from last year.
Check the list of entrants received so far.
Detailed Directions Released
Following the last recon run last weekend, we have now finalised the navigation notes for both the 75km and 100km races. We strongly recommend runners not familiar with the course print out these documents, and carry them during the race.
DOWNLOAD THE 75KM COURSE NAVIGATION NOTES
DOWNLOAD THE 100KM COURSE NAVIGATION NOTES
For all other race info, refer to the race manual.
Race Shirts On Sale
2010 Kep Ultra Shirts are now available to order through Zazzle.
Click here to view the shirts.
Pre race pasta party in Northam
Kate Sommerville is arranging a pre race pasta party in Northam on Saturday June 5 at The Shamrock. More details to follow.
Lift to Northam needed
Our sole Eastern State entrant to date needs a lift to Northam on Saturday June 5. So if you're driving up that day and can offer him a ride, that would be terrific.He's staying in Fremantle , so if you're from that way even better. Shoot me an email if you can help.
Kep Ultra Volunteers
We haven't had a great response to the call for volunteers as yet, and we're starting to get a little nervous.
With a race of this distance, it takes a lot of people helping out to make it happen on the day. In fact, the number of volunteers required comes close to the number of runners participating.
Bernadette Benson who is race directing on race day, and managing the volunteers has put together a little website which explains what's involved with volunteering, what jobs are available, and what times of the day need to be covered.
The race registrations start at 5:45am in Northam, and the last cut off time for the 100k race is midnight at Mundaring Weir, so for a few volunteers, as well as the 100km runners, it's going to be a long day. That doesn't mean people volunteering need to be involved the whole day, there are jobs available which will take just 3 or 4 hours. Even if they could help with just one of these, that would be terrific.
We're looking for people to help out with:
- Race day registrations
- Aid stations
- Road Marshaling (no traffic control stuff)
- Time recording
- Sweeping (following the last runners on a mountain bike)
- First Aid
- manning (or womanning) the barbecue
...and more
For information on volunteering at Kep, and a form to register your interest to help out, click here.
If you're not running on race day, please consider helping out.
21 April: Kep Ultra Course Confirmed
After last weekend's recon runs we were able to make some final decisions regarding the Kep Ultra course, as well as establish the exact distance of each race.
Using data from Garmin GPS (including a small allowance for normal Garmin inaccuracy) , we have now been able to determine reasonably accurate course distances. The 100km course comes in at 101.8km, however the 75km course came up 1.2km short, and as such we have now included a loop of that distance to get a 75km total.
The loop will be located at Mt Helena, where the course now requires 75km runners to run West on the trail for 600 metres before turning around and returning to Mt Helena, to head South to Mundaring.
An accurate course map has been developed in Google Maps. We would recommend runners study it closely.
15 Apr: We are official! Race Entries Open
Great news! Earlier today we received confirmation from AURA they have sanctioned the Kep Ultra race. We are now an official event!
Entries for the Kep Ultra are now open, and you can enter online by clicking here.
We have also released the Race Manual: General Information and Race Rules, which should be read before entering the race.
Please note that the race entries close on Saturday 22 May, two weeks before the race. Race entry fees are fully refundable if you withdraw before that date. We have done this to encourage early registration, as it will make our life a whole lot easier if we get a feel for likely numbers earlier rather than later.
2 Apr News Update
Things have been a little quiet for updates on the Kep Ultra front for the last 4 weeks or so, that's mainly because the approval process is unfortunately taking a little longer than I had originally hoped.
We had planned to have all the race approvals out of the way by Easter, however this hasn’t happened. We have received three approvals and are still negotiating with two parties, though our feeling at the moment is quite positive to getting it across the line with both. AURA have been very supportive with their assistance with insurance and the like which has been a fantastic help.
We now hope to have all this tied up in the next two weeks. If for whatever reason the approvals don’t happen, we’ll run Fat Ass like last year.
Ultra legends put their name down for Kep
There is now a list of some 60 people who have indicated their interest in running either the 100km or 75km events at Kep. We estimate we’ll end up with a start list of around 30 or 35.
Some big names on the Australian ultra scene have let us know they are interested in the 100km race including Australian 24 hour team representatives Mick Francis and Robert Boyce, 40 Miler and 6 Inch winner Colin Francis, and recent 12 hour track winner and last year’s second place finisher Dave Kennedy. We have also been in touch with last year’s winner Alex Stuart, and Alex indicated he is keen to run again, subject to the Navy not shipping him off somewhere on June 6.
With a bit of luck, all these guys will be fit for June 6 to make it a fantastic race at the sharp end.
Volunteers
We already have a number of people who have volunteered to assist on race day which is fantastic. Given the distance and duration of time involved with this event, we need as much help as we can get, and I am definitely looking for more people to lend a hand. As such, can we ask that if you decide not to run, that you consider helping out instead? And if you are running, perhaps a family member can help out for a few hours somewhere. Please let us know if you can assist.
40 Miler this weekend
For those in WA, just a reminder the 40 Miler race is on Easter Monday at Mt Helena. It’s on part of the Kep Ultra course, so makes a great warm up event. Details are as follows:
- Cost is $15
- Start at 6:30am on Easter Monday at Mt Helena near the carpark of the Mt Helena tavern (park there).
- The course starts off heading 7km West, you then run back to Mt Helena, and run East for 9km, before again returning to Mt Helena for a 32km lap. You then do it all again.
- The course is on a gravel railway reserve, so the climbs are steady. Generally West is down hill, East is up hill.
- The finish is in the beer garden of the tavern.
- It is self supporting though you can provide drinks to the organisers before 6:15am, and they will take them to the aid stations for you, one located at the western turnaround point, the other at the Eastern turnaround point. There is also a table at Mt Helena you can leave drinks.
- You can enter on the day
- The cut off is 6:45
Hope to see you there. If you are, be sure to say hello.
19 Feb: News Update
Confirmation of start location in Northam
We travelled out to Northam last Saturday and scouted out potential locations to start theevent. We have settled on a park at the bottom of Grey Street, in the centre of Northam, on the Southern bank of the Avon River. For those who know Northam, this is the same location as the start of the Avon Descent. It suits us as it provides good parking, toilet facilities, a covered gazebo, and a nice park. Competitors will now run from the start along the South bank of the Avon to the Newcastle Road traffic bridge, turn right here and then cross over the road at Mitchell Avenue. Follow the footpath on Mitchell Avenue until you hit the Kep track. This does add a few hundred metres to the course, however we lose a few with the new finish location (see below), so all should be about equal.
New finish line location
We also had a look at our options for the location of the finish. The actual end of the Kep track is opposite the Mundaring Weir Hotel, however other than a small car park, there are no other facilities or covered areas here. The Perth Hills National Park Centre campsite is only a short distance away, and provides toilets, showers, a covered kitchen with gas bbq and fridge, plus a huge covered area...all in all it's a perfect place to have the finish. We have booked out the camp site for the day and night of June 6, so all the facilities are ours to use. It's just off Allen Road.
There will also be a limited number of camp sites available, and if you feel like sleeping in a tent after running 75km or 100km, let me know. I'll be looking for a comfortable double bed somewhere though.
Race Approvals
We received some great news on Tuesday from the Shire of Mundaring advising they have approved our event application. We have also had further discussions with the National Trust regarding their approval process, and that is sounding promising also. I think our quest to make the race official is now looking pretty promising, which is terrific. There are still a number of hurdles we need to cross though, as soon as we know more we will let you know.
Recon run Northam to Clackline
A group of 5 runners ran the recon run last Sunday from Northam to Clackline. I had mentally painted a picture of all up hill to the Northam tanks, and then a gentle coast down hill to Clackline. Unfortunately I had forgotten about the VERY long hill up Eadine Road...you have been warned :)
11 Feb: Second recon run this weekend
This weekend is the second of the recon runs for the Kep Ultra.
The plan is to run 38km from Clackline to Northam and back on Sunday morning. This will give those running the Kep event a good look at the first 19km of the course. It's a mix of bitumen road, wide gravel tracks, and some single trail. This is the hilliest of the Kep Ultra stages.
Note that very hot weather has been predicted, with a min of 20 and max of 40 in Northam. Please bring adequate water (recommend 1.5 Litres plus). There are no drink stops or opportunities to refill between Clackline and Northam.
We'll start at 6:30am to try and avoid some of the heat. Meet on Sunday at the corner of Spencer Brook Road and Great Eastern Highway in Clackline. Shoot me an email if you're intending to come along.
11 Feb: Pre Qualification
Given that we are receiving a lot of interest from people about running the Kep Ultra at the moment, we thought we should make everyone aware that if the event receives the necessary approvals and become "official", there will be pre qualification requirements to enter the event. This is necessary because of the risk assesment plan we have had to lodge with our applications.
To enter either the 75km or 100km Kep Ultra events if the event achieves official status, in the three year period preceding June 6 2010, competitors will need to have either completed an official marathon in less than 4.5 hours, or finished an official ultra event (exceeding 42.2km) before the event's cut off time. Completion of other equivelant events such as an Ironman Triathlon will also be considered. Evidence of this may be required to be presented.
Should we not achieve official status, the event will be run "Fat Ass" style as a non official training run. Obviously as this would be totally non official, there would be no pre qualification required. That given, we would strongly suggest people consider not taking part if they had not previously achieved the pre qualification standards outlined above.
We thought we would get this out early so that if there are people who would not presently qualify to enter, that they have the opportunity to consider entering an event to qualify like the 40 Miler in Western Australia on Easter Monday.
4 Feb: First recon run this weekend
This weekend is the first of the recon runs for the Kep Ultra.
The plan is to run 30km from Mundaring Weir to Mt Helena and back. This will give 75km Kep runners a good look at the last 15km of the course. 100km event runners will experience the last 8km of their course.
Meet on Sunday ready for a 6am start at the Mundaring Weir Hall, corner of Hall Road and Weir Village Rd, Mundaring (opposite the Mundaring Weir Hotel).
If you want to run a shorter distance, you can always turn around earlier. Shoot me an email if you're intending to come along.
News 26 January 2010
Just a few things to report on the Kep Ultra. We now have 43 names down on the “interested” list, so it looks like we’ll have a good lineup taking part in the 100km and 75km events on June 6.
Recon Runs
Recon runs are planned as follows:
Sun - 7-Feb - Mundaring Weir to Mt Helena & back - 30km
Sun - 14-Feb - Clackline to Northam & back - 38km
Sun - 7-Mar - Wooroloo to Clackline & back - 48km
Sun - 18-Apr -Mt Helena to Wooroloo & back - 36km
Sat - 8-May - Mt Helena to Mundaring Weir Night Time Run - 42km
Information relating to start times etc will be provided closer to the date of each run.
100km route night time section
The weekend before last Aaron Pederson and I ran the last 22km section of the 100km route from Bellevue to Mundaring Weir. I wanted to take the opportunity to run this in daylight, to suss out whether there are going to be any likely tricky navigation areas in this section which for many runners will be run in the dark. I was especially concerned about the last 8km section from Mundaring to Mundaring Weir, as this was a little confusing in last year’s race even in daylight. I’m happy to report the Mundaring to Mundaring Weir section appears to have been extremely well signed with yellow Munda Biddi signs, which will be very difficult to miss. The only spot we found confusing was a 1.5km section through Greenmount National Park. We’ll make a note to flour arrows through this area.
Race Approvals
We are still working through the maze of approvals needed for the race, however I can report we received some encouraging news from the Shire of Mundaring last week, so things are looking a little more promising. As I have said before, if the approvals don’t happen, we’ll run in fat ass mode as last year.
2009 archived news
;