MICHAEL DUNSTAN WINS 2026 ULTRA-TRAIL AUSTRALIA 100K ON DEBUT; KATARZYNA DOMBROWSKA TAKES WOMEN’S TITLE

Michael Dunstan won the 2026 Ultra-Trail Australia by UTMB 100K on May 16, completing the course in 9:04:19 on his first attempt as a competitor. Poland's Katarzyna Dombrowska won the women's race in 10:50:55, surviving severe late cramping to hold off Beth McKenzie of the United States by under five minutes.

The Blue Mountains-based Dunstan, who has lived in Katoomba for three years and crewed at past editions of the race, ran a measured first half and pulled into the lead near the 56-kilometer mark. His heart rate monitor failed shortly after, leaving him to manage the back half by feel.

"I usually pace by heart rate and wanted to just run pretty steady and not really push the climbs too hard," Dunstan said. "Then my heart monitor died and so I just ran to feel for the rest of it. Luckily, it paid off."

China's Guidu Qin chased Dunstan to the finish, taking second in 9:09:41. American Adrian Macdonald placed third in 9:32:47. The course record of 8:52:00, set by Tim Tollefson in 2017, stood unchallenged.

The women's race nearly turned in the final kilometer. Dombrowska led for most of the day on her UTA debut, but her calves locked up at the base of the 951-step Furber Stairs climb to the finish at Scenic World. She sat for nearly five minutes while other runners helped stretch her legs.

"I had such strong cramps on the stairs," Dombrowska said. "I was lying, even screaming, because on my calves, I had such big cramps that I couldn't even stand."

Behind her, McKenzie closed hard but ran out of course, finishing 4:54 back in 10:55:49. Canada's Emilie Mann completed an all-international women's podium in 11:24:47. The women's course record of 9:15:23, held by Anna McKenna since 2022, remained safe.

In the UTAMiler, Antonina Iushina broke the women's course record by more than two hours with a 19:51:13. The men's miler win went to Aleksei Tolstenko in 17:38:27 after a shoulder-to-shoulder duel with Aleksei Beresnev, who finished second in 17:44:08.

The 50K events produced more course-record running. China's Miao Yao won the women's UTA50 in 4:33:12, a new course best, edging New Zealand's Ruth Croft by 90 seconds. New Zealand's Daniel Jones defended his men's UTA50 title in 4:04:11.

The race weekend ran from May 14 through 16 across the trails of Blue Mountains National Park.