Daniel Jones & Miao Yao Win 2026n UTA50 Titles

As the sun rose up from the sweeping valleys in the majestic Blue Mountains, Jones got out to an early lead but was tracked closely by Japan’s Hajime Kasagi.

Ultimately, the Kiwi proved too strong as he continued his dominance in Oceania races, earning back-to-back UTA50 victories in 4:04:11. Kasagi held on for second place, more than 10 minutes behind Jones, with Australia’s Blake Turner rounding out the men’s podium in 4:18:05.

“I'm feeling great,” said Jones. “It's awesome to do a repeat performance of last year and it's just amazing here. It feels like I'm a hometown boy on this course now because I was getting all the support out there. You know, you roll around and it was tight racing, so I've just got to be happy that I was able to finish strong and put a bit of a gap in the last quarter, and got the win.”

This time last year during Jones’ first UTA50 victory, his partner Michelle was pregnant, and this this time around the pair are newly married with their son Hudson on course supporting his dad – making this win extra special for Jones.

“To have Michelle back again, but Hudson here this year as well, it's unreal. It's very cool because now we get to celebrate as a family and we've got some awesome travels ahead. We're off to Flagstaff tomorrow [to begin preparing for the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run], so it's not it's been nonstop for us over the last month.”

Jones was delighted to receive so much support from runners and locals out on course, something he says helped push him to the finish.

“The crowds were fantastic coming through all the aid stations and through the small communities, that was very cool. I got so much support from them and also as I was passing the 100-mile runners out there. They've been out there for much longer than I had, and they were in great spirits, cheering me on as I went past, and I gave them a bit of a cheer as well. It was very cool,” he said.

The women’s UTA50 race was a nail biter to the very end, with Miao breaking the tape in a new course best time of 4:33:12, just over a minute ahead of New Zealand’s Ruth Croft in 4:34:42. Australia’s Holly Ranson made up a couple of places in the last few kilometres to finish third in 4:57:13.

“This race is important training building into CCC this year,” said Miao. “I really enjoyed the course, it was tough, but I loved it. I hope I can come back next year.”

Reigning OCC champion Miao took an early lead over Croft, the reigning UTMB champion, and held the gap to about two minutes during the first half of the course.

During the second half, Croft started in eat into Yao’s lead as they raced to the bottom of Furber Steps – at which point 951 steep stairs separate runners from the finish line. Croft managed to catch Yao on the steps, but an untimely water flask drop meant the Kiwi stopped to pick it up and in doing so, began to cramp. Miao continued to power on and pushed hard all the way finish line to take the win.

“Honestly, I'm super happy with it,” said Croft. “To be honest, I didn't feel like I had the speed for the 50km because it hasn’t really been the focus of a lot of the training block but I’m just super happy that I was able to still hold on up there today.

“I raced here in 2021, and I went a bit too hard in the first half, and I really suffered on the climb out. So, I knew Miao Yao would be a lot faster than me on that descent and so my goal was to not pound my legs too much there so that I could actually move on the way out and I think it worked out pretty well.

“I kind of caught her and then dropped my soft flask so had to go back and get it and then kind of lost that contact, and then I started cramping pretty badly from there on,” she said.

Racing continues throughout Saturday and Sunday for runners taking on the UTA50, UTA100 and UTAMiler, with more than 8,000 runners taking part in the 2026 event.

UTA50 Results – Men

1. Daniel Jones (NZL) 04:04:11
2. Hajime Kasagi (JPN) 04:15:59
3. Blake Turner (AUS) 04:18:05
4. Vlade Ixel (AUS) 04:24:22
5. Sam Rout (NZL) 04:28:26

UTA50 Results – Women

1. Miao Yao (CHN) 04:33:12
2. Ruth Croft (NZL) 04:34:42
3. Holly Ranson (AUS) 04:57:13
4. Sophie Linn (AUS) 05:00:50
5. Jemima Cooper (GBR) 05:04:03