Nail-biting racing highlighted Saturday’s UTA50 races at the 2026 HOKA Ultra-Trail Australia as Whakatāne’s Daniel Jones defended his title while China’s Miao Yao won on her UTA debut.

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

Ultimately, Jones 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 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