A movement of change

Contributed by Nadeem Khan

From the President of the International Association of Ultrarunners

Let me start off by wishing the new AURA web magazine the best of luck as it starts on its renewed voyage making the transition from a hardcopy magazine to an email-based cyber version.

I have always read the magazine cover-to-cover and I am very excited to read the e-magazine and what it has to offer the running community. I extend my congratulations to the editor of the magazine to taking this online.

In August (2017) I was invited to attend the IAAF Congress as an observer from the IAU. One of the main topics of discussions at the congress was social media and cyber marketing, with several topics on the socials, websites, e-magazines and digital news.

We live in a digital age where news can now be instantaneously sent around the world, and this new version of Ultramag will undeniably put ultra running on the forefront and create buzz amongst mainstream athletics crowd.

My best wishes on this new endeavor.

On another note, it has been an exciting year for the IAU.

In June, we hosted the Trail World Championships with ITRA in Badia Prataglia, Italy and the 24-Hour World Championships in July alongside the WMA Championships in Belfast, Ireland. The results from both races were outstanding with a world’s best performance at the latter event.

We have witnessed an increase of interest towards our sport. We have also noticed that several members of the ultrarunning community want to get more involved with ultra running and our activities.

A good organisation has a good set of members around a table, while a great organisation has in addition to that a great group of people in the surrounding community.

There is an abundance of experience, skills and passion amongst the ultra running enthusiasts who we would be short sighted not to tap into that wealth of knowledge. It’s imperative to enlist assistance from our community to realise our dreams of becoming global and taking our sport to every corner of the world.

Just recently we set up our communications committee comprising of members from different area associations. The committee spans individuals who are extremely interested in communications and have come up with excellent ideas to be instituted in the coming months.

The same is true for our technical and records committee, who are technical and statistical leaders in their respective racing communities. The skills and vision they bring to the committee is second to none.

Marketing and sponsorship are big on our agenda and to promote this very important piece of our mandate we have also established a marketing committee to bring in expertise from the outside and assist us in moving forward.

We consider ultrarunning to be a global sport and we aim to portray it as such in all our interactions. The committee is made up of members representing different regions around the globe, and this combination gives us a wealth of knowledge, respect for different cultures and insight from varying backgrounds.

Like Ultramag going through steady changes, the IAU is also embarking on some changes of its own. It is certainly an interesting time for all of us and together we can bring the change we hope to see.

Nadeem Khan is the president of the International Association of Ultrarunners.