ASADA CRITERIA ADDED FOR AUSTRALIAN TEAM REPRESENTATION

At the February 14 meeting of the AURA Executive Committee, discussions were held regarding the education of anti-doping to members. It was resolved by the committee that it be a prerequisite for all those applying to represent in the Australian Team to have completed both the online Level 1 and Level 2 Anti-Doping Courses provided by ASADA (Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority).

This means that to be considered for selection, an athlete must provide the certificate as part of their selection application.

The Committee encourages all AURA members, as well as those in the general ultra running community, to undertake the training for a better understanding of the issues and requirements surrounding anti-doping.

Some of the AURA committee members have completed the training and found it significantly worthwhile. Level 1 takes about 1.5 hours to complete, while Level 2 only about 15 minutes. Level 2 needs to be done as a refresher on an annual basis.

Further to this, AURA has been working to adopt a formal anti-doping policy, something which is likely to come out of a formalisation of a relationship with Athletics Australia for which discussions are progressing well.

The requirement for anti-doping course completion for selection will be in place for the 100kms team selections in May. Members selected last month in the trail team will also be requested to undertake the training before attending the World Trail Championships.

We encourage sharing the information to the whole ultra running community so athletes across the country are made aware.