COMMITTEE

Experienced ultra runner and long standing AURA member Simone Hayes joined the AUTRA committee in 2020 took on the president’s role in 2023. Along with owning a Sydney-based outdoor group personal training business and being a qualified running coach, Simone entered the world of ultras in 2010 when she first ran The North Face 100.

Inspired by her own business and the increase of women participating in ultra running and how the community as a whole has embraced the sport from beginners to elite, Simone has established a significant running career over the years with her achievements, including representing AUS in the 24hr World Championships in Albi, France (2019); finishing C2K (2020 and 2023), completing Western States (2022) and competing at TDS UTMB (2023).

Since coming on board as AURA President (now AUTRA), Simone says she is privileged to be a part of an association and community, which allows her to promote and grow the sport, engage with the community on a higher level, and help plan for the sport’s fast growth and its future.

“I hope to spend my time at AUTRA ensuring a strong and robust future within the global running arena so that the Australian running scene continues to thrive.”

A dedicated ultra runner known for his passion for long distance, Stephen Redfern is widely respected for his significant contributions to the Australian ultra community. As AURA’s Secretary, Stephen is dedicated to promoting and supporting the sport, and his involvement with AURA includes various administrative and organisational responsibilities related to endurance events across the country – not only does Stephen participate in ultra races himself, he enjoys volunteering his time so others can concentrate on running while he and the AURA Committee advocate for them.

In his spare time, Stephen is the owner/operator of Ultra Running NSW, which plays a key role in organising and promoting ultra events in NSW. He is also the Race Director of the Southern Sydney 24hr & 48hr Ultra, where he plans and executes the event to allow runners to test themselves against the clock and achieve their goals on a high quality sports track.

Stephen believes ultra running helps him to be mentally, spiritually and physically well adjusted. Notably, he’s competed in the Barkley Marathons (TN, USA), run for 52 days at the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendance 3100mi race (NY, USA), raced at the Hong Kong Four Trails and finished C2K.

Sydneysider Annabel Hepworth is a long-standing member of AURA and a prolific ultra runner.

While working as a senior writer at a national newspaper, she started running ultras in 2011. Her enthusiasm for running in locations ranging from Mongolia to Chile was soon matched by a fascination with fixed-time multi-days.

She has twice won the AURA Ultra Performance of the Year award – for running 742km at the Adelaide 6 Day, the furthest distance in the world by any female for that format in 2018; and for her 10-day performance in Phoenix, AZ in the USA where her 1000km split was a new female Australian record and IAU world age best performance for F45. Inspired by the world-class recent performances of women in their 50s, she now hopes to go further still.

Keen to support the sport’s development, she was elected to the Treasurer’s role for AURA in 2023. She wants to apply her experience as a senior journalist and adviser to help shape the future direction, reputation and sustainability of the sport.

“I want to deliver for members and support the exciting growth in our sport.”

Lisa is the first to fill the new position of Director of Events which was created in 2024 and is doing a brilliant job looking after our Race Directors and all things events related. She is a race director herself as well as a running coach and enthusiastic ultra runner and brings a wealth of industry experience to AUTRA in her role.