President's Report: August 2024

Simone Hayes • August 30, 2024

AUGUST, 2024

It’s nice to finally be getting to the end of winter and seeing some sunny warmer days! Although after the cold winter we have had it might take a bit of getting used to – my run today in unusually warm 26.5 degree weather (it was midday, mind you, and glorious) felt harder than normal, but I finished with a nice swim in the ocean and it does finally feel like spring is around the corner.

This month, as all months, has been super busy at AUTRA headquarters. We are busy rolling out the new brand which you will see at races before the end of the year. Our new merch line is in progress and has some really cool new designs in our shirts, buffs and new style Fractel hats, we even have a bucket hat on the way. I’m excited to say “watch this space”. We are hoping they will be available for purchase by October and can’t wait to see you all out there running in the new gear!

Our member base keeps growing and we welcome all of our new members this month.

On the trail side we have now selected a team for the Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships, (APTRC’s) and they will be heading off to South Korea in October to do us proud.

Road side, the 100km World Championship applications are now open and selections will take place in early September for the December 7 race in Bengaluru, India.

Our events calendar is constantly growing as some awesome new races come on board. We welcome all of our new race directors and thank our regular ones for supporting AUTRA and sharing their events with our members on our calendar. Our Director of Events Lisa Sherman has been busy working with the race directors, improving and developing their relationship with AUTRA. If you have any questions regarding listing your race or obtaining insurance please reach out to Lisa.

Our member benefits keep growing so if you haven’t checked out the page yet, login and head over and see where you can save some big bucks.

Don’t forget that our National Championship events have been announced for 2025, so start planning your calendar for next year. And still to come this year, we have Hume & Hovell hosting the 100mile Champs, Surf Coast Century the Long Course Trail Champs and the GC50 hosting the 50km road. Who is racing? Remember that every listed event you race you get points in the Points Competition and there are great cash prizes to be won at the end of the year.

Thanks again to all of the committee, state reps, trail subcommittee and volunteers that work tirelessly to keep us rolling each month – we have so much to do and so many exciting things ahead to organise and plan for, and day by day we are getting there!

See you in September,

Simone Hayes, President

< Older Post

Newer Post >

AUTRA Race Report 23-3-2026

By Kate Dzienis • March 23, 2026

Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, WA Gold Coast Backyard Ultra, Qld I'm Still Standing Sydney, NSW Trail Run Australia - Tathra, NSW Sri Chinmoy 48hr Track Ultra (Australian 48hr Track Championships, ACT Washpool World Heritage Trails, NSW Tamworth Trailblazer, NSW Upcoming Events WEEKLY NEWS REPORT FOR 23-3-2026 As always, we're continuously on the hunt for your stories and reports, so get those race reports and photographs in to ultramag@autra.asn.au with the following information: Word document, single spaced Include the name of the event, the date and the location anywhere in the report (just a bullet point at the top is great) Please attach photographs to the email – do not put images in the body of your Word doc. You’ll just get me emailing you back asking for the photos sent in the correct way! As many photos as possible. With our new website, it’s now easier than ever to include a nice gallery in each race report No PDFs please And remember, it doesn’t have to be about an AUTRA-listed event specifically! You just have to be an AUTRA member for the 2026 year. Also too, if you’ve run in a non-AUTRA listed event anywhere on home soil or internationally, we’d love to include your race results and experience in our Member Updates, so please do reach out to us via email to kate.dzienis@autra.asn.au If any corrections need to be made in any of the results listed below, please alert me via email.

2026 AGM Notice (15 April 2026)

By Dave Martin • March 14, 2026

AUTRA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Wednesday 15 April 2026

AUTRA statement regarding Snowies Trail Run Festival

March 12, 2026

AUTRA has been in direct contact with the organisers of the Snowies Trail Run Festival, In2Adventure, regarding a recent situation involving an athlete and the event’s in‑person safety briefing requirements. In2Adventure has confirmed that the situation was discussed directly with the athlete at the time. From In2Adventure’s account, and for the purpose of clarifying the public record, AUTRA notes the following points: At no stage was the athlete prevented from breastfeeding at the event. The organiser states that the following options were offered to enable the athlete to participate while still meeting safety requirements: a quiet and private space where she could breastfeed while still being present at the briefing; the option to receive the required briefing at the 30 km start line after the start; and the option to change her registration to the 21 km event, where the briefing is conducted on the start line. At no stage prior to event registration on Saturday night did the athlete contact the organiser to advise of her situation or request alternative arrangements, which limited what could be put in place at the time. Face‑to‑face safety briefings have always been a requirement for In2Adventure events due to the remote and higher‑risk nature of the trails. AUTRA was aware that in‑person briefings were used and had not raised concerns about that general approach. The organiser has indicated that this requirement is driven by safety, duty‑of‑care and insurance obligations, and follows previous experience where remote or online briefings resulted in athletes starting events without critical safety information. The organiser maintains that the event was not conducted in a manner that was intended to be non‑inclusive, inflexible or discriminatory, and that decisions made on the day were based solely on safety requirements that apply equally to all participants. AUTRA’s aim in issuing this statement is solely to clarify the context and ensure that the public record reflects the information provided to us by the organiser.