President's Report: October 2024

President's Report: October 2024

Simone Hayes • October 29, 2024

OCtOBER, 2024

As the year edges closer to the end of 2024, the wheels haven’t stopped turning at AUTRA. In fact, we are already in full swing to heading into 2025.

We are seeing our race calendar growing by the week with some fantastic new listings for our members to gobble up and start their planning for next year. We welcome our new race directors onboard and thank our current RDs for their continued support.

There have been some amazing results across the country in a multitude of events, and it’s been great to follow along with so many of them as we watch online. I’m sure it creates a fair bit of FOMO for us on the sidelines, and hopefully we all get inspired to get out of our comfort zones and try something new or challenging that we haven’t tackled before.

Last week we saw our Australian Trail Runners compete at the Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships held in Yeongnam Alps, Ulju in South Korea from 24-26 October, 2024. Our athletes competed in the Short and Long Course and U23 events.

They are now home safe and sound and recovering, and now we are preparing to send our 100km Road athletes over to India in December for the IAU 100km World Champs.

Our new merchandise is on the production line and we can’t wait for it to land in our hands and get it out to you all! It will be about 10 weeks away but our fingers are crossed for a pre-Christmas delivery – a perfect gift for the runner that has everything!

On 4 November we will again be opening applications to become an AUTRA Endorsed Coach. Applications will be open to all AUTRA members and successful applicants will be notified by December. Please keep an eye out for the notice on our Facebook page.

I hope you all enjoy the October edition of UltraMag and all of our newsletters this month. Please thank our wonderful Marketing Coordinator Kate Dzienis for all her hard work in putting these together for us. I’d also like to thank all who contributed articles for our readers. It’s you guys on the ground that we want to hear from each month!

Simone Hayes, President

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.
By Dave Martin March 14, 2026
AUTRA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Wednesday 15 April 2026
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.
By Kate Dzienis March 12, 2026
Results for 2026 Lark Hill Party Ultra, Belair Marathon, Mirrim Wurnit Back Paddock Ultra, and Coombabah Trail Run.
By Dave Martin March 2, 2026
Carrying that mandatory gear
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IN OTHER NEWS

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.
By Dave Martin March 14, 2026
AUTRA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Wednesday 15 April 2026
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.
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