President's Report: September 2024

It’s so nice to see it warming up! I recently ran a race on the Coast Track in NSW on a stunning day, with whales breaching right next to me as I trucked along, looking out at all the many species of wildflowers and waratahs out in bloom, and it made me very grateful to be a runner that can get out and enjoy the trails that we are lucky enough to have on our doorstep (I live in Southern Sydney so the Royal National Park is my playground).

I’m sure many of you reading this also have your own unique playground and amazing places to run across the country, and we should all feel really grateful to have bodies that allow us to relish in this sport, no matter what level of runner you are. Runners come in all shapes and sizes and levels of ability, but we all get to enjoy the same great things by just being out there.

There is lots happening on the international stage before the year ends. Congratulations to the recently announced 100km World Championships team that will represent Australia at the 2024 IAU 100km World Championships in Bengaluru, India, on 7 December. We have such great depth in the women’s team this year which is amazing to see, and I hope this trend continues across all races, both road and trail, over the next decade.

On the trail side, next month we send off our trail team to South Korea to race in the APTRCs (Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships) which is being hosted by iTRA. We wish them all the very best as they wear the green and gold. They will be competing in the Short and Long Course as well as the U23 categories.

This month we launched a sneak preview of our new AUTRA merch which has been really well received and we hope to have it on the production line very shortly and available to you all for purchase before Christmas. If you are a fan of our original AURA shirt that we all loved we have a bit of stock left that will be available at a bargain price. You can never have too many running shirts!

We have great new AUTRA partners listed for our members on the website so jump on and log in and take advantage of all the new discounts on offer. Its worthwhile checking on a regular basis as we continually add more partners so our members can get more benefits!

If you haven’t visited our events calendar lately its time to jump on as there are new events being added each week and the 2025 calendar is now open. Just visit here and start planning! And training :)

That’s all the fun stuff and I won’t bore you with the boring but important stuff we are doing, but rest assured that your hard-working committee is at it every day working to promote the sport of ultra and trail running for you all, and ensure that it will be a sport that is able to withstand changes and challenges in the years ahead.  We are here for you, our members, and the sport, and as always, we thank you for your continued support.

Simone Hayes, President