President's Report: Simone Hayes for February 2024

Simone Hayes • February 29, 2024

it's full steam ahead

February seems to have come and gone in a flash! Your Committee have once again been extremely busy this month working on many aspects of the association, as we work towards growth and new opportunities within our sport in Australia.

With the race calendar in full swing, we along with the race directors and runners alike, have a lot to look forward to in 2024.

This month we see the return of a 100km road race held by the amazing Sri Chinmoy Marathon team. This race is also host to the National 100km Championships and we are very appreciative of them getting this off the ground and look forward to an exciting night of racing.

We had some fabulous events this month and if you missed the news and great pics go back and have a read of this week’s news report.

News from the Committee desk covers quite a few areas with our focus right now being on member growth which so far has been unprecedented – so we thank you all for supporting AURA!

We have also been busy working closely with the Australian state trail associations, with an aim to become more connected so as to further recognise this discipline within AURA. Our aim is to become a unified national voice, enhancing our focus on grass roots events - ultimately bolstering trail and ultra running, together.

Trail running is not new to AURA – in fact if you look at our calendar, around 80% of our events are now trail, as trail and ultra already significantly overlap. Bringing trail and ultra together in a more formal agreement means GROWTH for AURA and will unify these closely linked sporting disciplines and allow us to have greater, more meaningful, stakeholder engagement as a larger group. Members and athletes will reap the benefits that come from a united and growing organisation.

So – while it is a work in progress – watch this space!

We hope you are enjoying the new website! We have also been continuously updating it as we bring in more content from our coaches and running gurus, and also adding to our Member Benefits. Our State Reps are actively making good use of their contacts in each state to bring our members more value. If you have any recommendations or contacts, or products and services you would like to see offered here, please don’t hesitate to contact your state reps.

Preparations for the hosting of the upcoming 24 Hour Asian Oceania Championships are moving along well and I’m sure our athletes who are competing in the championships and also in the open event are clocking up a stack of kilometres!

Next month is the Australian Short Course Trail Championships being hosted by Noosa Ultra Trail 50km. There are still some entries left, so if you haven’t been up north to the beautiful Noosa hinterland, I really recommend this event after racing there the past two years.

That’s just a hint of what goes on behind the scenes at AURA, I’m under instruction to keep these reports short so I’ll save something for next month! But rest assured that you have a team of volunteers that are working tirelessly to improve and grow the sport we all love.

Happy running!

Simone Hayes - President

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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.