COACH’S CORNER - Here for the Women’s race by Dr Kellie Angel

August 30, 2024

today, more women than ever are staying active while pregnant, and Dr Kellie Angel provides advice on whether or not you should keep running.

There was a time when it was frowned upon for women to run. Whilst there are odd tales of female runners and races as early as 776 BC, these were few and far between. It wasn’t until Kathrine Switzer’s infamous 1967 Boston Marathon that times began to change.

Fast forward 60 years and no one thinks twice about seeing women running. However, while gender equality has increased, race participation rates remain significantly imbalanced, particularly as races get longer, indicating that there are still many barriers to women making it to the start line. Factors highlighted by advocacy group She.Races include things such as strict cut-off times, unequal coverage (if you can’t see it, you can’t be it), inappropriate provisions, uncertain logistics, and the big one – a lack of pregnancy deferrals.

With lottery entries, qualification race requirements, time restrictions, and generally just training for trail and ultra, races are complicated enough without a baby in your belly. Women shouldn’t have to make tough decisions about whether to forego their dream race, or run it unsafely because of a business rule that is likely just an administration complexity.

In 2018, Western States Endurance Run introduced a pregnancy deferral policy. This might only be six years ago, but it was progressive for its time, and it remains somewhat so, with no time restrictions on how long you can defer.

In the same year (2018), UTMB had no pregnancy deferral option, resulting in the famous photo of British runner Sophie Power pumping and breastfeeding her 3 month old at Courmayeur, half way through the iconic 106 mile race. This photo, taken by Alexis Berg, was the catalyst for some significant changes in the running world (both road and trail) and Sophie has become a powerful advocate for women runners across the globe. In the past couple of years she has influenced the World Majors to introduce deferral policies and worked with the women’s equality committee of the Pro Trail Runners Association (PTRA) to achieve a five year pregnancy deferral policy for the UTMB World Series.

In 2024 women have more options and opportunities in spite of planning for children, being pregnant, or post-partum, but how do they know what’s safe and appropriate to do? You are given so much conflicting information as new parents, being an athlete can add a whole other layer of complexity. How do women set goals without knowing timeframes, without knowing how their bodies will respond to childbirth or how they will cope as new mums? Where do they find reliable, evidence-based information to support their participation? Being a runner can be a huge part of one’s identity, and it’s important that we can find the right information to retain that identity alongside that of ‘mum.’ And hot tip: it’s not usually from the latest elite on Instagram.

Can women run through pregnancy?

Absolutely, if you were already a runner and perhaps not planning on running your first ultra with a bun on the oven. But everyone is different. Some will choose to stop right away, whilst others may run all the way until full term. Some factors that need to be considered: pelvic floor strength, Relaxin and its impact on ligaments (particularly when trail running!), increased resting heart rate, weight gain, fatigue, changes in blood pressure, changes in centre of gravity, and risk of falls. It is important for women to do their homework, speak with their treating clinicians and listen to their body. Many will find that their activities will naturally progress to less running and more cross training as they get closer to term.

Where to get the best advice:

Your GP
Your obstetrician
Your coach – though be mindful of their level of education in women’s health
Australian Institute of Sport
Pelvic Floor Health
Sports Medicine Australia 1
Sports Medicine Australia 2

How quickly should women return to running?

Every mother is different and so too is their journey back to running. It is great to resume low impact aerobic exercise and strength work when safe to do so, but return to high impact exercises such as running (and trail running) demands more caution. Women’s health practitioners should be familiar with the Return to Running post-natal guidelines, which offer a guided, evidence-based approach to the resumption of running.

A couch to 5km program from 12 weeks post-partum is a good place to start, as long as all the other boxes have been ticked and there are no other risk factors. Some considerations include: mode of delivery (caesarean versus vaginal birth), pelvic floor strength including continence and pelvic organ prolapse, breastfeeding status and breast support, diastasis recti (abdominal separation), sleep and psychological factors.

Ensure your team is well educated and be wary of the local PT sprucing new mum’s programs without doing your research- if they’re prescribing planks and tuck jumps you're probably in the wrong place. In the moment it can seem like such a slow resumption of the thing you love, but it truly is such a small slice in time. Patience will yield the best results.

Where to get the best advice:

Your GP
Your Obstetrician
Your coach - though be mindful of their level of education in women’s health and have open conversations about this.
Your Women’s health physiotherapist (if you don’t have one, find one now!)
Return to running post-natal guidelines, Researchgate
Australian Institute of Sport: Pelvic Floor Health, Breastfeeding
Sports Medicine Australia
Appropriate ‘Couch to 5km’ style program

Whilst we’ve still got a long way to go, the next generation of female runners is so exciting. Mum runners have a whole new level of strength and endurance and they deserve the chance to show it off, without unnecessary rush or risk to their health and safety. We have so many amazing role models here in Australia and we need to keep pushing forward for equality. The PTRA had 500 t-shirts made and launched at Western States- they sold out in two days.

We’re here for the women’s race and it looks like everyone else is too!

References

Goom, Tom & Donnelly, Grainne & Brockwell, Emma. (2019). Returning to running postnatal – guidelines for medical, health and fitness professionals managing this population. 10.13140/RG.2.2.35256.90880/2.
Australian Institute of Sport, Female Performance & Health Initiative, from: https://www.ais.gov.au/fphi
Sports Medicine Australia, from: https://sma.org.au/
She.Races, from: https://www.sheraces.com/
Runners World: A History of Women’s Running, from: https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/motivation/a26748147/a-history-of-womens-running/

Kellie Angel is running coach with over 10 years experience working with individuals and groups at all levels and abilities, on the road and on the trail. With a PhD in Occupational Therapy, Kellie takes a holistic approach to her coaching and contributed this flair in the development of the Athletics Australia Level 3 Trail & Ultra Coaching course.

Kellie is an elite ultra trail runner in her own right, and will be representing Australia for the 6^th time in October, this time at the Asia Pacific Trail Running Championships in South Korea. She is a mum of two boys (2 & nearly 4) and has experienced the rollercoaster of navigating pregnancy, post-partum, and the role of mum whilst maintaining her identity as a trail runner.

iF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION ON BEING TRAINED BY Kellie, CLICK THROUGH HERE TO OUR AURA ENDORSED COACHES PAGE.

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AUTRA News Report 19-02-2025

By Kate Dzienis • February 19, 2025

The latest in race results, covering Cradle Mountain Run, City Run, Oscars 100 Hut 2 Hut and Yaberoo Trail Ultra.

Final 2024 Points Competition Results

By Alexis Oosterhoff • January 30, 2025

Results for the 2024 AUTRA Points Competition have been finalised, and are available on our Points Competition page. Full details of the top 10 (as shared on Facebook during January) are detailed below, and results for all participating AUTRA members can be found in the documents at the above link. It was a real battle throughout the year between our top two finishers, Phil Gore & Kevin "BK" Matthews, with both giving it their it their all at events, and through contributions to the community - volunteering at multiple events, and submitting articles to our monthly newsletter, Ultramag. They finished within 2km of total distance for the year (Phil on 1203.087km, and Kevin on 1205.510km), and it was only Phil's final volunteering effort on 6 Inch Trail Marathon in December that gave him the that very narrow victory. As you'd be aware from previous communications, this marks the end of the Points Competition. With trail running (of all distances) now incorporated into AU T RA's constitution, and after careful consideration of the costs of the competition payouts in it's current form, the committee felt it was time for it's retirement. This marks my seventh and final year of delivering the points competition to membership (2018-2024), after taking on the role from Cheryl Symons. It has brought me great joy in doing so, and I feel like I've had an opportunity to get to know so many of our members through seeing their race (and volunteering) performances over the years! I'm continuing in my role as the AUS/NZL statistician for DUV (from whom we shared the data for the points comp), and you can expect to continue to find your ultra-race result on their site. 1st Place - Phil Gore (WA) - 86 points Phil's achievements this year have included a massive 265.653km (and 2nd place) at the IAU 24h Asia & Oceania Championships, wins at the Red Dirt Backyard Ultra (33 laps), the Australian leg of Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship (96 laps), and the Soochow/Taipei 24h Ultramarathon (270.826km). He also knocked out an easy (!) 72km at the Light Horse Ultra 24h in between supporting his amazing wife Gemma. Those two 24h wins netted Phil new Oceania 24h Open Male records, IAU Level 1 qualifiers, and pushed him to the top of Australia's 24h trophy board (with only the great Yiannis Kouros having run further). Phil topped-up his points by contributing one article to Ultramag, worked as an Event Director at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, and volunteered at a further five events through the year. He finished on 86 points. 2nd Place - Kevin Matthews (WA) - 84 points Finishing in 2nd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Kevin Matthews. He monstered his way through the year with finishes at Australia Day Ultra 100km, Delirious WEST 200mi, 24 laps at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, 190km at Light Horse Ultra 24h, 23 laps at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, and also completed Feral Pig 100 miler, Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km. And to top things off, he contributed five articles to Ultramag, and volunteered at five events. BK ran 1205km in Ultramarathon races this year, all of them AUTRA-listed, and surpassed 100 marathon finishes (including 51 Ultramarathons!) Kevin finished the year on 84 points, a massive 34 points ahead of our 3rd place finisher Sue Robertson. 3rd Place - Sue Robertson (WA) - 50 points Finishing in 3rd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Sue Robertson. Sue completed the Ultra Series 100 miler trilogy of Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST, and rounded out her year with the Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km races. She received 30 points from the racing at AUTRA-listed events, and was awarded a further 20 points by volunteering across eight events and contributing two articles to Ultramag, for a total of 50 points for the year. Thank you Sue! 4th Place - Margie Hadley (WA) - 47 points Finishing in 4th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Margie Hadley . She was the top-female finisher at both the No Time to Die Frontyard Ultra & Wild Dog Backyard Ultra, 2nd at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, ran 182km at the Australian 24h Track Invitational and placed 3rd at Coast to Kosci. Margie received 47 points in the competition 5th Place - Melissa Robertson (NSW) - 44 points Finishing in 5th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Melissa Robertson. Melissa took out 1st place at Irrational SOUTH 200 miler, 2nd place at Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place at Hume & Hovell 100 miler, 3rd place at Rumble in the Jungle and 6th place at Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko 100 miler! She also volunteered at the GNW 50km event, receiving 44 points in the competition! 6th Place - Aaron Young (WA) - 42 points Finishing in 6th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Aaron Young . Aaron finished in 1st place at each of the Ultra Series "Triple Crown" of 200 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), 55 laps at Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship, and rounded his year out with Feral Pig 100 miler. Aaron receives 42 points, just nudging ahead of Maree Connor (who also finished on 42 points) on a count-back 7th Place - Maree Connor (NSW) - 42 points Finishing in 7th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Maree Connor. Maree had an outstanding year, achieving 2nd place with 221km (and an IAU Level 1 qualifier) at the IAU 24th Asian and Oceania Championships, 1st place at the Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place with 67km at the Southern Sydney 6h race, and 1st place with 116km at the Narrabeen Allnighter 12h. Maree also competed at Spartathlon race this year (for which she contributed an article to the September Ultramag on her experience), receiving 42 points in the competition. 8th Place - Darren Linney (SA) - 41 points Finishing in 8th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is SA's Darren Linney . Darren completed 34 laps at No Time to Die BYU, 199km at the Adelaide 24h race, and 814km at the Australian 6 Day race, for a total of 1241km raced and 41 points . 9th Place - Tristan Cameron (WA) - 40 points Finishing in 9th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Tristan Cameron. Tristan completed the Ultra Series Triple Crown of 200 mile races (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), along with Feral Pig 100 miler, for a total of 1154km raced and 40 points. 10th Place - Jen Millum (WA) - 39 points Finishing in 10th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Jen Millum . Jen finished 1st at all three of the Ultra Series Trilogy of 100 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), and was 2nd female with 35 laps at the Wild Dog Backyard Ultra. With a volunteer stint at the Yaberoo Trail Ultra, Jen finished the year with 39 points in the competition. To view the complete list of members who secured points in 2024 click here and then follow through to Points Summary under the 2024 tab. All winners have already been contacted, with cash prizes distributed for 1st - 7th places, and AUTRA Store vouchers sent for 8th, 9th & 10th.