President's Report: November 2024

November has been jammed packed with nine events on our calendar being held around the country. Our Marketing Coordinator Kate has certainly been kept on her toes this past month covering them all!

The weather is heating up and we have seen a few events affected. Just this past weekend we saw GPT miler having to stop the race as medical teams were overwhelmed by runners suffering heat illness and it was not safe to continue. We applaud them for making this tough decision in the best interest of the runners. Coast to Kosci also saw a handful of runners taken to hospital, which outlines the importance to look after yourselves and your fellow runners out there as summer approaches.

Last weekend the 50km National Championships was  held up on the Gold Coast at the GC50. This event is also host to the Athletics Australia 50km Road Championships. There were some outstanding performances on yet another hot day, with an unfortunate close-to-the-finish line collapse by AUTRA member and 50km AUS representative Tom Brimelow who was leading the race. We are glad to say that he is okay. Again, it highlights the need for caution in the heat. Congratulations to the 2024 50km National Champions Matt Cooper and Maddyson Mallet.

Next week our 100km Australian Team heads off to Bangalore, India to compete on 7 December at the IAU 100km World Championships and we wish them all the very best. We will provide a link on the Facebook page for you to follow their progress.

With a month left of 2024 we still have four more events to follow before we kick off 2025 – I hope you are all starting to study the 2025 calendar and plan your year as we have some cracking events listed!

Our new AUTRA merch has hit the shores and will be ready for ordering soon so watch this space, it will be hopefully before Christmas so you have some good stocking fillers.

Just a reminder that applications close on 1 December if you wish to apply to be an AUTRA Endorsed Coach for 2025. Please visit our Facebook page for more information or apply here.

If you are looking for Christmas gift ideas head over to our Member Benefits page and grab some great bargains with your AUTRA membership discount from our partners.

That’s if from me for November, thank you to all of our members and of course our volunteers for your continued support.

Simone Hayes, President