Update from AURA Committee

August 22, 2017

pation in the sport of Ultra Running
Expanding the AURA membership base through addressing the membership value proposition
Assistance and support for event organisers to provide sustainable ultra running events
Provide leadership in terms of governance for the sport of ultra running and member well being
Investigation of funding opportunities outside of current revenue streams
Provide initiatives and pathways to improve the performance of Australian athletes in sanctioned international competition
Ensure AURA provides equity to all members of our society that wishes to participate in the sport of ultra running.

A full outline of the process for developing this strategy can be found here. Members cannominate to be part of a subcommittee addressing one of the above areas here. Nominations close Saturday 2 September.

Development of AURA events safety standards

Earlier this year a sub committee reviewed AURA's event listing process, one of the key recommendations made by this committee was that AURA develop a formal event safety standard. Andy Hewat (Great Ocean Walk), Billy Pearce (Canberra 48), Greg Robinson and Tom Landon-Smith (Ultra Trail Australia) have volunteered to develop the standards and the associated documentation.

As well, AURA member Peter Lugg will be assisting at the documentation phase, Peter has a long professional history in risk management, something that will be invaluable. Similar safety standards (AAAS) are being developed by other adventure sports in consultation with Government, and it is likely these standards will become the defacto standard Government departments will insist on being met for ultra running events.

Developing the standard will be a huge undertaking, and we thank the team for volunteering to drive this forward. This is such an important initiative for our sport that will help protect the well being of our members.

UltraMag to go online: Marketing Officer needed (paid position)

The 2017 survey to AURA members found 70% of members fully supported a move to change UltraMag from a printed quarterly publication to an online magazine.

The AURA Committee has decided to make this change and in the coming months we will see the launch of a members only magazine style website that will be updated regularly with stories of interest to our members, as well regular newsletter emails with links to these stories will be broadcast.

The AURA Committee decided it is not sustainable to rely on volunteers to generate this publication, and a decision was made to reinvest the funds previously spent printing UltraMag in paying a person to undertake the role of Marketing Officer for the organisation. The role includes additional responsibilities to the publishing of UltraMag such as the management of AURA's social media and other tasks. To apply for this position, please see the job description here. The role will be trialled for the rest of this calendar year.

Race results stats for members, association with DUV

AURA Treasurer Alexis Oosterhoff has entered into an agreement with the German Ultramarathon Association (DUV) to act as the Australia representative to DUV, and will be responsible for the entry of Australian ultra-marathon event results into the DUV Ultra Marathon Statistics database.

The DUV database was first established in 2004, and stores results for 4,000+ international events each year with over 700,000 individual runner profiles. As part of this collaboration, the DUV team have provided AURA with direct access to their database, which we use for automating the national ranking and points comp details.

This data-entry service will be provided to all ultra marathon events in Australia, regardless of their affiliation with AURA. Over the next few months, you can expect to see improved integration between DUV and the AURA website, along with more regular updates to national rankings. And, we will be looking at adding extensively to DUV's database, using our own records that go back as far as the 1980's.

Drugs in sport, anti doping

AURA has initiated discussions with IAU to establish requirements and protocols for our members to comply with the WADA code. Implementation of this will require liaison with other third party organisations, and we will advise outcomes when these discussions have taken place.

AURA merchandise

One finding of the 2017 survey to members was that there was an overwhelming wish to have AURA branded merchandise available. The committee has decided that this will be made available through an "on demand supplier". There is still a lot of old AURA merchandise held by the association we intend to make available for sale online at very reasonable pricing to clear this stock. We are seeking a volunteer to take on the merchandise coordinator role to assist with selling the old stock and setting up the new "on demand" system. Please see the role description here.

As you can see from the above, the committee has been very active in shaping strategies and initiatives to build AURA into an organisation that offers more to its members than ever before, and make ultra running an even stronger sport than it is currently. However please remember that AURA is its ~435 members, not just the four members of the committee. Let's refer to AURA as "us", not "them", all of us have a role in ensuring the future of the organisation and the sport, so please seriously consider volunteering to assist, especially as a member of one of the strategic plan development sub committees, this is your opportunity to have significant input in our direction.

As always, if you have any questions or queries, please don't hesitate to get in touch by calling me on 0457 149 169 or via email at president@aura.asn.au.

Rob Donkersloot

AURA President

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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.