ian cornelius

President AURA

“The Australian team enjoyed the Commonwealth championships immensely. Our team fared quite well, among some strong and spirited competition. The organisers did a great job from the initial welcome ceremony right through to the prize-giving and farewells.

All officials ranging from timekeeping and marshalling to event announcing by the irrepressible Nadeem Khan, were all first class. Moreover, the atmosphere was extremely friendly. The weather at Keswick was extraordinarily good and the venue was first class. It was wonderful to catch up with a number of legends including Don Ritchie, the founding father of the IAU Mr Malcolm Campbell and his wife Marilyn and numerous other distinguished guests.

I hope that there will be another similar championship in the not too distant future. Ultra running is enjoying resurgence in Australia. The quality of performances at Keswick was high with Jackie Fairweather's time of 7:41:23 being the second fastest time in the women's 100km in the world for the year to date. Additionally, three of the men’s 24 hour performances are ranked in the top five performances in the world for the year to date.

Well done to Norman Wilson and his team and the many officials and competitors who made these championships such a resounding success. The inclusion of ultra races in the Olympic calendar is long overdue and these performances may assist in having ultra running given its rightful recognition by the sporting community..... as the ultimate challenge in athletics."