Sunday 19 February 2012

Nothing to do with me this time

Nothing much to report about me and my training at the moment - everything is going well - so I'll post a few bits and pieces about other ultra related stuff.

First up is a piece I found in the Northern Running Guide recently which mentions that at the up coming Sheffield Adventure Film Festival there will be a screening of the recent 16 minute film about Scottish international Fiona Rennie made by her husband Pete and Helen Brogan.  Congratulations to everyone involved in that.  You can also read about the short film at the Diversity Films website.  Do watch if you get the chance ... it is rather inspiring.

Next weekend there are a couple of races of interest.  Firstly there's a rather unusual race taking place in northern France from 22 February - a 48 hr treadmill race to which six top ultra runners have been invited including William Sichel.  As usual all the details are/will be on his website.

And then there's the Espoo indoor 24hr in Finland which is hosting the Swedish Championships (but not the Finnish - don't ask [I don't know the answer]).  All the best to Anth Courtney and Torill Fonn who are both taking part.  I hope Anth gets to see the northern lights while he's in Finland.

Finally, it appears that at the start of this month the Australian Ultra Runners Association announced selection details for the World 24 hr Championships later this year.  Basically the qualifying standards are 210 km for men and 190 km for women.  One thing I noticed, which I think is a good idea, is that they are also offering performance bonuses, ie

50 Aus dollars for men who achieve 200 km and women 180 km
100 Aus dollars for men who achieve 220 km and women 200 km
200 Aus dollars for men who achieve 240 km and women who 220 km
300 Aus dollars for men who achieve 260 km and women who 240 km

and also:

50 Aus dollars for finishing third
100 Aus dollars for finishing second
200 Aus dollars for finishing first

I think that's a really good motivational idea, especially as the AURA funds are limited and travelling expenses are less generous than for UK teams - all the details are here.

Overall, if I had a choice, I think I'd prefer my country to pay travelling expenses though.

1 comment:

Debs M-C said...

Even if Scottish Athletics agreed to pay off my mortgage, I don't think I could have gone any further!! :-)