The Australian Athletics Championships will return to Queensland Sport & Athletics Centre from Thursday, February 28 to Saturday, March 1, 2008. Incorporating the Selection Trials for the 2008 Olympic Games - to be held in Beijing, China in August - Australian and international track and field stars will give their all across a host of pulsating events.

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The cross-country season kicks off soon with accessible off-road runs close to town. First up is Kalinga Park Wooloowin on Saturday 15 March, Whites Hill Reserve Camp Hill on 29 March, then 7th Brigade Park Geebung on 5 April with first (short) course starting 3.30 p.m. All offer a range of distances from 1 to 5/6km and a great chance to sharpen up. More details and flier on www.qldathletics.org.au

Rosie, an Australian Cattle Dog chasing after her frisbee in Boulder, Colorado:
Click here for original

I’d never been to this northside run before, so went along to check it out. While a 6/12 hour night run round a 500m dirt track might seem like something for hardcore ultra runners, it turned out to be much more. The village atmosphere, with support crews setting up their picnic and camping gear, bustling with people, even a pub open for spectators added up to a very special atmosphere. And for your more typical distance runner, entering a 3 x 2hour relay team, with lots of other runners around to keep your pace solid, was a fantastic training option.

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Xterra sponsors races around the world and have been searching for a suitable off-road venue in Australia (sounds familiar). After extensive travel from North Queensland to Victoria, they recently settled on Daylesford as the best location, declaring it “a great venue and course in an award winning tourist location”. As well as their signature adventure race, the event will also include a sprint event, an MTB event and a Trail Run/Walk event on Saturday April 5, 2008.

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Another trails newsletter will be sent out today. Note: we get a lot of bounced emails from hastily scrawled email addresses on event entries - if you’re interested in trail running and haven’t been receiving the newsletter, email to info@runtrails.org with Newsletter in the subject line and we’ll update our list. Also see the Events page for an updated 2008 trails planning calendar.

Composed after Mount Glorious race (with apologies to AC/DC) …

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pic of the week: Stuart Payne with friends on Avalance peak - click to enlarge

For your enjoyment, two beautiful photos taken during recent flooding;
Click to see full size:

With only a small field of 40 allowed by the permit, this new race filled up a week before the start. A number of us took the chance to stay up at Mount Glorious on Saturday night, and the drive up through cloud and mist was a hint of things to come.

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