IAU Career Award 2020

Ian Cornelius

Ian was instrumental in establishing a strong foundation for Australian ultrarunning. Putting his hand up to take over the Australian Ultra Runners Association (AURA) presidency in 2002 was to become a pivotal moment that has driven the huge growth in the profile and quality of ultrarunning across Australia. He´s injection of professionalism coupled with his excellent business acumen quickly produced results.

Ian´s enthusiasm saw the establishment of a top quality 100 km championship. Race sanctioning, insurance for race directors and representative teams at IAU Championship races all came together under Ian´s direction. He was an event organiser of some of Australia´s most popular ultra running events. He was also a veteran of 4 x 330 kms stage races and a contestant in the 1994 World 1,000 mile championships. Many would be unaware that Ian self funded many of his early races to the tune of several thousand dollars.

When Ian handed the presidency over in 2011, after 9 years at the helm, AURA had been transformed into a thriving organization experiencing unprecedented expansion which continues to this day.

Ian sadly passed away in 2019 but his legacy lives on with the current healthy state of ultrarunning in Australia and around the world.

Andy Milroy

Andy is no stranger to the world of ultrarunning. Since the 1970s, Andy has been the world authority on record keeping and statistics. He is the Association of Road Racing Statisticians Co-ordinator as well as a global road running historian, statistician and writer and is the author of “The Long Distance Record Book,” editor of books on training for ultradistance events and the primary originator of the “Ultra Marathon Race Handbook”, the accepted rule book for ultrarunning. He is often asked for his expert opinion on the statistics behind ultra performances and always provides some interesting, commentary.

Andy was a key respected member of the UK ultrarunning scene as it developed further from the 70s and remains so to the present day. He was the key statistician for the Road Runners Club which were the keepers of ultra world best performances before the IAU was formed and Andy provided the expertise to maintain these. It was not surprising therefore that he became one of the founding members of the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) and has been deeply involved in the historical and statistical aspects of the sport since the inception of the IAU. He still remains a reliable and integral provider of records and statistics to the IAU.

Jacek Bedkowski
IAU Director of Communication