Our Athlete Ambassadors

Team Hollie Duncan is proud to be sponsored by Australian Gold Canada! We are an Ontario-based competitive ladies curling team that competes on both the Ontario Curling Tour and the World Curling Tour. In 2022 we proudly represented Ontario at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay and we look to represent Ontario again at the Scotties in Kamloops, British Columbia in February 2023. Between us we have Ontario Women’s Champions, Canadian University & Collegiate Champions, Canadian Junior Medalist, Canadian Mixed & Mixed Doubles Medalists and Olympic Trials representatives. We look to add to this resume as the years go on, and could not chase these dreams without the support from our sponsor Australian Gold Canada.

My name is Amanda Nelson and I’m a professional ultra runner. When I’m not training or competing, I milk cows on a dairy farm, and am a busy mother to 2 amazing active kids Hanna and Chase. I have a very supportive husband, Danny Nelson who has been there every step of the way encouraging me. I have 3 dogs, 2 beagles who are now retired running dogs and a shepherd lab cross who is with me for almost all my training runs. I started running consistently in spring 2015 with my two kids in a jogging stroller because they wanted to go fast – and I just never stopped. I started racing in 2018 and realized It was something I was good at and I enjoyed it. Friends of mine got me into ultra-running in 2020 and I realized I was really good at that, placing 2nd at That Dam Hill 24-hour Road Race in my first ultra-race ever. A month later, I was first female in The Bad Thing 50 km Trail Race. In 2021, I won multiple ultra-races. Notably, I placed first overall and set the Canadian soil 24-hour record with 227.33 km on a hilly course at That Dam Hill in London, Ontario. Also, my last race of 2021 was again at The Bad Thing 50 km Trail Race where I placed first female for the second year in a row. 2022 I ran my 1st sub 3 marathon in the spring with a time of 2:58:07 at the Mississauga marathon with a 2nd female finish, the following month I ran the Canadian 24-hour championships and broke the national 12 hour and 100-mile (14:45:51) records. I ran Persistence backyard ultra in the summer and was the last person standing of everyone with 33 hours/loops earning me a spot on the Canadian team for the ultra-backyard world championships in October. I ended up being the last women standing in the world at that event with 55 hours/loops. In December I ran Desert Solstice 100mile/24hr track invitational in Phoenix Arizona, a race for elite athletes, and bettered my precious 12-hour national record with 135.072km. My future goals are to go after the Canadian 24-hour national record and better my backyard ultra both which I hope to accomplish in 2023.