OLYMPIAN Lauren Boden hopes a $1 million track overhaul at the Australian Institute of Sport will attract the country's best athletes to Canberra next year.
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And the hurdler is adamant a six-week training shake-up will not affect her preparation for the Commonwealth Games.
The AIS will start the makeover of its athletics facilities on Thursday; it includes relaying the surface of the track.
It means Olympians Boden, Melissa Breen and Tristan Thomas as well as Paralympic gold medal-winner Evan O'Hanlon will have to find a temporary training home.
Boden's coach Matt Beckenham has been scouting locations for a training facility for his athletes.
The most likely option is a marked track on the grass fields at the back of the institute, while Boden's hurdling practice would be limited to a short indoor track.
It comes just eight months before the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
''They're sorting out where we'll train … It makes it difficult because we don't have another rubber track in Canberra,'' Boden said.
''But at the same time we're just doing fitness work anyway so the grass will be just as good, if not better.
''The track's not in great condition at the moment so when they redo it, it might mean we can get some of the Australian domestic competitions back at the track.
''People have always loved coming here and raced really well in Canberra, it might help get them back if it's nice and fast.''
Canberra will have two international standard synthetic tracks when work is complete on a renovation at Woden as well.
Work at the AIS is expected to finish on December 31 at a cost close to $1 million.
The ACT government has allocated $5 million to build an athletics facility in Woden.
The two tracks are the results of different designs.
The AIS track was last upgraded in 2007. This upgrade included a shape correction of the asphalt layer and a new Mondo surface - a rubber carpet which gives more consistent bounce and traction.
The surface is made in Italy and its lifespan is five to seven years.
Boden said the AIS track did not have sufficient cushioning and some athletes had complained of shin soreness.
The AIS said now is the best time to renovate to ensure there's minimal disruption to Commonwealth Games preparations.
Boden will race in the Queanbeyan Gift on November 23 and 24, but has a light workload before ramping up her training next year.
She has not completed a hurdles session since making the semi-finals of the 400 metre hurdles at the world championships in Moscow in August.
''My first 400 metre hurdles will be sometime in January so hopefully the track is finished by the end of the year … We can't control it and the track's not in great condition,'' Boden said.
''I won't forget how to hurdle … the track is really hard at the moment, it's got no more give in it and you don't get anything back from it.''