Locally in Melbourne Chris White and Adrian Polidano hit the Princess Park trail for what may be the last time in a while with this being the last official event of one of the staples of the Melbourne running calendar.
Both took the overall win with Chris in the half marathon and Adrian in the 10k. A good training hit out with both gents in preparations for events coming up in the following months.
Up in Noosa it was a big weekend with two of the great fairy-tale stories of what our wonderful sport can help people build into their lives.
Travis Hill 5 years ago couldn’t swim and athletes that were around in the group when he started can attest to the struggles that he had out in the open water in the early days. As do a lot of triathletes, Trav battled with anxiety in the open water. In the early days open water sessions consisted of putting on his wetsuit and simply sitting in Port Phillip Bay just to relax and be calm in the water. Unconventional method maybe, but it proved effective as he gradually progressed to the point where a year later he was swimming solo in open water where and when he wanted.
His is a story that many can relate to, where at the start the ‘Mountain’ seems to big to climb. For the 4 and a bit years we have been working together his commitment to wanting to improve has been undeniable. Simply keeping on showing up day after day, month after month. He completed this years Ultraman event and has certainly lived up to his nickname in our squad of Neo to realise that there is in fact ‘no spoon’. Huge congratulations Neo.
Donia Tretheway-Brown put together 3 days that put simply is one of the most gutsy athletes I’ve had the pleasure of working with. Donia will be the first to say she is not the fastest, but when we talk about ridiculous distance events such as Ultraman, it is about enduring and she did that so well.
Like the majority of age groupers Donia has an incredibly busy life with a young family and running a business. For her, Ultraman was something she was willing to do whatever it took and that she did in her lead in and on race day. The commitment and fighting spirit The Ladybug showed did justice to the Coach that planted the seed of Ultraman with her and her previous Coach, the late and great Craig Percival. It pleases me to no end to see that she was able to follow through and honor her word of completing the event and within the cut off times last weekend.
So there in a weekend is summed up what sport and MEC is about. No matter where you are on the spectrum of fast, what matters is the effort you put forward to improving yourself each and every day. The world is full of gifted underachievers with plenty of potential. The great thing about endurance sports is those who are willing to give and do their best have the ability to build their own potential through good old fashion hard consistent work.