“I always loved running –
it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could
go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt
like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the
courage of your lungs.”~Jesse Owens
Lisa Weightman had countless Australians glued to the TV as she
represented her country in the Marathon at the London Olympics just weeks ago.
Lisa became just the third Australian woman to finish in the top 20 of an
Olympic marathon when she took a minute off her previous best time. 2h27m = 3min29sec
per km. That kind of running is phenomenal and really hard to even get your
head around. What I found even more impressive was that Lisa was able to do
this at the Olympics. With all of the attached adrenaline and enthusiasm, her
ability and discipline to stick to a race plan is outstanding. She’s an
inspiration.
On Saturday I was pushing up Anderson street during the
UltraSpirit event when Lisa Weightman effortlessly floated past me. She could have
been anyone out there, there was no Australian uniform, no fanfare, just a very
fit woman doing exactly the same thing as everyone else.
A huge number of Australians have seen Turia Pitt on television
recently too. Her courage has inspired all of them. The Ultra Spirit event on
the weekend was created to support Kate Sanderson and Turia who both suffered
burns to over 60% of their bodies when they were trapped by a bushfire during
an ultra-marathon in the Kimberley last year. Their lives are completely
different today and their days are to be filled with painful physical and
emotional challenges for years to come. On Saturday morning as the group of us
were laughing, jogging and chatting our way around the track we passed Turia.
There she was in her full body compression suit and mask walking around the Tan.
It was a highlight of the event for me and by far the most inspiring moment of
all my running days. Turia ran across the finish line to much applause from all
assembled. One very courageous woman, with an amazing story, doing exactly the
same thing as everyone else.
Leah Opie just for the record happens to be my wife. When I
told her I was writing this post she understandably felt uncomfortable about
being included alongside Lisa and Turia. However for me she provides the
perfect example of why I love running. Leah began training just 6 months ago.
One hundred metres at a time, to get fit and healthy for her kids and herself. On Saturday she ran two full laps of the Tan
without stopping, not even up Anderson street did she walk. Her nerves before
the event were shot and she was less than impressed with my far too relaxed
attitude leading into the race. I asked her if she wanted me to run with her.
Ahh, that would be a definite No! At the finish line Leah's trainer (below) and I were doing the math on
her expected time of arrival and figured she was maybe seven minutes away.
We looked down along the Tan track and there she was already running strongly towards a
smashing of her longest ever event. The smile on her face was ear to ear. The
tears in my eyeballs were pushing hard. We hugged at the end, so happy with a
great result. One very determined woman doing exactly the same as everyone
else.
You can be an Olympian, a survivor, a mum or an anyone. If
you run, you’ll inspire someone, somewhere. That’s just a fact.
This is why I love running. We all bring our personal
stories to the start line, we stand there completely unique and yet when we run, we are exactly the same.
Oh yeah, and it’s just so so fun.
To support Turia and Kate, donations can be made via the
following link.
