Category: Series 1

Triathlete and 19 year old nursing student Georgie Jenkins smiled all through her Running Sisters interview.

Georgie lives at home, travels to Bendigo for uni and works part-time in a cafe. She started running 9 years ago, so she’s been running for almost half her life!    Georgie grew up in an active family and tried many sports. When she was 10 her dad took her to the Echuca Moama Triathlon Club and there she found her love.  At age 14 she saved up for a ‘decent’ bike by working two part time jobs. Now during tri season (Oct – Apr) most Wednesday nights Georgie heads out to training with the club for a 200m swim, 10km bike ride and a 5km run. Out of tri season Georgie enjoys trail running, where she doesn’t run for a time and just enjoys the terrain.

A recent highlight was the 30km Mt Macedon run which took just over 5 hours. At the time she wasn’t sure if she loved it or hated it, but is proud of her achievement. I asked her how she keeps fuelled and focussed for such a long distance and she laughed about the treats stowed in her vest. She aims to complete 10 or 15kms on her own, and then incentivises herself with jelly beans at 20kms and a mint patty at 25kms!

Georgie exercises daily to maintain her fitness. This might be a gym session, time on the bike, a run or a walk. She usually runs 4 or 5 times a week, completing 5, 7 and 10 – 15 km.  Georgie also loves parkrun. She finds it’s the most effective thing for her running as she pushes herself. Georgie sometimes goes to Cohuna parkrun, a track she really enjoys. Her parkrun record goes back 3 or 4 years ago and is a very fast 22min, 25 secs.

Georgie’s recipe for self-improvement is consistency always and developing a plan and sticking to it. She warns against increasing distance too quickly and recommends parkrun as a great place to start, where people finish 5kms anywhere between 16 to 60 minutes.

In the back of Georgie’s mind is a goal to complete a marathon – and now she’s put it out there, she says sure it’s going to become a reality! Georgie’s aim with running is to enjoy it.  It’s not about setting too big a goal that it becomes a struggle or a chore, and she recommends the way to succeed is to set a goal for the year.

Fiona Newton loves a chat, so an interview about her running story was jam packed with detail.

Fi, 47, started running at 40 and there’s no stopping her. Her first event was 5km at Run for Kids
in 2012 when she was enticed to participate as it would mean a girls’ weekend away.

With little preparation time, a few days before she ran 5kms for the first time around Scenic Drive
in Echuca. Five years later the Scenic has become a familiar track.

Fi lives on a dairy farm at Bamawm Extension and works hard. Often milking morning and night,
Fi plans her week to fit in running.

A mum of 4, Fi’s needs to be well organised. Mason, her youngest is still at kinder which means
a drive into Echuca from the farm 3 times a week. She will often pick up farm supplies, do the
groceries and if she can will go for a run.

One of Fi’s running sisters is Hayley, a nurse who lives in Echuca. This week on their midweek
run during kinder they clocked up an impressive 30km.

Fi explained that running is important to her because farm life can be isolating and running is an
opportunity to socialise and connect with others. She tries to make it into parkrun on Saturday
mornings and quickly pairs up with a running buddy. It doesn’t bother Fi if those she runs with
just nod, and comment occasionally, as Fi is happy to do the talking!

Recently Fi has discovered a love of trail running. During these events she runs the flats, climbs
the hills and enjoys the scenery. Her first trail run was Nail Can in Albury with girls from the
Echuca Running Group.

Fi has exciting goals for 2020, and one of those is to complete the 50km Ultra-Trail Australia in
May. This is the world’s 3rd biggest trail running event, held in the Blue Mountains National Park.
With Mason heading off to Fi’s training schedule will increase a notch and she will likely run up to
55 kms a week.

Fi manages to fit in numerous events each year, and has been part of the Johnno’s Run team in
Run Melbourne for the past four years.

Fi is a running sister with loads of determination. She was raised by community minded parents,
and has a kind and generous heart.

Thanks for sharing your story Fi!

Emma is a “running mum” with two adorable boys Josh 7 and Will 4. In usual times she fits in
running around her kids, her work as a childhood educator, gym and her social life. The last eight
weeks have been different of course, and a new focus for Emma has been assisting her boys
with home learning. Running, riding, walking or scooting has been their daily outing and has
helped to keep the little family happy and healthy.

Emma, 32, started running when she finished school. At first she would run down the road, and
then walked and ran until she built up to 5 kms. Her main aim was weight loss, and now she finds
it’s a time to release stress and a time for herself.

When Emma became a mum she was passed on a pram from her sister Jenni and started
running more frequently with her kids in the pram. This pram, now 12 years old, has clocked up
hundreds of kilometres. A proud achievement for Emma was a sub 30 minute Parkrun with Will
and Josh in the pram! In the last six months the boys have become too big for the pram and it’s
been re-gifted to another running mum. This means the boys are now on their bikes and Emma
runs behind, often struggling to keep up with the fast pace.

In 2018 Emma became a single mum, and running helped her to adapt. Running was a time
when she could “zone out” and release the “feel good” endorphins.

In 2018 Emma also completed her first half marathon, the Run Forrest Trail Run in the Ottway
Ranges. Since then she’s completed the Run Melbourne half marathon as part of Echuca
Moama’s Johnno’s Run team. Her time was a fast 1 hour 55 minutes, a minute better than
expected. Her secret to success was focusing on a training plan and sticking to it.

Unfortunately, in September 2019 a back injury stopped Emma from running, and walking
became the new norm. After six months off and ongoing physio and osteo Emma has recently
started again. She is slowly increasing the kms each week, and is enjoying the great feeling of
happy running vibes again.

Emma feels grateful to live in such a beautiful location with many fabulous tracks and paths that
are perfect for running, walking and riding. Emma and her boys are often seen running and riding
along the Campaspe track or out on the Five Mile mountain bike track in Moama.
Emma’s goals are not focussed on personal bests, distance and running events, but are to
simply enjoy the ‘happy vibe’ running creates, and to of course keep up with her boys. She also
hopes to be running well into her 40’s and 50’s.

Running is an important part of Emma’s lifestyle. It helps her feel strong and happy, keeps her fit
and it’s what she loves to do!

 

Running a few times a week is an important ritual for Danielle. It’s a spiritual time and a time of
connection with her daughter Monique, who tragically lost her battle to Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine
Glioma (DIPG) an aggressive form of children’s brain cancer, in 2016.

Life changed for Danielle and her family in 2015 when Moni’s illness struck. At only 3 years old
Monique had been experiencing headaches, vomiting and dizziness and was rushed to
Melbourne. Moni underwent radiation treatments which gave the family 13 months to spend with
their precious daughter and sister.

Running has been a part of Danielle’s life since her late 20’s, when she ran in her lunch break
with colleagues.

First she learnt to run 5 kms, and then 10 kms. When her children came along running was
something she enjoyed intermittently.

However, since the loss of her daughter running has given Danielle a purpose and it helps her
deal with her grief, “running is very much like grief, some days are easier than others”.
Not long after Moni passed away Danielle decided to participate in the 15km, ‘Run 4 the Kids’ to
help raise money for the charity “The Cure Starts Now Australia”, DIPG research. Over the past
three years she has raised more than $35,000.

A focus on fundraising and participating in fun runs is something that involves the whole family
and their friends. Darryl and their children, Olivia and Zoe (Monique’s twin) walk while Danielle
runs!

Danielle recently completed her first half marathon as part of the 2019 Johnno’s Run team at
Run Melbourne. This time she was raising funds to support Community Living & Respite
Services Inc., a disability organisation, as Danielle has first hand experience of being a carer.
With a half marathon now ticked off, the next dream is a full marathon, and maybe an
international destination could be on the list.

Fundraising to find a cure gives Danielle extra motivation to run. She is currently planning a
Running Streak event and hopes that this will encourage people to get active, and maybe even
ignite a love of running. The Running Streak will involve a small donation and a commitment to
run or walk at least 1 km every day of the month of September.
Running has been healing for Danielle and she hopes sharing her story will encourage others
experiencing loss to try it for themselves.

Cinda Herrett is one determined running sister, who continues to inspire her local community, and the running community across Australia.

Cinda, 40, first ran in her 20’s and began to step it up in her early 30’s after the arrival of her daughter Indy.

When Indy was just a few years old Cinda moved to the Echuca region.
Around this time life took a turn for the worse, which led to Cinda taking action and spending time in rehab in Melbourne. It was during rehab that she began walking on the treadmill, and then to the park with a couple of others who were also battling alcohol addiction.

On her return to Echuca Cinda gradually got back into running.
Running in Echuca introduced Cinda to a whole new set of people, whose lives had a different focus. This has been life changing for Cinda and her family.

Over the past five years Cinda has run with several running groups, joined the Johnno’s Run team who fundraise to build homes for people with disability, had a personal coach, has inspired others to run and has even travelled to Berlin where she run a marathon. Participating in an event with 44,000 others is an experience she’ll never forget.

Cinda has faced other battles, particularly recurring stress fractures. Currently Cinda is working on strength training to help address this. Taking action again, she reached out on social media to Lisa Weightman, Oymplian and Asutralia’s fastest female marathon runner who has experienced 9 stress fractures. Cinda was thrilled that Lisa responded to her request for advice.

Another opportunity for Cinda arose in 2017 when she was asked to co-direct parkrun in Echuca. This came at a great time for CInda as she was taking it easy due to injury and enabled her to stay connected to the running community.

Cinda enjoys a healthy lifestyle, which is evidenced by her healthy glow – whether she’s running, walking the dogs, directing parkrun or supporting the community Cinda always has a word of encouragement for others.

Cinda has a motto she loves to share, “When you think you can’t go any further, just take one more step”.

This motto doesn’t only apply to running – we need to take the first step and then with each next step we are closer to accomplishing our goals.