Eager Y Striders gathered at Quarantine Park on Sunday morning ready to participate in the Anne Rinaldi Fun Run and Walk.
Our energetic trainers, Cassie and Patrick were there to take us through a warmup and make sure that we were ready to start. Then it was the countdown, and we were off!
As per usual the runners were away first, with most of them planning to complete a 12 kilometre run in 90 minutes. Many of the walkers were also planning to add an extra 2 kilometres to their standard walk, with the goal of 8 kilometres in mind.
This was an excellent plan, because most of the runners and walkers returned to Quarantine Park at the same time and could cheer each other on. It was wonderful to see so many people push themselves to make this a standout achievement for the year. The runners who had already finished, then ran back to catch up with those at the tail end to offer support and to help them push through that final barrier of the hills at the end of the run.
By now everyone was hungry and it wasn’t long before they found their way to Ros’s house and were sitting in her beautiful garden enjoying a well-earned, tasty and nutritious breakfast. There was plenty to eat and many thanks to those Y Striders who took on breakfast duties and supplied such a wonderful selection of breakfast foods. Special thanks to Ros and Leonie who performed their own marathon effort chopping all the fruit for that huge fruit salad.
The main event of the morning was the award of the Anne Rinaldi Trophy. This trophy is given to the club member who has shown continuous enthusiasm and commitment to training in order to achieve a personal best. John W, our Club Captain was there to announce the winner of this award and it went to Ann Pritchard!
Ann has been a member of our club for less than 2 years. Her previous maximum running efforts had been 5 kilometres. However, Ann took to training with her Y Strider friends with great enthusiasm. In the past year she has completed 2 half marathons, numerous shorter runs – of around 10 – 15 kilometres, given her swimming skills a boost, and competed in Ironman competitions. Ann has approached these activities with a “can-do” enthusiasm that is hard to resist and has boosted her own fitness and achievements in many ways.
Ann’s natural enthusiasm and love of life has made her many good friends at Y Striders, and she will be greatly missed after she returns to the UK. We will be looking forward to her coming back to us and picking up the friendships and training sessions again.
Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, to Ros for offering her home for the breakfast again, and to everyone who contributed in so many different ways to make this such a success. Time to start training for next year!
A sincere thank you to Ann P for being such an active and delightful member of our club. Your enthusiasm and determination have been commendable and you have been an inspiration to us all. You have made many friends who will miss you greatly. We all wish you well for your return to the UK and hope that it won’t be too long before we see your smiling face back with us again.
JF
Such a great day and the most worthy recipient received the award. Well done Ann and thank you Ros for your hospitality