August: Quote of the MonthWe delight in the beauty of the Butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. ~ Maya Angelou
The performances we have been able to witness at the Tokyo Olympics over the past few weeks have been absolutely amazing and uplifting, from all competitors, not just those who have been awarded medals.
Like the butterfly in the above quote, before their dream of becoming an Olympian could be realised, the preparation, changes, training and sacrifices required, has taken months and in many cases, years to achieve.
How privileged and thankful we should be to these special people who have allowed us to share in their emotions, excitement and disappointments , through their chosen sport in Olympic competition !
We also owe a huge vote of thanks to Japan for their decision to hold the 2020 Olympic Games against many odds in an uncertain world due to Covid19. They too have sacrificed much and are to be congratulated.
Victory Runners weekly activities are now into the last quarter with just another six weeks to go. The Athletics NSW State Cross Country Championships are still booked in to be held at Willandra on 25th & 26th September. Naturally this does depend a lot on what happens pandemic wise.
Despite numbers being a little spasmodic over the past month due to weather, school holidays and injuries, results from our competitors are always very interesting.
For this reason the following members deserve a mention for their excellent attendance. Starting from the 1k distance, 4 year old Jai Burbage has competed in 16 weeks with a PB time of 6:26 minutes.
10 year old Madeline Oke in the 2k distance has 15 weeks to her credit and a good PB of 8:26 minutes.
Paul Jennings in the 4k distance, not to be outdone by a youngster has also competed in 16 weeks and is very consistent time wise.
However, our Top Attendance Award goes to Cristine Suffolk who has ran 17 weeks out of the 19 activities completed. Cristine started the season with 4k and has moved up the 8k. and is extremely consistent almost to the second in both distances.
Because Victory is pleased to have such a great range in age groups attending, two members have shown great improvement time wise in their selected distance.
Our youngest member, 2 year old Charlie Wells – Smith enjoys the 1k distance with his mum close by. This week he had attended a Birthday party before the 1k . Not sure if it was the great party food or just Charlie’s joy of running but his little legs didn’t stop running from start to finish, in record time of 10:47 for his 1k.
Busy mother of 4 youngsters, Laura Prince has been making steady improvement over her 14 weeks of finding time to compete in the 4k distance and has reduced her time by 5 minutes! Well done Laura, you certainly qualify for the Top Improver Award.
We have been very pleased to welcome some extra competitors from the Shoalhaven women’s Hockey team who unfortunately have not been able to play their weekly competition hockey games, due to too many teams being in the lockdown areas. In order to keep fit and active their coach suggested running / walking around Willandra Saturday afternoon could be helpful.
Look forward to some nice winter weather at Willandra for Week 20 running / walking activity, Saturday 14th August around 2.30pm for a 3pm start. New members always welcome.
Results
| 1k Distance | Time |
| Jai Burbage | 7.28 |
| Lucas Corsaro | 7.35 |
| Jake Prince | 9.34 |
| Leonardo Corsaro | 9.34 |
| Layla Prince | 9.35 |
| Karrissa Corsaro | 9.35 |
| Charlie Wells-Smith | 10.47 |
| Zahra Wells-Smith | 10.49 |
| 2k Distance | |
| Madeline Oke | 9.44 |
| Judy Wakeford | 15.32 |
| Xavier Fairs | 13.48 |
| Beej Edwards | 16.35 |
| Olivia Oke (wlk) | 24.27 |
| 3k Distance | |
| Peta Brooks | 18.07 |
| Layla Burbage | 18.44 |
| Lillian Corsaro | 21.37 |
| Cailin Burbage | 22.07 |
| Sofia Corsaro | 22.47 |
| Kylie Oke (wlk) | 24.39 |
| 4k Distance | |
| Bridget Fairs | 17.23 |
| Anthony Russell | 19.47 |
| Eleanor Dodd | 21.49 |
| Laura Burbage | 25.14 |
| Laura Prince | 23.31 |
| Kellie Beetson | 27.18 |
| Vanessa Phelan | 27.19 |
| Di Court | 29.03 |
| Frances Fairs | 25.13 |
| Kye Edwards | 37.33 |
| 8k Distance | |
| Cristine Suffolk | 38.37 |