In 2001 I decided (with much coaxing from a friend and my husband) to enter the 10km event at the Nike Women's Classic, held at the Gold Coast. I had never run 10km so we measured a course near our home that I ran twice before the event, just to ensure I could finish! I did finish and thought "good, I've done that, now he will stop pestering me about running" ("he" being my husband).
Alas no! He kept at me, it was if I had started something he thought I should keep at! So reluctantly I would run with him a few times a week. We moved to Toowoomba in 2006, where I joined a local gym and began running more regularly, even venturing out on my own. I would run on a treadmill at the gym and out and about on the streets. While my husband was working away I roped my brother into running with me. I was starting to enjoy it!
Then in 2008 we moved to Kingaroy. We didn't know anyone, or much about the town. I started working and talked to a colleague about running. She mentioned a local women's running group, The Go Getta Girls, and said I would be welcome to come along. At first I was hesitant, I am always nervous being the 'new girl', but one morning I plucked up the courage to go along to Memorial Park and met a group of 15-20 Go Getta Girls. (Then there was no club house, just a group of women huddled near Coach Colleen's car!)
That was the turning point in my running tale! I became more regular with my running...my running improved!
In May 2008, having watched Donna finish her first Half Marathon in Brisbane, I wondered "could I do that?" I spoke with Colleen and she said, "Of course you could". So with Colleen's confidence in my ability, my own confidence grew. I trained for and completed my first Half Marathon later that year in Toowoomba. I am very grateful to Colleen, who despite having been very unwell just prior to the event, still managed to run parts of the course with me. She was there with my supplements, drinks and dried fruit leathers, smiling to greet me at various parts of the course. Colleen's coaching, the encouragement I received from the other GGG's and support of my husband all helped me to cross that finishing line. Now I am training for my fourth Half at the Gold Coast in July and I am really excited about it!
These days I love running. I love the early mornings, the exhilaration of completing a run, the buzz I feel all day long as a result. I believe for me that this love of running has grown from being a Go Getta Girl. Go Getta Girls creates a space, where we can just be us, where we can come together to run, and if we choose to, share so much more with other women. Not only has my love of running developed and grown, but in many other ways so have I. Through running with Go Getta Girls I have met beautiful women with a common interest, some of whom have become lifelong friends. My husband now quite proudly talks of my running with anyone who will listen (and some who won't listen!). All of his work mates know who those "pink ladies" are!
I will always be grateful to our wonderful Coach Colleen -this amazing woman continually inspires me- for helping me to find self belief and for nurturing my blossoming love of running, and for trusting herself enough to establish Go Getta Girls in the first place. That gratitude extends to all Go Getta Girls, old and new, for helping to make our club what it is today.
Go Getta Girls has given and continues to give me so much, that is why I was happy to take on the role of Treasurer, to kind of give back to the club. And what a club we have!
(Now I just have to plan that European holiday, so I can run with my husband along those cobblestone streets!)
Happy Running
Megan
