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Surround yourself with Royals

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What an absolutely incredible morning!  I feel truly humbled, inspired and motivated – hence the blog.

It started at 6am with our BEXI runners heading off for their Saturday long run training for Blackmores Running Festival. The morning was lighter and the temps were perfect for running – that feeling of Spring was in the air. I parked up at Billarong Reserve to greet our runners with fuel/refreshments for their long run. While waiting I bumped into 2 lovely ladies who were preparing for their long run – they were off to do 32km in training for their Berlin Marathon. Lesley Wilson (Mosman) and Jude O’Shea (Balgowlah).

Obviously we got chatting about Berlin – which then soon became a conversation about all the marathons they have run — New York, Athens, Chicago, London, Boston, etc.  Wow!!! Inspired and energised about all their accomplishments, the conversation rapidly flowed about their experiences with each marathon:

  • New York – the supporters across the various boroughs. Choral singers in Harlem, Hip Hop rappers in the Bronx, silence in the Jewish Quarter.
  • Boston – the bomb going off after Lesley crossed the line. The shock, the bewilderment, the camaraderie of the running community. *
  • Athens – the basic fuel stations (in the early days). From buckets of water to dip into, to sponges soaked in water, to coke. This was Jude’s first marathon – she smashed it in 3.08.
  • London – the amazing atmosphere! Bumping into Will and Kate,  stopping to take selfies. Then having friends send you pics of you taking a selfie with the royals – too funny! (That’s Lesley in the pic to the right.)
  • Kona – Jude turned to triathlon for a while and competed at Kona twice! She then went off to have 4 x children (!), and is now coming back to running – for the enjoyment.

All such humble, passionate, beautiful stories and covered this in a space of 10mins – while warming up. Oh… and the other amazing fact was that Lesley did not know about Narrabeen Lake! This morning was her first run around the lake.

Such a beautiful experience! I love surrounding myself with these amazing people and such an incredible community.

You are…  the people you surround yourself with!

* If you haven’t watched the movie documentary about the Boston bombing – watch it!