PERSEVERANCE 

There are times in our sporting experiences when things can get very tough.  Times when is just is too hard to finish.  Times when we think we cannot do it anymore and just want to give up.

Last year in May, Mr Turner and I both competed in the UTA50. This is a 50km trail race held in the Blue Mountains. It is a fantastic race, with amazing scenery and an adventure to remember. 

Completing a race of this distance does require a certain amount of fitness (which I hope I had coming into the event and I knew Mr Turner had) as well as good race strategy and an ability to keep yourself going, even when it’s extremely tiring and challenging. This is where perseverance came in and let me tell you, I was tested quite often that day.

Starting at 8:00am at Scenic World and running in a group of 300 people was a fantastic feeling. As the kilometres kept coming though, I had to keep telling myself more and more to not stop, don’t quit and to focus on that ultimate goal ... finishing!

Climbing up those 1,000 steps at the end and getting over that finish line, I did want to get a good time, but my main goal was just to finish upright (instead of crawling over the line).

There were many times I would pass people who were not well, injured, struggling to finish their distance, and their goal. After checking to see how they were, you would push on and keep saying to yourself, “I can do this. I will get there!” 

In the end and after 9 hours of challenges, I did get to the final stretch (in a much faster time that I hoped) and was able to cross that finish line, with my daughters on either side of me, fighting back the tears.

Mr Turner smashed it, finishing in a much faster time. It wasn’t just an achievement for both of us to complete that distance, but also an accomplishment to push ourselves to the limits and to keep going, even though being exhausted, very sore in the legs, and mentally drained.

Over the years I have seen on numerous occasions times when our school teams are tired, worn out, and want to throw the towel in and rest as they have pushed themselves. But do you know what? They never do. They always keep fighting to the very end, finishing the game exhausted and physically tired, but always finishing on a high. 

Look at some of our own distance runners. These athletes can run a long distance at a phenomenal pace. It is impressive that it not only involves a physical fitness up to the task, but also a mentality to keep going forward, to strive to the end and to not stop.

For example, at the CIS Cross Country Championships last year, look at the split times of our amazing runners who qualified for this carnival: 

You can see by their overall times and split times, that to keep up that pace requires perseverance, it requires a high fitness level and it requires a strong mental toughness to force themselves to go harder, go faster, and don’t stop.

It is fantastic to see so many students in our school with such a strong ability to persevere in challenging sporting moments. I encourage everyone to never give up, no matter what is happening in a game, an event, and to keep trying to get to that “finish line”.  We all can be inspired and encouraged by the accomplishments of students in our school.