Around Christmas time I found out I had a bad bacteria in my stomach. It was something called “helicobactor pylori”, which I have preciously had three times. They say you can get it in China ... from animals! They don’t know too much about it, but I was told that usually if you get rid of it the first time it’s unlikely to come back. Not in my case! 

I spent the majority of the season on antibiotics to fight off the helicobactor and a few chest infections, sinus infections and throat infections which was definitely frustrating. 
My first race was the Sydney Track Classic where I finished 3rd in not the fastest ever time, however I was just so happy to be back out racing. I followed that up with Melbourne the week later, which was better and once again very enjoyable. 

is also the same place where my new manager, Sam Maxwell, is based, and I got to properly meet him for the first time. Sam was great. He made me feel like an athlete again and made me realise that it was just one race, and there was plenty more out there! 



I left feeling better about things. 

I had to complete my 10 week teaching Internship which started on the 31st of March and ended on the 4th of June. It was a long and tiring 10 weeks. Surrounded by secondary students all day and constantly having to be talking, yelling, marking ... the list goes on. The experience was great and the school I was teaching at was fantastic. 

I had almost forgotten how exhilarating it is to win a race. That was until I finally cracked the bolt in Noosa last weekend. The Noosa asics bolt has eluded me for 5 years but I finally made the top of the podium in my 'comeback' race in hot conditions, both the weather and competition.

I have travelled to Noosa for the bolt for the past 5 years finishing 2nd, 3rd and failing to finish three times! It has been a race I have wanted to win for many years but always fell short. This year I was determined and toed the line with nothing to lose after a long spell of mediocre performances.

Lisa Corrigan is the fastest ever Australian over one mile. A 2006 Commonwealth Games finalist and a World Championship and Olympic representative, Lisa is one of the most promising talents on the Australian running scene.

Lisa is sponsored by The Runner's Tribe Made possible by    

By Lisa Corrigan

Finished... Finished at last! I have spent the past 4 weeks on teaching prac at Belconnen high school. Every morning arriving at school at 8.15am and most days not leaving until 4pm. 6am morning runs no more! No more turning up to training half asleep and with a headache after having to deal with year 7-10 students all day. My respect for full time workers has risen dramatically. Trying to work full time as well as train full time is certainly an effort. Nice work! My university degree, bachelor of education - secondary health and PE, I started many years ago, but due to going abroad for the European circuit and different events I have taken a lot of time off and done a lot of part time. I am almost done, I will graduate in a year from now. What a relief!!

Now, time to focus on training. Only a few more uni assignments due and then it will be summer holidays. Run, run, run is what I will be doing....and I cant wait! It seems like an eternity since I last raced.

The Asics 5km Noosa bolt at the end of October and is what I'm aiming for next. Trying to get some solid longer sessions in to try and be more competitive over the 5km distance, and I have been really enjoying the change. Bring on Noosa!

The weather here in Canberra is becoming slightly more conducive to training. They days are slowly but surely getting longer and warmer. As I say that, it's currently pouring and freezing outside now! But it's definitely on the improve.

Summer is my favourite season. For obvious reasons being it's the Aussie athletics season, but also I Hate the cold and don't function well in the cold. Why do I live in Canberra you might ask? That's a very good question actually! Joking of course. Canberra Is one of the best places I have ever trained in. There are sooo many running trails, mountains and forests. There is no traffic to contend with so getting around is so easy. It's not a big busy city so there are not as many distractions. The AIS just up the road. So all in all it's a great place for training. It would be made even better with a beach and a warmer winter, but we can't have everything!

This coming season I am hoping to stay healthy and injury free and enjoy it all again. I cant wait to get back on the track and begin the journey to Commonwealth games in Delhi 2010.
 

Finished... Finished at last! I have spent the past 4 weeks on teaching prac at Belconnen high school. Every morning arriving at school at 8.15am and most days not leaving until 4pm. 6am morning runs no more! No more turning up to training half asleep and with a headache after having to deal with year 7-10 students all day. My respect for full time workers has risen dramatically. Trying to work full time as well as train full time is certainly an effort. Nice work! My university degree, bachelor of education - secondary health and PE, I started many years ago, but due to going abroad for the European circuit and different events I have taken a lot of time off and done a lot of part time. I am almost done, I will graduate in a year from now. What a relief!!

Now, time to focus on training. Only a few more uni assignments due and then it will be summer holidays. Run, run, run is what I will be doing....and I cant wait! It seems like an eternity since I last raced.

The Asics 5km Noosa bolt at the end of October and is what I'm aiming for next. Trying to get some solid longer sessions in to try and be more competitive over the 5km distance, and I have been really enjoying the change. Bring on Noosa!

The weather here in Canberra is becoming slightly more conducive to training. They days are slowly but surely getting longer and warmer. As I say that, it's currently pouring and freezing outside now! But it's definitely on the improve.

Summer is my favourite season. For obvious reasons being it's the Aussie athletics season, but also I Hate the cold and don't function well in the cold. Why do I live in Canberra you might ask? That's a very good question actually! Joking of course. Canberra Is one of the best places I have ever trained in. There are sooo many running trails, mountains and forests. There is no traffic to contend with so getting around is so easy. It's not a big busy city so there are not as many distractions. The AIS just up the road. So all in all it's a great place for training. It would be made even better with a beach and a warmer winter, but we can't have everything!

This coming season I am hoping to stay healthy and injury free and enjoy it all again. I cant wait to get back on the track and begin the journey to Commonwealth games in Delhi 2010.

 

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"Trying to work full time as well as train full time is certainly an effort."
Lisa Corrigan

What a year I have had so far...I started off the year with a reasonable run at Zatopek Classic and thought it was going to be a good year for my running. THEN I got sick! It started off as a cold, then turned into a rather sever inner ear infection and I somehow ended up with a perforated ear drum. The doctors had me on antibiotics on and off for 3 months! Until finally, after nationals they worked out it wasn’t working. I did not feel good on the antibiotics, tired often, and did not run well at all. But I continued on, just hoping I would miraculously start feeling well and therefore run well. It didn’t happen!

I saw an ear specialist and he had me in for surgery to correct a deviated septum in my nose which was blocking my ear tubes, fix the perforated ear drum and place grommets in my ears. The recovery was pretty horrid but I have not had an ear infection since and feel I can breathe slightly better.

Since returning to training after the surgery and I took a little bit more time off to fix a small hamstring injury, things have been looking a lot brighter. I got through a relatively good..but cold, training block in Canberra. So I decided to head abroad; 1: to escape the Canberra winter and 2: To get back into racing with a few smaller races and start enjoying it again.

I am currently up at Font Remeu in the French alps. It’s up at 1800m so ill be sure to take it a little easy for a few days having only arrived last night.

I spent the first 2 weeks in a beautiful town in France called Aix Les Bains just training in the warmth. And I spent the weekend in Barcelona, where I paced the 1500m. My first experience at pacing! It was nice to get back out on the track, even if I was just pacing. I went to 1100m, got to 1km in around 2.42. It was not easy, I have not raced in a while but I did what I was told to do and enjoyed it very much. I now feel like I want to race again. I will hopefully have a few more smaller races coming up before heading home on the 17th of August.

Training up at Font Remeu for around 10 days. I am staying with a few of the Australian Triathletes. My Partner, Brendan Sexton is making his return to competition in a few weeks time after having been unable to run for 12months. Training with triathletes certainly makes me feel lazy! But good company.

I will update again post racing..hopefully with some good news.



 

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"It was not easy, I have not raced in a while but I did what I was told to do and enjoyed it very much. I now feel like I want to race again”
Lisa Corrigan

The Leonora Golden Gift is a unique and prestigious athletics carnival held May 31st to June 2nd in Australia's outback. The event carries $53,000AUD in prize money and has attracted the cream of Australia's middle distance runners in its 5 year history.

It’s a strange and surreal spectacle; a collection of Australia’s most elite middle distance runners all gathered in a remote outback town in the heart of the Western Australian goldfields. Why make the journey to Leonora, a town approximately ten hours drive east from Perth? The general answer to that question is the money, with over $53,000 up for grabs it’s a tempting proposition. However, there is more to the Leonora Golden Gift than the chance to back yourself to win big. It’s the experience that makes the meet, the atmosphere and community spirit. We catch up with the Shire of Leonora President Graham Dawes and race organiser Rafael Baugh for the inside goss on this year’s gift.

RunnersTribe (RT): Graham, from the Shire of Leonora’s point of view, what is the motivation behind the Golden gift?

Graham Dawes:One of the major reasons behind the Golden Gift weekend is to put Leonora on the map. The weekend isn’t just about Australia’s richest mile, we have a wealth of events and activities; including numerous other running races, racing pigeon auctions, horse shows and races, 100% ABBA, a concert with singing great Kate Ceberano, as well as many other community-based activities.

RT: In terms of the elite mile races, why is so much money put up for the race?

Elite Prize Money (all AUD)

- First: $6000 plus gold nugget

- Second: $4000

- Third: $2000

- Fourth: $1500

- Fifth: $1000

- Sixth: $750

- Seventh: $500

- Eighth: $250

GD: I was amazed to learn a few years ago that many of our elite runners get very little financial assistance from the government or sponsors. In comparison to swimming, runners seem to get a raw deal. So I guess it is great to see these amazing runners getting some financial gain for their hard work and success. Also, if one of these runners was to go on and represent Australia or win some big race overseas, it would be rewarding to think that the Shire of Leonora helped these athletes to reach such heights.

RT: What about the local and surrounding communities; it must be a great weekend for the kids?

GD: Yes; we have a reasonable number of Indigenous Australians in our community and it’s great to see the young kids racing in the junior races. The speed of some of these kids is simply amazing. Without a doubt it is the biggest weekend on our calendar and it definitely brings the community together.

RT: Raf, you have organized the elite male and female races a few times in the past, what are we to expect from this years race and who are the confirmed starters?

Rafael Baugh(RB):This year we have attracted a different type of field compared to previous years. As Australia’s very top middle distance runners are obviously focusing specifically on the Olympics this year, the event is much more open. In previous years, once word got out that a few of those top athletes were racing, the next tier seemed to step back and stay away. This year a lot more athletes think they have a chance to win and hence we are seeing the deepest fields in the events history for both men and women. For the men we have a host of talent including Victorians Paul Hoffman and World Junior Rep Craig Huffer. From New South Wales we have David Byrne, Brett Halls and Ben St Lawrence. We have Jason Woolhouse, a New Zealand athlete living and training in Melbourne. And from West Australia we have Chris DeBoer, Sam Burke and Courtney Carter. In addition, we have former French Junior Cross Country Champion Yoan Meudec. I expect that we will see the closest race in history and the crowd will be on the edge of their seats. In the women’s mile, we have numerous National representatives including Emma Rilen, Nikki Molan, Madelaine Heiner, World Junior Rep Bridey Delaney, Chavon Livey and UK’s Linda Spencer.

RT: How did the race concept originally come about and what has made the event such a success?

RB:The primary reason for the event and its success is that the people of Leonora have a “can do” attitude. The place rides the wave of success and failure based on the mining industry and the people in the town always tough it out. In that way, the people relate to the ups and downs faced by runners in races and training.

The town used to hold the Sons of Gwalia biathlon (run and bike), which carried $8000 prize money, for 5 years in the late 90’s but then the mine shut down and the event stopped. The Leonora Shire was keen to continue the athletic tradition so added “WA’s richest Mile” to the town’s Foundation Day celebrations in 2003. After the event, a few local athletes were at the pub and Shire President Graham Dawes, the legend that he is, said to us “Look boys, we know it is great to have WA’s richest Mile, but how much would it cost to get some decent athletes and make it Australia’s richest?”. After some discussion Ray Boyd (Australian Marathon Rep) suggested a figure. Two weeks later, while back in Perth, I got a phone call from Graham saying “Raf, it’s Graham from Leonora, we have the money, now you have to help us organise the thing”. That was basically it. The organisers, sponsors, community and council of Leonora and the Goldfields region work very hard and are justifiably proud of the way the event has grown since then and they deserve a big pat on the back.

Results and a full race review will be available here within 12 hours post race. This article has been produced by The Runner’s Tribe with help from the Leonora Shire Council and Rafael Baugh.