Corinne is one of our most supportive members of Run Club and the Operation Move Community. When not running she can be found making amazing works of fabric art at Sew-cial Dyes. Corinne originally shared her story in Run Club and it is reprinted here with her permission.
Growing up, I was always involved in sport. I played and represented our local region in hockey, and never missed an opportunity to be active at school. I continued playing and coaching hockey until my kids (twins) were 2yrs old. Then too much was expected of me within the teams, when all I wanted to do was have a hit around once a week in a social situation, so I stepped away.
I found a local boot camp group and went twice a week. My trainer was a runner, and my ears frequently twitched listening to her talk about her training and events. In 2012, a very good friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. This led to me entering my first event, the Tri Pink in support of Kerry. I completed that Tri in January, 2013 and crossed the finish line, proud and teary and hyperventilating (which has been a recurring theme for me).
My husband and I trained for the Mother’s Day classic that year, 8km’s seemed like such a long way. Who even runs 8km’s for something to do. I thought you just ran to chase a white ball around a field. Who even runs without a stick? Anyway, I trained and was SO nervous and excited leading into it, but Cooper was up vomiting the entire night before, I still remember standing in the driveway crying as I waved PJ off as he and a friend headed to the event. No point both of us missing it after we’d trained so hard.
I couldn’t let that training go to waste, so I decided to enter the 10km event at Jetty 2 Jetty in July. My sister ran at this event every year, so I spoke with her. Well in that conversation, I went from running the 10k to the half marathon! She and her husband had entered the half, my husband decided he’d join them … well I my ego stood up and wasn’t going to miss out. So I signed up for the half too. My Mantra during my raining was “Alive & Strong”, because that’s what I was. When my training became tough, when my legs didn’t want to go any further, I would repeat that mantra over and over with my footsteps, reminding myself how lucky I was to be Alive and Strong enough to do this when many others, including Kerry were not. (I still use this mantra when it’s feeling all too hard out there running.)
So within 8 months of starting to run, I ran my first half marathon in 2.02. But, I had my graphic design sister adjust that finish line time on my photo to 2.00hr because I had a toilet stop in there where I stopped my Garmin, and my Garmin said 2.00hr … Our Garmin’s never lie.
The first person I rang when I crossed that finish line was my friend Kerry. Sadly Kerry’s cancer metastacised to her lungs and she passed away a few months later. Since then, I’ve not stopped running. I have completed about 9 half marathons, a few 10 and 15km events, 4 tough mudders, and various other obstacle courses.
My most memorable run to date has been the full marathon I ran with my husband in 2015. We chose the Great Ocean Road as our destination thinking that if we only ever did 1 marathon. Let’s make it special. It didn’t disappoint. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the atmosphere, the scenery … I could go on and on. I get goose bumps every time I reminisce about it. The run itself sucked with 12km to go, we were both in a high level of pain and ran/ walked those last km’s, but the smile never left my face.
I found Operation Move the week before my marathon, and it’s been the most valuable resource and support to me personally, and also my running. I have made so many friends through this community, and have been so privileged to have met and run with quite a few Op Move members, with future plans to meet more.
So what now … well yesterday I had an epiphany. The words passed through my mind, that at the moment I’m a recreational runner, and I’m ok with that. I’m not interested in pushing my mind and body hard for pb’s. I’m not interested in climbing out of bed in the dark to run. For me, for now … running is my joy. Running is easy and a place to sort my thoughts. It may not stay this way forever, but for now I’m a Recreational Runner and I love it. I cannot thank the ladies of Run Club enough for being part of my life.
