June 2009 Newsletter
The Achilles Heel - Newsletter of the Achilles Running Club - Sydney
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In this Edition:
· New Horizons presentation
· Membership fees
· Parking permits
· City 2 Surf
· Sydney Tower Stair Climbing Race
· T-shirts, singlets and sloppy-joes
· Achilles website
· Michael Lovric competes in the 24 hour World Champs
· Website upgrade
· Lynne & Greg’s new baby
· Injury corner
· Walk for Shirley
· Bush walk
· Volunteer Guide Training
· Volunteer Roster
By now we all have our winter woollies out of the cupboard and are feeling the effects of a chilly winter. This, however, has not stopped our members from turning out in good numbers for Sunday training - great to see! More often than not, there are 10 or more disabled members there and with only 3 or 4 members rostered on each Sunday, we really do rely on “casuals” coming to training. On quite a few occasions, those with disabilities have outnumbered the guides and we have had to double up for guiding.
New Horizons plaque presentation
On 31 May after training, Carol Cook from New Horizons Computer School was presented with a plaque of appreciation from Achilles. Shane “Woody” Woodbridge and Charlie McConnell made the presentation and thanked Carol for the support that New Horizons have given Achilles for the last 10 years. They have not only made their premises available to us for all of our committee meetings and AGMs, but also provide tea and coffee and an array of delicious biscuits. Carol thanked Achilles and said that the plaque would be proudly displayed at New Horizons.
Membership Fees Now Due
It is that time of the year again. The renewal date for annual membership is 1 July each year. Annual fees are $20. It is really important that you all renew your membership. Apart from the fact that Achilles uses membership fees for its running costs, we are also trying to secure corporate sponsorship. This is far easier to achieve with a larger membership base. Please forward your membership fees to our PO Box (240, Randwick 2031), or give them to any committee member at training and Ted will forward a receipt to you. If your contact details have changed in the last year, please make sure that we have your current details.
Parking Permits
We have been issued with a new batch of parking permits for use at the Art Gallery parking area on Sunday mornings. These are yellow and have been laminated. We have a supply of the permits so that all guides who drive in can keep one in their car – probably need to be kept in the boot as they are A4 sized. Please don’t lose your permit – there are a limited number. These permits MUST BE DISPLAYED ON THE DASHBOARD otherwise we could be issued with a parking violation ticket (as has been the case in the past) that will NOT be cancelled. If by any chance you do not have a permit, at the least put a club brochure on the dashboard. This will suffice if the usual rangers are on duty, but sometimes there are new rangers who are not familiar with Achilles. You can get a permit from Ellis at Sunday training.
City 2 Surf – 9 August
It is about 2 months until City 2 Surf. Unfortunately we will not have our entry fees sponsored this year, as was the case for the last few years. Anyone who is keen to run or walk in this fantastic community fun event, please let us know. (Charlie 9636 3727 or janks2@optusnet.com.au).
Sydney Tower Stair Climbing Race
The 2009 Triple M Sydney Tower Run-Up will be held on Friday 21 August 2009.
This is a strenuous event needing specific stair training but is a fabulous event which will leave you feeling tired but elevated (sorry - couldn't resist it!)! Anyone interested in participating should contact Nick nicholas.gleeson@visionaustralia.org or 9773 5631 (h).
T-shirts, singlets and sloppy-joes
T-shirts with the yellow sleeves ($10) and club singlets ($20) are available for sale. There are still some old club t-shirts (all white) available ($5) for those who are keen on having a collectors’ item. There are also some sloppy-joes available ($30). Unfortunately there are limited numbers of small sizes in all the shirt ranges. Please let me know (janks2@optusnet.com.au) if you want any of these items. There will be some shirts available for sale at Sunday training.
Achilles Website - www.achilles-sydney.org.au
It won’t be long before the updated Achilles website is up and running. Martin Ruane has been hard at work putting it together. The new site will have vastly more capacity than the present one, so that we can post more information regarding events, display photos and have offer access to updates and newsflashes.
Michael Lovric at the 24 hours World Champs
Congratulations to Michael Lovric, our own Achilles ultramarathon champion! This is a brief account written by Michael.
Recently it was my great honor to have been selected for the 'Emus' - the Australian Representative Ultra-marathon team. My first event as an Emu was the World 24 Hour Championships which were held in Bergamo Italy May 2-3.
Over 200 runners from more than 30 countries were in attendance and the depth of talent was truly impressive. In stifling hot conditions I chose to run a clever race rather than a fast one averaging 8.6km/h. My final outcome was 206.464 km and I ranked 48th.
When attending races I often think of my running colleagues from the Achilles Club. You are a great inspiration to me during these events. I hope you all continue to enjoy your love of running and I look forward to catching up on another Sunday session.
Michael Lovric
Since the World Championships, Michael has been far from resting. Three weeks ago he ran in the Gold Coast 100 km race, which doubled as the National 100 km Champs, and came a very creditable 6th. When everyone would expect Michael to be putting his feet up, he decided to run the 96 km Poor Man’s Comrades last week from Gosford to Sydney, coming in 3rd out of 17, even through he was running for fun rather than racing. Soon Michael will be running in the national 24 hour championships in Brisbane. Best of luck to him for this race.
Lynne & Greg have a new Charlie
Congratulations to Lynne Barry and Greg on the birth of their beautiful son, Charlie Noah . Lynne is a very long time member and ex secretary of Achilles who recently returned from a stint of living in Singapore so some of the newer members will not have met her. But not for long! Rumour has it that Charlie wants to start training on Sundays very soon…
Cathy and Mario have a new baby boy, their 7th
Congratulations to Cathy (nee Katen) and Mario Romeo on the birth of their baby boy, Marcello Xantino in March. This is child number 7 (Cathy’s 4th) in the household! If you know Cathy, you’ll know how she achieves the impossible with incredible ease. We look forward to seeing her and her big family at Achilles one of these fine days.
Injury corner:
-Charlie is back to near normal (this may be a contradiction in terms!)
Great to have Charlie McConnell back to his near normal self after getting his new hip a few months ago. He may not be jogging, but striding out for 8 km, swimming laps, working out at the gym and going on the bush walk have been no problem. Well recovered Charlie – you continue to be an inspiration to everyone!
-Michael to get his knee fixed
After many thousands of kms of running and walking and hours of standing, Michael Bassil’s knee has finally protested! He will soon be having minor surgery to repair a torn cartilage. Michael, wishing you a speedy recovery and we look forward to having you back at Sunday training and knowing that you are once again doing your early morning runs around your “custom built” track in Vaucluse.
-Nick’s broken arm
Not wanting to be left out of the action, Nick Gleeson broke his arm after falling down stairs. Luckily his head broke the fall and the broken bone in his arm was undisplaced. No surgery was needed but he had to wear a plaster cast for six weeks. He is now cast free and back to his fighting fit self!
Walk 4 Shirley House
Earlier in the year, a large contingent from Achilles participated in the “Walk 4 Shirley House”, a fund raising walking event held by the Association of Blind Citizens of NSW. Unlike last year, when the heavens opened up during the walk, this year’s event was held in splendid weather and everyone enjoyed not only the walk, but the sausage sizzle afterwards. We look forward to next year’s event.
Achilles Bush Walk
In April, 22 keen bush walkers met at Thornleigh station on a partly cloudy Sunday morning. The group were made up of mainly Achilles members with others who had heard about the bushwalk through newsletters from Vision Australia and on the Cool Running website. After a brief road walk from the station, 10 visually impaired and 12 guides took to the bush track with “gusto”! The weather was very kind (it had rained heavily the day and night before) and the track was excellent – well defined, lots of ferns, trees and plants and a running stream next to which we had lunch. Everyone enjoyed a lunchtime story expertly read by Avril. 6 kms and 4 hours later, 22 happy bush walkers headed home – tired, but smiling and satisfied.
This was the second bush walk to be held, and judging by the response from those who participated, it certainly won’t be the last.
Guide Training
To promote the ongoing safety and enjoyment of Achilles members, short and informal training sessions have been organised for the benefit of all volunteer guides, even those who have had years of experience at Achilles.
To promote the ongoing safety and enjoyment of Achilles members, short and informal training sessions have been organised for the benefit of all volunteer guides, even those who have had years of experience at Achilles.
Sessions will take about 20 minutes and will be done before or after Sunday training. Participation is completely voluntary and don't worry, there are no tests or evaluations after the session.
The course will concentrate on the most appropriate methods of guiding a person (Sighted Guide Techniques) who has vision impairment or a total vision loss. Recommended techniques for various situations will be shown and guidelines will be given for effective communication. If you wish to, you will be given the opportunity to walk/run (with a guide) in blindfold. The expectation is that you will gain a better understanding of the difficulties involved when moving around with a vision impairment.
Doug Ritchie will facilitate the sessions. Doug, who works for Guide Dogs, brings a wealth of experience to this course. Doug has been a long time guide/member of Achilles and has assisted in numerous events.
Doug will be delighted to hear from you if you want to arrange a session. Contact him at dritchie@guidedogs.com.au or at Sunday training.
We really do recommend that every guide makes use of this training.
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ACHILLES CLUB ROSTER
June 21 - Mark Houlihan, Diane Mcewin, Doug Ritchie, Martin Ruane, Volunteer Required
June 28 - Chris Laing, Nikki Caminer , Karen Parker, Ellis Janks. Angie Macken, Volunteer Required
July 5 - Marilyn Gould, Stephen Lenn, Ted Magen, Rebecca Sexton Volunteer Required
July 12 - Colin Bradford, Diane Mcewin, Doug Ritchie, Martin Ruane, Volunteer Required
July 19 – Mark Houlihan , Nikki Caminer , Karen Parker, Ellis Janks. Angie Macken Volunteer Required
July 26 -Chris Laing, Stephen Lenn, Ted Magen, Rebecca Sexton Volunteer Required
August 2 - Marilyn Gould , Diane Mcewin, Doug Ritchie, Martin Ruane, Volunteer Required
August 9 - Colin Bradford, Nikki Caminer , Karen Parker, Ellis Janks. Angie Macken Volunteer Required
August 16 – Mark Houlihan , Stephen Lenn, Ted Magen, Rebecca Sexton Volunteer Required
August 23 - Chris Laing, Diane Mcewin, Doug Ritchie, Martin Ruane, Volunteer Required
August 30 - Marilyn Gould, Nikki Caminer , Karen Parker, Ellis Janks. Angie Macken Volunteer Required
If you are not on the roster, but wish to be included, please email rozanne@bigpond.net.au
MISSION STATEMENT
"To enable people from all walks of life, including those with physical impairments, to enjoy the health giving benefits of walking and running in a supportive, social and encouraging environment."
Contact us to find out more about becoming an Achilles Member or Volunteer.
