The ‘Great Australian Cross Country Challenge’ a Chance for Families to Get Active Again

Enter, the Great Australian Country Challenge: a national, virtual running carnival, inviting students around Australia to race against themselves, their schoolmates, or the rest of the country – by running a route around their local community.

There are different distances for different age groups, from 1 to 5 kilometres, and students get to choose the date they run. By logging their results on the event website, participants can see how they’ve done compared to others around the country. Adults can join in the race too, which means families can run together.

Australian Olympic marathon runner and Commonwealth medalist Jess Trengrove (pictured) is an ambassador for the event, and is urging kids and teens participate. Speaking to Katrina Roe on Hope Mornings, she shared the following advice for anyone joining in the race.

Tips for Young Runners

“I [used to] get extremely nervous before cross country,” she said. “I look back now and I think, those nerves were causing energy that helped me to get the most out of myself. But mostly, it was an indicator that the race meant something to me.

“So try to see any nerves as a positive.

“Make sure you don’t eat too much too close to the run, but it is important to get a bit of energy in before you race. So perhaps if you’re doing a training run, practice eating something that’s high in energy and then you can replicate that when you get out to do your actual race.

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“And the other thing is just to enjoy it… not worrying too much about what other kids are doing and comparing to others. Just work on improving yourself… really, enjoyment is the key and that will lead to a long term love of the sport.”

Find out more about the Great Australian Cross Country Challenge at gaccc.com.au.