Rhiannon R is a sighted guide with Achilles Melbourne. This past weekend, Rhiannon R guided and ran alongside blind runner, Peter E at City Bay in Adelaide, South Australia. In this blog post, Rhiannon shares her experience as a sole guide in a busy fun run.

Pete and I run together a lot. We are pretty well matched for pace, but he is running strong ahead of his debut full marathon in Berlin in two weeks’ time. City Bay was hard work, and I loved it, but it confirmed something I’ve been thinking for a while: runners need to reconsider their use of noise-cancelling headphones, and my experience highlighted the importance of “bulldozers” in a blind running team.

Usually at big events in Melbourne, people with low vision or blind people are teamed up with a guide that they run side by side with, and also a second guide that we call a “bulldozer”. Bulldozers run a couple of meters ahead to let people in front know that we will be passing them, and also to keep a clearer line of vision for the side-by-side guide. Pete and I didn’t have a bulldozer, but I’ve lived in Adelaide and know it well. I knew the course would be wide open bitumen roads with few turns or obstacles to worry about. I was excited to go out for what I thought would be an easy paced 12km fun run on my fave kind of surface, and to have some laughs with Pete along the way!

On Sunday morning, we left our hotel at about 7:50am for our 1.2km warm-up jog to the start line. Outside I immediately got disorientated and we did a lap of the large T junction through Hindmarsh Square before I looked up and saw the Adelaide hills, then my brain kicked into gear and we turned back in the right direction. The race started at 8am but I figured we wouldn't want to be up the front where it would be too congested. The information pamphlet provided by the event organizers said that walkers and pram runners would start from 8:15am, so we jogged to the start to begin ahead of them. However when we got there, many runners still waiting to begin in waves taking off at 5min intervals, so we chatted with another runner to make sure we were in the right spot, jumped into the start chute with him, and took off over the start line at 8:20am.

The start crowd felt  relaxed and positive, and we began running up a long slow incline surrounded by many runners at a similar pace. As we turned onto South Terrace a man called out “Go Achilles!” which surprised us, and we speculated that perhaps he was from Melbourne too.

There aren’t many turns along the route in City Bay, and the elevation trends gradually downhill after the first small climb up from the start. I knew we were moving at a good pace but assumed we’d been caught up in the start crowd excitement. It wasn’t until we turned onto Anzac Highway, which most of the 12kms follows, and we were still running each km faster than the last that I mentioned it to Pete. He said he felt good and I checked to make sure he was happy to keep pushing the pace. With Berlin Marathon only two weeks after City Bay, I wanted to help him run as fast he could and gain some confidence from this event, but I was conscious that if he pushed too hard he could get injured ahead of his first ever full marathon.

The highway is a wide road and people really spread out across the lanes. We stuck mostly to the right but did a lot of people dodging. In a few spots the bitumen had some large long cracks, and I think each of us slipped into them at one point. Without a bulldozer to help with noting hazards and ensuring a clear running path, the bitumen cracks came up suddenly as they were impossible to avoid amongst the crowded foot traffic. We passed heaps of runners and only had a handful overtake us. We stopped at two drink stations at 6kms and 9kms for water, and Pete had a gel that he’s testing for Berlin.

With a few kms to go, we were approaching a wide bend in the highway and I knew we would soon turn off onto more narrow streets. At some point as we approached the finish line, we’d also have tram tracks to avoid, but also the walkers at the tail end of the half marathon event.

Our pace had increased again but I could feel that Pete was able to go even faster. My heart rate was high and I could hear my pulse pounding in my ears. In my head I worried that he wanted to go faster but I was holding him back. Some negative intrusive thoughts tried to take over ‘You’re holding him back! What if you fall? Cramp? Vomit?’ But I had to block them out.

At this stage of the race, the biggest challenge on the course was navigating around people wearing noise-cancelling headphones. I was calling out almost constantly at this time “Please keep left, blind runner passing”. It was easier to try and clear a path than to keep dodging people, while also watching Pete’s feet to make sure he wasn’t going to slip into the tram tracks. I wanted to stay in the wider middle lane but there were too many people wearing noise cancelling headphones. People running with headphones weren’t able to hear me calling out, and were shocked or surprised as we squeezed past them. Sometimes other runners heard me and helped by calling out too, yelling louder than I was capable of. A woman pleaded for people to share the road. Some ran ahead and tapped the head-phoned people on the shoulder to move out of our way. I am so thankful for their help, and feel so much love for the people in the running community who are looking out for each other in these highly congested events.

I hesitate to discourage others from feeling a sense of enjoyment as I do from running. However, if you need the motivation of music to get out, please consider leaving noise cancelling headphones at home, try “open ear” or “bone conduction” headphones, or maybe just one earbud. Situational awareness is important in big fun run events, but also when we’re sharing day-to-day paths with pedestrians, bikes and alongside cars.

Most people around us on the course were conscious that they were sharing the road with many people. We had fun, brief chats with a few people we passed, and some expressed how they admired what Pete and I were doing.

I know how hard it can be to get out the door to run. Let alone sign up for an event. By getting out there we gain invaluable life experience, test our limits and learn lessons about ourselves. We are all part of a bigger community and need to look out, and listen out for one another.

When running as a sighted guide, the race is run at the pace of the person with low vision. It’s their effort and they should celebrate that. I’m there to ensure that they, and everyone around them on the course, are safe in achieving their goals. The best part of being in a running community is that everyone has the chance to uplift each other and keep others safe, just by simply being aware of their surroundings  I don't usually collect a race medal when guiding, but I did after running the 12km City Bay Fun Run in Adelaide with Pete. I’m so thankful to Pete for inviting me to run with him in such a beautiful city. I knew we’d have lots of fun, but the bonus of feeling strong and being able to challenge ourselves to achieve a finish time we were both happy with is icing on the frog cake (it’s a South Australian thing!)

We collected stunning finisher medals that are burnished silver with a spinning gold medallion in the centre, highlighting 50 years of City Bay, and proudly wore them all the way home on the plane back to Melbourne.
 

By Peter E and Emily Haddow

Guide running and being guided carries a wide range of emotions from both people with vision impairment, and sighted guides. …and this is on top of the physical and practical mechanics of guiding.  The process for a person with vision impairment asking for guides, as well as a sighted person offering themselves up as a guide, can evoke a range of feelings that we all need to be aware of and understand.
When a person with vision impairment puts themselves out there publicly asking for guiding assistance for an event, training run, or even just a social walk, it can create anxiety and stress for them in several ways. Asking for assistance can feel like a sacrifice of independence despite logically knowing that help is needed to enjoy the freedom of running.  People with vision impairment may also fear rejection if they don’t get a positive response, which can happen for a range of valid reasons, such as no guides being available at the requested time or location, or there is just no guide available who can match the pace required.  For these reasons and others more personal, people with vision impairment may avoid asking for help to protect themselves from feelings of vulnerability and rejection. This is why proactive and emotionally sensitive offers of guiding for local parkruns, upcoming events and Sunday training is so important.

Guides can also experience similar feelings of rejection or disappointment if no one comes forward to take up an offer to guide. People can sign up to be a guide for various reasons, but most come with the desire to ‘be helpful’ or to ‘contribute to community’. These are wonderful motivations but can leave guides feeling unnecessary or unneeded if they are part of a large guide contingent for Sunday training, or are not selected to guide an event. It’s important to remember at these times that low attendance of runners with vision impairment at Sunday training can occur for various reasons such as injuries, or just many members with vision impairment being away over the weekend. Coordinating parings for large events can be challenging, with preferred pacing and distances difficult to match. If a guide is not selected, it is not a sign of individual failure. You may wish to offer any sighted guiding support the community, but this may look different depending on the availability, location, pace and preferences of athletes with vision impairment.

All feelings are legitimate, reasonable and need to be respected and understood.  We are all different; some of us may not experience these emotions at all, some of us may feel them but have built the confidence or resilience to ask for a sighted guide…The reality is that there are some of us who remain on a personal journey to navigate these tricky emotions. As a result, they may not be getting the full experience Achilles has to offer.

With all issues there are solutions.

For members with a vision impairment, if you are having difficulty with any of the issues raised in this blog, please reach out to the committee, or maybe a guide or another athlete you are comfortable with to talk through the concerns. We can plan to ensure you get the level of support you need.

For guides, the same advice applies, reach out if you have an issue or are struggling to feel connected. We can plan to help you feel like you are contributing to the community even if people with vision impairment are not as readily available as you had hoped. The Committee is always looking for more help!

It is essential to always remember Achilles is a non-judgmental, inclusive, and open community organisation that is here to support and help people with a disability on their terms.  Giving and receiving support is something we all should be grateful for, in whatever form that takes. Whether it is running together on a Sunday, completing a parkrun, socially being available, or most importantly, learning to be part of a group where members will have needs or preferences different to your own. 

We all think of Achilles as a running club, but it is far more than this for both the athletes with vision impairment and sighted guides. It is a community where we exercise, socialise, sometimes travel, but always support each other in the best way possible. No one should feel rejected or pressured to give or accept help. Enjoy Achilles not for what it gives you but what you can give to the community.

Peter is an athlete with vision impairment and committee member at Achilles Melbourne. Emily is a sighted guide and also a committee member at Achilles Melbourne. Both have dreams to run a marathon in an athlete-sighted guide partnership one day.

This is probably one of the most common questions we get from prospective guides. For a simple question, it’s a complex answer. It depends on the situation and location.

In short, the answer is, no, we don’t have “enough” guides. This is because we believe that all people who love running/walking, have a good level of vision, and the ability to communicate verbally should have some knowledge of sighted guiding. There are often times when our athletes with a disability are not able to find sighted guides.

One of the easiest physical activities to do to get active is to go for a run. There’s nothing like being out in the open, your feet pounding the pavement and the rush of energy you feel from running or a brisk walk. But if you live with vision impairment, it’s not just a matter of strapping on your shoes and heading out the door. Often, you need to travel somewhere to meet someone, arrange for a support worker to look after your dog guide, make sure you know where to send your rideshare or taxi driver, know how to navigate public transport to a mutually agreed meeting point and know how you’re going to store your belongings (e.g. white cane, a change of clothes, water, towel, valuables etc.). And after all of that, there’s the worry of matching pace and being guided by someone you get along with. Even the task itself of an athlete having to ask for a sighted guide can raise feelings of embarrassment or guilt that the athlete must push aside. There’s a lot to consider for someone with vision impairment when they go for a run.

Why is it such an effort to go for a run when you live with vision impairment? One reason of many, is because we don’t have enough guides.

Imagine this: one of our runners/walkers with vision impairment wants to go running or go for an energetic power walk. They could join any social running club or event because there would be someone who could run with them. Or if they weren’t into club running, or had awkward schedules that didn’t align with social runs, they could ask a neighbour or someone in the local community to simply turn up at their doorstep to go for a run.

If we ever reached this sighted guide running nirvana, then yes, we would have “enough” guides.
Despite your interest to become a sighted guide, you might not live near someone with vision impairment. If this is you, we’d still encourage you to learn to be a sighted guide. While there may not be someone near to you to guide now, perhaps sometime in the future, someone might move into your area, or you might move somewhere where you know someone with vision impairment. Perhaps you’re friends with a keen runner who does live near someone with vision impairment. With your connection, you could be the one that connects a guide with a person with vision impairment. 

Sometimes at our Sunday training sessions, a lot of our members with vision impairment seem to be simultaneously busy, and we can be inundated with guides. In these situations, we encourage you to get to know your fellow guide as Achilles is just as much social as it is about sighted guiding. On the contrary, sometimes we face a dearth of sighted guides. This can particularly happen when there are people with vision impairment with specific needs (e.g. extremely fast pace or extremely long distance). Here, we definitely don’t have enough guides!

Achilles operates on a casual basis so there’s no obligation to guide in an ongoing relationship. While some people may form good friendships in their guide-athlete dyad and run often together, it’s best if a person with a disability has a community of guides to call upon. Perhaps John is the Monday guide, Jane is the Tuesday guide, and Bilal is the Wednesday guide…you get the idea! But then perhaps Jane is injured or on holidays (lucky Jane!). Having a situations where we have “enough” guides would mean that Jane is instantly replaced by another guide while she’s unavailable.
​
At the end of the day, our message to you is this: give guide running a go, and if you can’t work it into your schedule, tell 10 friends about it. Actually, tell those 10 friends about sighted guiding regardless of your situation. If we have enough people talking about sighted guiding, then perhaps one day we’ll have “enough” guides.

This blog post was written by Amanda Kwong - Founder and current co-Vice President of Achilles Melbourne. 

By Maddy Seiter, President Achilles Melbourne 

With 2023 behind us it’s time to reflect on what has been a bumper year for Achilles Melbourne.
It has been yet another busy year for Achilles Melbourne filled to the brim with training opportunities and events. During 2023 we have had the opportunity to take park in a large number of events both near and far including  but not limited to The Tim Gates Fun Run, the Beer Mile, Stadium Stomp, Run 4 the Kids, Pride Run, Melbourne Marathon, Connors Run, Run Prix, Sydney Marathon, Puffing Billy, Bright Running Festival, Shepparton Running Festival, City2Surf, Gold Coast Marathon, HBF Run for a Reason, Mother’s Day Classic,  Canberra Marathon and our biggest event for the year Run Melbourne where we had more than 100 participants from all Australian Achilles chapters come and take part. A big thank you must go out to Amanda K, Bronson, Rhiannon, Vincent, Max C, Maddy, Max, Simon, Jermaine and The Wharf, City of Melbourne and our interstate chapter organisers Ellis J, Brian O, Peter R, Aaron B (Canberra's Max), Robert J.

We also had Claudia, Jack T, Maddy, Karen B, Nicole M, Joo,  Deb C and Jacinta W venture over to the USA where they were able to take on New York Marathon.
With thanks to Nat B, Bupa and Trailbus we were able to hit the trails multiple times where we explored George Bass Coastal Trail, Werribee Gorge, Yarra Ranges National Park and Lake Mountain.

We also had a good turnout for our 6th annual Tan Handicap where we introduced a second race for our guides. In our VIP event first place was taken out by Jack T and in the guide event Max C took out first place. A big thank you to all who helped put on the event including Emily H, Peter E, Amanda K, Julie C, Jez and Vincent.

Wednesday strength continued to remain strong both virtually and in face to face at Tom’s Block and Kathleen Symes Library. Strength welcomed a number of new participants and worked hard to support all participants.  A big thank you needs be given to our strength Coaches Deb and Karen for running the sessions and to Peggy and Julie C for covering while Deb and Karen were away in NY.

We also teamed up with our friends at parkrun on numerous occasions including a successful guide training session at Pakenham parkrun and filling all volunteer roles with athletes with a disability or guides at Parkville parkrun in honour of International Day of People with Disability.

Throughout the year our volunteers shone bright as always. Whether guiding, coordinating Sunday training sessions and events, running guide training sessions, assisting at expos or just being there to lend a helping hand your time and effort is appreciated.
 
We brought attention to the contributions from our volunteers of the month for 2023 Amanda K, Vincent, Maz Strong.  We also had a change in our committee where we welcomed Emly H and Peter E as new committee member and thank our current ongoing committee Vincent H, Claudia S, Simon B, Max C, Nessa S, Amanda K and Madeline S. 

But of course, our biggest thanks goes out to you, our members. Your enthusiasm and support for one another and our club shines through. Yes it has been a big year, but when you’ve got members from the best running club (slightly biased opinion), it makes everything we do worth it.

By Peggy Soo

A chilly start to the day on Sunday 30th April, Achilles Melbourne joined Trail Bus to Werribee Gorge on Wurundjeri country (and a tight border with Wadawurung Country to the south of the Werribee river). 
We met the crew of Trail Bus to do a fabulous hiking adventure with the choice of 8km and 5km courses. Both courses consisted of hills, lots of rocks and a bonus rope scramble for the longer course.

After a quick coffee stop and a safety briefing, we broke into two groups. The longer course consisted of VIP’s: Peter S, Maddy S, Jenny B and Max M. Guides were Jez, Erika, Jackie, Aiden, Emily and Rhiannon.

5km group consisted of VIP’s: Peggy S and Janice S. Guides were Nat, Amanda, Robin and Theresa. We also had one guide dog and two young children. One child was carried by mum or dad on their back with a specialised hiking pack. 

Both courses started together for 2km with a nasty hill at the beginning. After the walk up the hill we came a cross our first spectacular lookout overlooking mountain ranges from Ballarat over past Melbourne CBD to Dandinong Ranges. The climb  up the hill was worth the effort. 

As we went on our separate courses, we came across some challenging terrain which tested our concentration and patience. Even more so for VIP’s where guiding needs to be more descriptive of where to put your feet and which side of the track to walk on. Guides also found this to be a different experience where they need to be more aware of surroundings and placement of feet. At times we did find ourselves on narrow paths on the edge of a cliff face. Where the group doing the 8km course had a river crossing and climbed on various rocks, at one point having only a rope to cling onto on the edge of a rock cliff. 

We celebrated our achievements by being met by the Trail Bus crew with chips, coke and fruit.  We can’t forget the lunch at the pub for long-awaited pizzas. 

Achilles Melbourne had conquered Werribee Gorge with smiles and great achievement. Thank you to Trail Bus your planning, transport, trail equipment, and making sure we were all safe. Thank you to Achilles Melbourne and Bupa for an opportunity for some of us would never have been possible without your help and support. 

With courage, we conquered and made it through the Gorge!

[this hike was sponsored by Bupa as part of Achilles Melbourne's hike/bush/trail program]

On the 23rd of April, our committee met for our regular meeting. 

At each meeting, we take the opportunity to express gratitude to those who have gone above and beyond, or have done little things that made a big difference. While we are absolutely sure we've forgotten someone, a special mention to:

* Max C for organising our Run 4 the Kids teams and managing our influx of merchandise.
* Mike T for heading up to Canberra and training out of session with Mikey
* Rhiannon R for taking initiative to help with our post Run Melbourne Lunch
* Simon B for organising our Run Melbourne teams (yet to be released but the background work has started!)
* Vincent H for being magical at linking names of people he's never met before/only once and mining our archives for their images
* Amanda K - for giving the newsletter a make-over and Ness for lending some great insights
* Claudia S for a head start contribution to a grant for Run Melbourne
* Zoe A for guiding a student VIP at a schoole cross country event
and some belated thank-yous from our Februay meeting:
* Jenny B for organising the Beer Mile and Kirkdale parkrun for IDPWD
* Erika H for diving head-first into active guiding after joining us after last year's IDPWD event
* Rhiannon R for organising our Pride Run teams
* Colin H for travelling the extra miles to do Claudia's half marathon event in Port Arlington.

Remember: we take nominations in no particular orderly fashion for Volunteer of the Month. So if you think someone has gone the extra ultra-ultra-marathon mile, please let us know so we can sing our praises to them!

 by Miwa Tominaga

On 28 October 2022, members of Achilles Melbourne travelled to Bendigo for a weekend of guide training at parkruns, trail running, First Nations’ Welcome to Country, ecology education and community building. Six athletes with a vision impairment and  7 sighted guides travelled to Bendigo.

Saturday 29th started bright and early with participants breaking off into two groups to provide guide training at both Bendigo Botanic and Kennington Reservoir parkruns.

Bendigo Botanic parkrun (event #71) had 83 people run and walk the event. We were lucky enough to have around 15 people attend guide training at 7:30am where Achilles guide, Jacinta, ran through the basics of guiding an athlete with a vision impairment. After the event briefing where we were warmly welcomed, the 10 members of Achilles in attendance (5 VIPs and 5 guides) teamed up with local parkrunners to further their training and give them the opportunity to try guiding.

While all of this was going our three other members (1 VIP and 2 guides) ventured to Kennington Reservoir Parkrun (event #322) where they had 128 people run and walked. Our members had the opportunity to talk to those in attendance about guiding and answer any questions they had.

After parkrun, people were given the opportunity to spend the rest of the day exploring their surroundings using various transport options included tram, bus, taxi, bicycle and walking from our convenient accommodation the Julie-Ann inn. People enjoyed attending the vintage talking tram, local pubs / restaurants, art gallery, museums, underground mine tours and other Bendigo tourist attractions before meeting up for a group dinner.
 
On Sunday 30th we headed out to the Bendigo box ironbark forests to meet up with the crew from Trail Bus with special guests Deanna, an ecologist guide, and Trent who led us in a      Welcome to C     ountry and traditional smoking ceremony and explained why these ceremonies are conducted, as well as their importance. Trent had just travelled 6 hours from flood affected towns in Echuca, Kerang and Swan Hill.
Deanna, a Bendigo-based ecologist, led everyone through a 1.2km nature hike sharing insightful information on local ecology, history, plants and wildlife. For example, Box Ironbark, caterpillars, pardalotes, chocolate lily, native orchids. She was able to point out important flora and fauna for those in attendance and would encourage people to touch and smell the plants when safe to do so.

The Trail Bus team continued the morning with a 6km and 12 km trail run / hike, taking on parts of the Goldfields Track. This was completed by 16 people and 3 guide dogs. The trail run consisted of lots of hills, rocky ground, muddy areas and water crossings. People were given the opportunity to go at the pace that suited them and the environment around them.

Once all the trail fun was over we took the opportunity to have a post run lunch with live entertainment at the Bridge Hotel Bendigo before people headed off home to Melbourne.

A big thank you goes out to all those who made this weekend a success including Claudia for organising the weekend, Bendigo Botanic and Kennington Reservoir parkruns for being so welcoming, Trail Bus, Deanna, Trent and Guide Dogs Victoria for the Connected Together grant.

By Simon Bernard

Build Up to New York
When Simon W put a request out for a guide for the New York Marathon, I didn’t hesitate knowing that, during the build up to the event, I was training for the Melbourne Marathon
Simon W arranged guides (special mentions to Kate, Bronson, Joo and Mark) to assist him in his marathon training, with him and I keeping in contact to confirm plans for the journey to New York
Race Week
Immediately on our arrival in New York in a hotel that was literally taken over by Achilles with a sea of yellow shirts.
In the hotel it was clear to me that Achilles is a bigger organisation than I had realised. Achilles International is an organisation that helps athletes with physical and mental disabilities that covers a broad spectrum from many countries from around the world. Achilles International also supports War Veterans and I met a few athletes who had served in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan
Chapters participating in the race included chapters from the USA, Germany, Mongolia, Brazil and Great Britain and of course Australia.
On the Friday before the race, Achilles hosted an evening at the Hard Rock Café in Time Square. Outside of the restaurant was a flashing billboard that showed the Achilles International Logo and the hashtag #GoAchilles. This is a prime area of New York so to see this was awesome.
At the dinner on Friday, the Achilles International team gave out some awards to some deserving athletes/volunteers. It was announced that for the New York marathon event, $USD300,000 had been raised

Race Day
The day began with a 5am departure to a bus which would take us the starting area. The starting area for Achilles was a private area with a huge tent where chairs, food and drinks were provided away from the rest of the athletes competing in the race.
Our wave was called and we were lead to the start line. The 500 metre walk to the start line was lined with people cheering and shouting “Go Achilles”. The national anthem, a canon went off and the classic song of ‘New York New York’ proceeded us before we began the race
A sea of Achilles ran through the streets of New York as Simon and I got into the race. The streets were full of crowds and the noise at times was deafening. At 24k’s, Rick - a guide from Achilles New York joined us to give Simon a local’s perspective of where we were running. A game changer for me was Rick had on his guide shirt written “Go Simon”. Immediately the crowds were shouting Simon’s name and it definitely gave me a boost in the times in the race that I struggled.

As Rick left us at 34ks, Simon and I attacked the final part of the race which was full of crowds to finish in just over 6 hours on a very warm day
At the finish line we were greeted by the Achilles International president who gave us a big hug before we made our way to the recovery where we were lucky enough to get free ride back to the hotel

Conclusion
As guide it was by far the most rewarding race I’ve ever participated in. The opportunity to meet Achilles guides/athletes from all over the world was awesome and to see Simon W achieve his goal was a great moment for me. Simon’s family had flown in from Melbourne, Sydney and London and it was special to meet them and also sharing his achievement with them.

#Go Achilles

With events back on in Melbourne after an almost 2-year hiatus, our members recount their return to the MCG Stadium Stomp, held on the 13th of February. We hear from full course stomper, Claudia and half course stomper, Francois about their experiences.

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Report by Claudia Stevenson

Full course - somewhere between 7300 and 7600 steps

Despite my calves still tingling nearly a week later I’m delighted to have able to complete Stadium Stomp again. Last year, (or was it the year before?) I had planned to do Stadium Stomp tourism, completing all Stadium Stomps in Australia but then came the Lurgey and that was put on hold.
So this year. I’m back signed up… I’ve done the hard one, all the rest are easier!

What do I like about Stadium Stomp?
I love how it’s an untimed course and how polite and friendly everyone is on course. Because of the stadium seating there’s plenty of places where people can pass without feeling pressured. I have a love hate relationship with that tall stand where the seating goes up to row LL (I even saw a MM this year). I hate when you get up to U or Z or AA and your legs are screaming at you but I love that feeling of accomplishment every time you make it up there!

The full course is not for the faint hearted. It is steep and hard but the music is great and camaraderie on the course is wonderful. Start with the half course and work up your courage to do the full!

Thanks to Sophie for all her organising and of course to my wing woman and guide, Marg for doing all these crazy things with me!

*****
....and some perspective from Francois J:

Half course (approx 3900 steps)

Some people just go out and keep fit as a life routine, irrespective of whether they have upcoming events or not. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people. If I don't have an event to train for I tend to go into a very low maintenance mode at best. Memories of a fantastic time with our Past President Amanda on the steps of the MCG in 2017 and the need to get out of my own decline motivated me to enter for Stadium Stomp 2021. With easy access to the staircase of our six-storey apartment block and event day fast approaching I started stairs training in June last year and I was on track to enjoy the full course of 7300 stairs. Two event reschedules later I had lost my mojo and went back to my favourite relaxed weekly runs with Achilles. I kept telling myself I'll start again next month, and before I knew it it was February and too late to get fit for the full course. The incredible Sophie Thomas stepped in and helped me downgrade to the half course (only 3900 steps), and I felt much less nervous about it.
 
I was not going to be late, so I walked down to my tram stop ahead of time so I could meet my guide Simon at the G. Thank you to the random pedestrian who alerted me to the fact that there would be no trams on the day due to roadworks, and thank you to the Uber driver who still got me there on time. Note to self: Do your homework!
 
Event day started out cool and breezy but soon became a lot warmer. We bumped into Claudia and Marg at the start, all pumped for the full course, and their enthusiasm was really infectious, but would that be enough to get me over the line?
 
Achilles guides are so incrediblly adaptable, and Simon Bernard especially so. I soon realised the usual hand-held tether was not going to work for me on this one, as there are a lot of quick turns, and of course ups and downs. So I took his elbow and after a while I got used to the turns as they were consistent. So I said to Simon he can drop the verbal cues as his elbow gave me all the information I needed. It may sound counter-intuitive, but I found that going slightly faster in this type of situation was much better for my balance than taking it slow, and once we found that sweet spot I again remembered why I love the event so much.

There were significantly fewer participants than I remember from the previous time, understandably, but some great tunes over the loudspeakers really helped and going up and down, out into the sun and back into the shade really makes one feel like it's YOUR MCG!
 
Halfway through the vent my calves got a little tired, but miraculously it never got worse and I was amazed when we got down to the final lap around on the grass that I could actually jog it! I really felt it in my calves for the next two days, so I know that down-grading was the right decision for me but next time...

Huge thanks to Sophie and others at Achilles to make this possible, congrats to the other teams who also flew the Achilles flag and a special mention to Simon who made it all look so easy.

By Amanda Kwong
 
Shift. Pivot. Be nimble. Isolate.

Before 2020, these words would be synonymous to gearing our bodies towards being better runners, being agile, growing strong. Now, they hold an obvious alternate meaning related to all the challenges that 2020 and COVID-19 threw at Achilles Melbourne. Nearing the end of our 5th year in operation, Achilles Melbourne was set to rule another year that kicked off with some strong performances from runner-turned-human-fish, Maddy in the Pier to Pub, Andrew C asserting his presence on the athletics track, and Chris C raising a healthy packet of funds running the Two Bays trail running festival. The only thing we thought that COVID-19 was set to ruin was the shipment of our club shirts from China, at which point I remember distinctly imploring our members for patience and sympathy for the plight of those dealing with the virus overseas. Little did we know...

Though, at this time of year, we still focus on the positives. And heck, there were so many that I don't know where to begin. 

This year, I saw Achilles Melbourne's online presence grow substantially. While using our online social media and forums was previously about celebrating what members had achieved, and what was to come in future weeks, we instead used this to connect and motivate. With the first lockdown, online challenge after online challenge was thrown at our members who took these up with gusto. A special thank-you to anyone who coordinated a challenge, Amy for rustling up support to get challenge setters involved, Rhi for keeping the online heart-beat fresh and positive, and to all those who participated and egged each other on. We also managed to design our very own Steigen sock with the help of Chris C to keep the merchandise interests of the club in its full Lycra(TM) glory. 

Strength Wednesdays moved to an online format, which was a welcome change to traipsing out into the cold, dark nights of Melbourne winter to our much loved Multicultural Hub. With the new format, we were able to include more participants, who otherwise may have struggled to travel to the city for our key cross training weekly fixture. A big thank-you to Sarah A and Deb C for keeping our members strong, and outgoing super coach, Catherine N. It might be worth mentioning here that our top three winners for the Tan Handicap (Claudia S, Peggy S, Maddy S) are all strength attendees. Perhaps we have a secret ingredient for a winning performance?

We also must not forget that some running events actually did take place with the Pride Run and Run Warrandyte a resounding success (a hat tip to coordinator, Heather M). Whether we will be able to coordinate events with our flair of efficiency will remain a mystery into 2021. Perhaps if they involve an online challenge or two... We also acknowledge some incredible running efforts this year. A few particular recent efforts stand out: Jenny B's maiden half marathon in under 2 hours, with only a friend on a bike, two Achilles guides (cheers, Bronson and Wes!), and a shining yellow beacon of Monica W as a cheer squad on a downpour-threatening easing lockdown day. Further, anyone who witnessed our members bossing the battle ropes at our combined nokkon-Achilles International Day of People with Disability event should know to tread carefully around our exceptionally strong members. That, and Claudia S's stunning Tan Handicap win for 2020, where months of keeping fit and active through lockdown truly paid off. Mastermind handicap setter, Adrienne K, did well with scant data available to hold our handicap this year.  

And through our lockdown months, our volunteers shone bright. There are many who kept offering to guide, and those who stayed home to keep others safe - both are thanked in equal measure. We highlighted the contributions from our volunteers of the month for 2021: Sarah A, Julie B, Michelle W, Emily H, Sophie T, Amy B, Maddy S, Monica W. We also had a changing of the guard (the committee) with special thanks to outgoing members, Heather M, Peggy S, Amir A, and Nicky H, and welcomed in their place: Simon B, Max C, Joe G, and Sophie T. Those who kept the administrative cogs of Achilles ever ticking, we also thank ongoing committee, Maddy S, Ness S, Amy B, Karen B, Simon W, Rhiannon R. 

But of course, the biggest thanks goes to you, our members. Your enthusiasm through lockdown, the Achilles Cup, reaching out to one another, wielding a credit card our way to buy a pair of socks or two, staying home to keep each other safe, and always willing to do what was necessary to comply with the constantly moving feast of government restrictions and hygiene measures. Yes, this year was always going to be tough, but when you've got members of the best running club in Melbourne* (*biased opinion), it makes implementing necessary changes and measures incredibly easy. 

Nimble. Ever-shifting. Ready to connect. We'll be here with you again in 2021, in whatever shape it takes. #GoAchilles