Date: Friday, 8 February 2019

From: Teresa

I Performed for Trump ... no, Deek

New York Marathon was 4th November, Kim and another 2 friends from Griffith came to cheer me on!

New York starts on Staten Island on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and finishes in Central Park Manhattan. Running through the five Burroughs of New York : Staten Island, The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan.

A very early start, left the hotel by 6am and my wave didn’t start until 10:40am, so lots of waiting around at the start. [Like the good old days of C2S : ed]  Very well catered for with coffee, bagels etc to help yourself too. We were very lucky with the weather it was a perfect day with a high of 13 and a sunny sky.

The highlight of New York Marathon was meeting Robert DeCastella and his Indigenous Marathon Project runners, they were also in our Travelling Fit group. A fabulous group of  very inspiring young people and supporters with individual stories to tell about their journey to make it to the start line of the 2018 New York Marathon.

At the moment the try outs for this years New York Marathon are on with trials happening in various places around Australia. All information can be found on their website: Indigenous Marathon Foundation www.imf.org.au

Three Abbott World Majors completed, three to go.   Will be off to Chicago this year in October, then only Tokyo and Boston to go!

Date: Thursday, 7 February 2019

From: Teresa

I Performed for the Queen

London Marathon 2018!

I have been lucky enough to participate in two Abbott World Major Marathons last year, April 24th in the London Marathon and have New York November 4th.

Both marathons were fabulous with different highlights in each. Both have massive crowd support for the entire 42.295km and loads of bands playing fabulous music.

London runs from Greenwich with wave starts and staggered starting times. Wave groups run separately until 5kms.

It was an early start, leaving the hotel by bus at 7am to get to the start, considering I didn’t cross the start line until 10.30am. This year it was the hottest day in the history of the London Marathon. I was hoping for cooler conditions!

The finish is on The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. I wasn’t as prepared for London as New York as I was just coming back from a knee and Achilles injury which impeded me being able to train adequately. I was determined to finish as I wasn’t going all that way not to do it! Also had Kim and my three daughters there to cheer me on. We had a fabulous holiday, visiting London, Ireland, Wales, Bath, Germany and Switzerland with a one night stopover in Bangkok on the way home.

Date: Friday, 11 January 2019

From: David

Thanks & au revoir

17 Nov 2018  Hi Neil & Joggers

I just enjoyed my last run with the Feral Joggers (and what a track to finish on!). I'm completing my studies in Griffith this week and will be heading back to Sydney for further study next year.

Just wanted to say thanks for having me in the Ferals over the last 9 months. Each week I'm thoroughly impressed at how well organised each run is, and the number of people who turn up to run each week. Moreover, everyone has always been very friendly and welcoming towards me. I've really enjoyed running with your group, and I'll take with me fun memories of my time with the Ferals (though I'm trying hard to forget all my disqualifications and times when I got lost!).

Thanks again, and if I'm ever in Griffith on a Saturday afternoon, I'll certainly pop by for another run.

All the best.

Date: Monday, 17 December 2018

From: Neil

Can't Say I Enjoyed This One

See the sunny blues skies and the long views of snow capped mountains?  I didn't!  All I saw was low cloud, rain, mist, rain, cloud and more rain.

It was wet and cold at the start line and rained most of the way around. Temperature around 13°C. 100km of nasty hills before we got some flat land.   Hmm! Not so good for a boy from the flatlands.  I got dropped on every uphill and fanged every downhill.

Luckily my rental had a hot bath to warm up in.

Date: Thursday, 25 October 2018

From: Bob

Simon Succumbs to the Delights of Smoko

The reason this postcard has been so long in coming is not because of the Swiss postal service because as we all know the Swiss are efficient in all things (some say they are Germans with obsessive, compulsive disorder), but because I have witnessed the upset that a sudden drop in a jogger's performance can have on his family. So after much consideration, and hence the delay, I believe it is in the best interests of furthering the Feral Jogging Movement that this story must be told.

Recently Jan and I were on a European River Cruise with a group from Griffith. Simon Fattore's parents, Sergio and Angelina, were in the group, so I thought they would enjoy hearing how Simon and Fiona were running on the hill. So every Sunday morning I would go to our website, download their performances and report to Serg' and Angelina. This was something of a mixed blessing for them.

While they were very pleased with Fiona's performance (she was consistently in the top 10, frequently in the first three placings), Simon's performance (usually languishing at the tail of the field, and being beaten by Fiona not only on handicap but also her net times) was a great disappointment to them both. While Angelina struggled to explain away Simon's sudden slump in performance, Serg' said he knew what was causing it and why it was happening now.

Apparently, Simon has a fondness for all things on offer on the Smoko Van, and with Sergio not at home to curtail him, he believed Simon was having extended Smokos and sampling everything the van had to offer.  Serg' believed there could be no other plausible explanation for such a sudden and dramatic slump in form!  Simply put, while Sergio was away Simon was immersing himself in a Smoko binge. He also recalled how overly enthusiastic Simon was to see them go on this trip!!

So while Jan and I continued our trip into Switzerland and northern Italy, Sergio and Angelina made a hasty return to Griffith to rescue Simon from the temptations of the dreaded Smoko van.

I'm glad to report that since Sergio and Angelina's return, Simon's performance on the hill (and I believe his efficiency in the workshop) have returned to something he, and his parents can be proud of.

FERAL RULE 106b: Good jogging requires self-discipline and good, sensible diet.  This is a rule I have endeavored to strictly adhere to over many years of slogging it out on the hill.

Regards Bob Barker.

PS. Have included 2 photos, the first is me with Simon's parents who put on a brave face for the photo, the second of me after a brisk run around the foreshore of Lake Como.