Ducky and Me and the 2003 Bridge to Brisbane

In 2002, my eldest daughter Ducky then 11, had come third in her school cross country without any training and was quite excited about it. She wanted to train for next year so I talked her into coming out walking with me. So we started walking together. By the end of 2002, we were doing up to an hour, three time a week. We then started running, slowly building up the distance till we could run 4k and all at a nice 6 to 7 min/k. She was a great running partner and we chatted and shared a lot and revelled in our common exercise goals.

The next year, she again came third at the schoolcross country but with a much better time. The two girls who beat her went on to run in the State finals. At the Districts in May, she ran 3k in 14:06 on a hilly course which she was very pleased with. We then decided to keep training for the Bridge to Brisbane Fun Run (12k) in August 2003 which we completed together in 67 minutes and had a ball.

The next year in Grade 8 she had to write about “The Best Moment of Your Life” and she chose The Bridge to Brisbane Run. It is one of my best moments also. That race was the grand finale of a precious year of running I shared with Ducky.

But alas it was the end of our running together.