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2018 Leonora Elite Athlete Testimonials
Feedback from the elite athletes of Leonora 2018
"The Leonora golden gift weekend is an amazing opportunity to show case the beauty of a small town in the Western Australian Outback. For the elites and developing athletes, it gives us a unique chance to share our love for our sport, the outdoors and striving to reach our goals, with the Leonora community. We all hope to inspire some budding young athletes to follow in our footsteps and for them too to strive to reach their goals. I've traveled to Leonora on three occasions and continue to find it to be a weekend highlighted by the smiling faces of children racing in the 100m dash and eagerly running alongside us up and down the streets of Leonora. I would love to return for many years to come." -Madeline Hills (Olympian and 2017 event winner)
"Thoroughly enjoyed the weekend! Thought it ran really well and was very inclusive with the community. Met a couple of people from Kalgoorlie that were there for the weekend visiting, who love the event and seeing the top athletes compete." -Aaron Bresland (Top Aussie sprinter, Leonora elite sprints winner 2018)
"The Leonora Golden gift was a truly unique experience. The friendliness of the community and the community spirit on display was inspiring to see. Racing on the Main Street of town was not only very different to anything I’ve done before but it was loads of fun. Not to mention racing against some of the best athletes Australia has to offer. The food and accomodation was also top notch. I’ll definitely be going back! Thanks to Leonora and Runnerstribe for the fantastic opportunity." -Holly Campbelle (Top Aussie middle distance star -2018 finalist)
"Once again thanks for organising! One of my favourite weekends on the racing calendar. A superbly managed event." -Ben Chamberlain (Top Aussie middle distance star)
"Thank you for a great weekend. Leonora was a great opportunity for elite athletes to come together for a mile race out of the typical athletics season. It was evident that the community came to life with the event in their town and it was fantastic to see so many people taking part in the races as well as cheering on us athletes. I've already recommended the race to my international training partners as it is a unique opportunity to be exposed to a part of Australia that most won't have the opportunity to see. I'll definitely be back again next year!" -Lissy Duncan (Olympian and former event winner)
"The Leonora Golden Gift is one of my favourite running events of the calendar year. As an up and coming West Australian middle distance athlete, I love participating in this event, in my home state, against some of Australia's best athletes. The race directors have been able to put together incredibly strong fields year after year, and this has allowed me to learn from some of Australia's top ranking runners. Competing at such a high level is a very rare opportunity for us Perth athletes, as we are based so far away from other state capitals. The town of Leonora is a great location to host the event, as the hustle and bustle around the town, clearly unites the people as they celebrate our great state over the WA Day long weekend." -Alain Dutton (Top Aussie middle distance star and elite mile finalist)
"The Leonora Golden gift mile, was an amazing and unique running experience! It was wonderful to feel so welcomed by the friendly community and get involved with all the fun activities over the weekend. The highlight was toeing the line against some really talented girls and having the support of the crowd through out the whole race." -Chloe Tighe (2018 women's elite mile winner)
