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Here is an unusual shot of Brian (No 297) actually leading in the early stages of the West Basin Ten Miler. Reality set in about 10 minutes later and he faded to 8th but ran a 57.49 PB
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Brian Wenn
Originally a Tasmanian before arriving in Canberra in 1970. Married to Lyn with three children, Daniel, Katrin and Rhianna, none of whom showed the slightest interest in running until recently. His oldest daughter Katrin registered for the ACT Cross Country Club half-marathon training program in 2008 and has now completed two half-marathons. She also helps out in the shop on weekends. Brian worked for the Federal Government until opening The Runners Shop Canberra in 1990. He came to running reasonably late in life at the age of 35 after many years in a number of other sports. He has been a member (and past President) of South Canberra Tuggeranong Athletic Club, the ACT Cross Country Club and the ACT Veterans Athletic Club for over twenty years. He is still a regular competitor but these days carries an extra 10 kilos of ballast compared to his "serious" racing days. He is acknowledged as a leading expert on the subject of running shoes.
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Rebecca competing in the ACT Cross Country winter series - May 2007
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Rebecca Wiasak
Rebecca moved to Canberra in 2003 to study a double degree in Sports Media and Law at the University of Canberra. The former Geelong runner won the Victorian under-20 800m title and competed at the Pacific School Games as a junior. She trained under AIS middle distance coach Dick Telford before entering the full-time workforce as a sports journalist at The Canberra Times in 2005. She was then poached by a public relations firm before settling on The Runners Shop. Rebecca regularly contributes to niche running magazine Run For Your Life. She had an identity crisis during her post-journalism ‘get fit’ phase and dabbled in a few novice triathlons then fell in love with the sport. She raced as an age-grouper at the World Triathlon Championships on the Gold Coast in September 2009.
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Julian racing at the Pagoda's near Rylstone
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Julian Dent
Originally from the Central Coast, Julian moved to Canberra in 2004 to study at the Australian National University and train for orienteering. Julian finished 2007 on top of the Australian Elite Rankings after an impressive performance at the World Orienteering Championships in the Ukraine where he qualified for two finals. Julian also competes successfully in cross country and track races. Julian spent most of 2008 competing in Sweden but returned last year to complete a Diploma of Education at the University of Canberra.
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Gareth competing at the Australian Triathlon Championships in Perth - March 2009
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Gareth Halverson
Gareth was the original triathlete at The Runners Shop, after convincing Brian that triathletes are real athletes too. Gareth took up triathlon in 1999, and has since enjoyed the variety that this multi-discipline sport offers. Gareth has represented Australia at the World Championships at the junior elite level and was awarded an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship in 2008. Gareth completed a Advertising / Marketing degree in 2005. He is Brian's fashion consultant. He raced on the professional circuit in Europe during 2008 and placed second behind Olympian Courtney Atkinson at the National Championships last year.
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Lisa leading at the track
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Lisa Corrigan
Lisa moved to Canberra at the end of 2002 to take up a middle distance running scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport. Her main event is the 1500m but she also competes over the 800m and 3000m on track as well as stepping up to the longer distances on the road. She was one of Australia’s leading junior middle distance runners and represented Australia at the junior Commonwealth Games and World Youth Championships. She then made her mark in the senior ranks and went on to represent Australia at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games where she was a finalist in the 1500m. Her personal bests include 2:01.50 for the 800m, 4:05.20 for the 1500m, and 4.22.60 for the mile, which is the current Australian record. Besides running she is studying secondary PE teaching at the University of Canberra. Lisa made her Olympic debut in the 1500m at the 2008 Beijing Games.
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| Kathy striding out in the ACT Cross Country series at Regatta Point - April 2003 |
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Kathy Sims
Kathy Sims was born and bred in Canberra with an ancestry in the capital that dates back to 1837. She has three daughters and keeps fit chasing her grandson. Kathy also works as a medical technologist. She is a member of the ACT Veterans Athletics Club and held the ACT W50 records for the 800m, 1500m, mile and 3000m. She also broke the Australian mile record in the W50 category. Kathy lists her third place in the City to Surf husband/wife team amongst her greatest running achievements.
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Daudi approaching the finish chute in his first Olympic Distance Triathlon in Canberra - January 2008
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Daudi Somi
Daudi Somi was a competitive soccer player but switched to triathlon after showing some promise as a junior swimmer. He is a member of the Triathlon ACT Junior Development Squad and has represented the ACT at the Australian Schools Triathlon Championships. He enjoys the sprint distance and placed third at the Australian Sprint Championships earlier this year but is eyeing off a start at the World Championships in the Olympic Distance. He is studying a double degree in Arts and Law at the Australian National University. Just for the record he has no intention of completing an Ironman, despite the general progression for triathletes to step up in distance. He also represented Australia at the World Triathlon Championships last year.
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Nick racing the Canberra Marathon - April 2009
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Nick Walshe
Nick is now a part owner of The Runners Shop, having bought into the business in early 2009 after a number of years working as an accountant. Nick competes locally in distance running, and has also represented the ACT for national cross country and national half-marathon championships. His running career highlight came in 2004, when Nick was part of a mixed team of distance runners from PricewaterhouseCoopers, who qualified for the JP Morgan World Corporate Challenge in New York. Nick ran a solid time for the 5.6km course, finishing in 30th place. He is the current ACT Marathon Champion and ran a personal best 2hr 32min at the 2009 Noumea Marathon to place second.
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Mel sprinting down the home straight
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Melissa Breen
Mel is the token sprinter at The Runners Shop. She considers her perfect day a speed track session, gym session and recovery session followed by a massage. Mel started little athletics at age 5 and has personal best times of 11.33 in the 100m and 23.51 in the 200m. She was the fastest woman in Australia in 2008. In 2009 she won the National Championships in the open 200m and then travelled to Serbia to compete in the World University Games. Mel completes six track sessions and three gym sessions each week.
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Our Team 
