THE roads, paddocks and trails of Garvoc will this weekend assist Virginia Moloney’s preparation to improve on her stunning Melbourne Marathon debut.
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The south-west export – who now plies her trade as a secondary teacher in Melbourne – is set to return home to the dairy farming community this weekend to kick-start her preparation for both the Melbourne Marathon and the Victorian Half Marathon in Burnley.
Her credentials were boosted further last weekend after the 26-year-old finished first in the open women’s division at the Australian Cross Country Championships in Canberra.
She finished with a time of 35:19 in the 10km race.
Moloney said she was excited to return home and to hit the trails of Garvoc.
“It will be good to get some country miles in the legs,” she laughed.
“It’s good to have this weekend off and to get home to do a bit of training. I’ll then look to take on those races. In the Melbourne Marathon, my focus is sort of on trying to get my time down a little bit from last year.
“It’s been a good season but I think experience is playing a big part in that. It’s been great to get road racing experience and I thinking it’s just about finding how you race and how all the girls around you are racing.”
Moloney, who runs with the Collingwood Harriers and a team known as Vigor Fitness and Health, said she held a “bit of a soft spot” for the Melbourne Marathon and was looking forward to the local support at the race.
“It’s a really unique race for the locals. There’s a lot of support from family and friends and as I’m a teacher at Elwood Secondary College, the students are often out on track too,” she said.
“It was pretty special last year to have that support and to have my partner come out onto the course, it was pretty special as a whole.”
Moloney, the first Victorian woman home in last year’s Melbourne Marathon, took up running in April 2014.
She said she had taken confidence out of her performance in Canberra and was pleased to take out the top gong.
“Going in as part of a six-person Victorian team, I knew we had a strong team,” she said. “At the 800 metre mark of the race, I was able to make my move. I passed the girl in second and was able to hold on. I wanted to go up there to see what I could do and I was surprised considering I came 11th last year.”
The Liam Delaney coached-star’s Burnley Half Marathon campaign will begin on September 4, while the Melbourne Marathon is set to begin on October 16. It is a 42.19km circuit, with runners starting from the Melbourne CBD.
