This is an amazing story about how an ANZAC biscuit saved me!

My Dad has become a bit of a cycling addict in recent times. He plots out new rides and then off he goes. Becuase I get so bored of the ol' River Loop, I often join him for these new and exciting rides. For ANZAC Day, he'd planned a ride departing Rosewood (west of Ipswich) at 7.30am, riding to Aratulla for coffee and return. All up it would be 120km. No real hills, just a couple of rolling areas. Sounded like my kinda starting time and my kind of terrain profile.

A record 2,500 athletes competed in the Gold Coast Triathlon - Luke Harrop Memorial festival on the weekend. “All seven events in the series saw a 25 percent increase in participation and the Saturday Tri Clinics were a huge hit for new competitors and those wanting to fine tune some skills,” said Project Manager Melissa Stephens.

Up and coming triathlete Emma Jackson won not only the women's event, but also the Luke Harrop Memorial Bursary. The Bursary is awarded to the highest ranked athlete over three races - Noosa Triathlon, Mooloolaba Triathlon and the Gold Coast event. Emma won the Gold Coast event by  over a minute - quite a gap at this high level.

We had a quick chat with Emma to find out what sort of training it takes to win!

Introducing Carrie Clark a.k.a @carrie_clarke

Carrie combines running, cycling and yoga to keep a good mix in her exercise regime.

Read the AWA interview for more!

The Mooloolaba Tri festival was on the weekend. I had actually signed up to compete all the way back in November last year -pretty much as soon as I could after Noosa Tri. I hadn't really done that much training for Noosa and so was all motivated to train hard for the Mooloolaba one. But then Christmas came along and then New Years and then I fell off my mountain bike a few times and before I knew it it was mid March and I hadn't really done much proper training at all.

In the week leading up to the Tri I was vacillating between pulling out and just doing it, despite the inevitable pain. I knew that my fitness was probably at an all time low and that the consequential post exercise muscle soreness would last 3-4 days at least. On the Friday before it, I decided that I'd just do the swim leg. It was to be an ocean swim and I hadn't done an ocean swim for a race in a very long time. I thought that it would be nice to be thrashed around a bit. But by Saturday lunchtime I decided to pull our altogether. Knowing that there is often a waiting list, I contacted USM Events to advise them of my decision but was told that it was too late to pull out (??). Ok, I just won't compete then!

Pam Brass takes the Silver Medal in the Female 60 to 64 Years! Awesome effort.

Last weekend I watched "Whip It", a movie about roller derby starring Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page. I'd also seen a few roller derby clubs on twitter. So I decided to get and touch and find out what it's all about!

My first step was making contact with a club on Twitter @bcr_rollerderby (turns out the lady I was tweeting with goes by the name of "Zombietron"). So Zombietron passed on my query to the Brisbane City Rollers Secretary "Hit N Run". This was feeling just like the movie!

OxfamUQ is running the second annual Sporting Chance Sports Equipment Drive to raise equipment for Queensland academies participating in the Federal Government’s ‘Sporting Chance’ program. The Sporting Chance program seeks to use sport as a means of improving Indigenous health outcomes, while at the same time giving school students more opportunities to get active!

If you have gear to donate, bring it to Campbell Place, University of Queensland St Lucia campus, on Close the Gap Day, Thursday March 25th, from 10am-2pm. If you can’t make it on the day, you can donate at the UQ Sport & Fitness Centre Reception until Sunday March 28th.

All new and used sports equipment and footwear welcome. A raffle will be held for a signed Brisbane Broncos jersey and QLD/Broncos (NRL) merchandise. Oxfam merchandise is also on sale.

www.oxfamuq.org

Winners of the Novice Race

On Sunday, 14 March while a lot of us were taking advantage of the drizzly weather by staying in bed, around 80 committed women ignored the rain to participate in the Project PQ Women's Racing Series 2010. 

The four race series has been organised by a women's cycling team - Balmoral Masters Women (BMW) with the assistance of Cycling Queensland and sponsors. 

Sunday was the first day in the series. The women's ages and levels of experience varied greatly, but everyone was catered for. Over 30 novice riders were involved in the 60 minute skills session and 15minute+2 laps simulated criterium race. And guess who won?? Our lovely cover lady Margie Bale!! 

We caught up with the Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh, and had a chat about how she manages to fit in exercise on top of running a state!