Taking up the offer of a Sports Traineeship at Emmanuel as a gap year experience influenced Virginia Moloney to begin a career in teaching. "When I started the Traineeship I was debating whether to pursue study in physiotherapy or teaching, and it confirmed for me that I wanted to get into teaching. I loved the staff culture and working with young people. It gave me a lot of experience. When I started University I had already been involved with the development of athletics carnivals, leading students on school camps and accompanying students to various sports events. I had observed so many teaching styles and how the different ones work for different students – It really helped me appreciate what they were trying to do for us, when I was a student. Now that I’ve worked at other schools, I recognise the opportunities we were privileged to receive at Emmanuel College that other schools just don’t have."
Virginia now teaches VCE Psychology and Years 7 to 10 PE and Health at Elwood College, along with holding the leadership role of Year 9 Coordinator and coordinating the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program. Along with education, Virginia’s other great passion is running.
“When I was at school I used to do a bit of running for fitness to play netball. Netball was the focus though. I certainly wasn’t the fastest at school,” She comments. “I really used to just participate because the opportunity was there. Mum and Dad encouraged us to make the most of opportunities like these.”
Virginia has only begun to take running seriously in the past few years. About 12 months after a car accident where Virginia sustained an injury to her patella, her sister Genevieve encouraged her to join her in the “Run4Kids”. The sisters enjoyed the challenge and so then set their eyes on the 2012 Great Ocean Road Half Marathon (23km). Virginia was happy with how she performed with a time of 1h 59m (placing 708th). The following year she decided to run the full marathon (45km) and placed 7th with a time of 3h 27min. Placing in the top 10 made her consider taking it a bit seriously, “Actually I might be good at this!”
I stood on the start line and pinched myself. How many people get to do is? So what if my preparation wasn't perfect. So what if you're not feeling 100%? We're here. Others would give anything to be standing where I am right now.
After graduation, while doing some casual relief teaching at an all girls’ school, Virginia was spotted and subsequently recruited by Liam Delany of Vigour Health & Fitness. Running is now both a passion and a lifestyle for Virginia. She trains with her fitness group, with friends and with partner Trent. Virginia is currently running 130 plus km a week, getting up at 5am for training, then heading to work, then further training until 8:30pm.
Most people think of distance running as a solitary sport but when speaking with Virginia about her running career to date, she always says “we did...” or “we competed...” – never “I” as she believes that without her team around her, she wouldn’t be performing to the level she is. Virginia clearly loves the culture of the team - people of varying abilities who come together to reach individual goals and she has made strong friendships with many other runners who would be classed as adversaries. “Running is not an individual event,” she insists, “I rely on that support when racing – it’s a real mental motivator.”
After representing Australia in March this year at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda Virginia said, “What an experience! It really opened my eyes.” Here, Virginia had her first real insight into the lives of professional athletes. “I’m not rare in that I work fulltime and I run.” Virginia says. “It is important to adhere to routine, however sometimes my recovery between sessions can be limited.”
Virginia enjoyed meeting and trading uniforms with athletes from around the world and a particular highlight was meeting current world record holder (across a number of distances) Ethiopian runner Genzebe Dibaba.
Competing in Kampala presented a number of challenges, the main one being the humidity. The Australian team arrived one week early to try and acclimatise. Virginia explained that athletes competing at this level are so finely tuned, that sometimes a small change in their environment can reduce their fitness to compete.
The race proved to be one of the toughest both mentally and physically for Virginia. Despite not feeling her best for the race, she decided to take the opportunity head on. “I stood on the start line and pinched myself. How many people get to do this? So what if my preparation wasn’t perfect. So what if you’re not feeling 100%? We’re here. Others would give anything to be standing where I am right now.” During the race, conditions were so tough that girls collapsed ahead of Virginia and had to be carried off the course. However she was able to mentally push past what was going on around her and finished in a time of 38:20.
While the heat and humidity in Kampala were a battle, the wind at the Melbourne Marathon in 2016 was not much of a better alternative. However, Virginia’s mental toughness and training got her across the line in first place. “Every other woman is in the same situation. You’re tough, you’ll be fine.” At one point in the race Virginia’s students were all clustered together at a turn to cheer her on. “It really buoyed my spirits.”
With every race, Virginia believes she is learning a little bit more. She believes you never finish a race disappointed. Finishing is always such an achievement on its own. She explains that some girls her age, who have been focussed on their running since their teens, have bodies that are starting to break down. So while Virginia has only been running competitively for the last few years, she tells them, “You need some Garvoc goodness! Some non pasteurised full-cream milk!”
Virginia’s running career has been recorded in a book “For the Love of Running”, which documents the careers and challenges of runners in the local area from the early 1900s. Stephen O’Connor who put it together delayed its publishing date so that they could include Virginia’s results for the Melbourne Marathon in 2016. It was a result that proved worth waiting for. Virginia was the first female runner to cross the finishing line.
So what’s next for Virginia? The Gold Coast Marathon is what she is focussed on now. A great result here, coupled with a winning result at the 2017 Melbourne Marathon will influence who qualifies for the Commonwealth Games in 2018. Despite very narrowly missing out on representing Australia earlier this year at the London Marathon, Virginia was genuinely excited for the success of other competitors, saying, “I’ve been training for 3 years, so I’ve still got to earn my stripes.” At the time of publishing we learned that Virginia won the Gold Coast Marathon - Well done Virginia!
